Career Path Planning – Be Strategic

This is the adult version of ‘what do you want to be when you grow up‘. You may have selected an industry but what now? Where do you see your career path going? Manager? CEO? Entrepreneur? There is a big difference between a job and a career but that’s another blog.

It is a very well-known fact that during the career transition phase, most career seekers do not have a plan nor strategy and, therefore, spend 1/3rd of their life working in careers that hold little or no interest. Sometimes that starts due to interim jobs during schooling which transition into full-time positions – some even outside their chosen education field. Often it is because they really don’t know where they fit or, depending on their demographic, they don’t want a defined path. For those who do, the question is HOW do you create a career path?

Strategic planning for your career involves many different criteria that a career seeker must consider.

What you Want?

The answer to this question is PASSION. Career Seekers should have a high degree of passion and enthusiasm towards the kind of work they do, or want to do. The passion for work is created by many different factors which you should identify before looking at job postings.

–Company Culture
–Community
–Core Values, both yours and the company’s
–Colleagues and Team
–Location / Relocation
–Available time for Family and Vacations
–Amount of Travel
–Industry

Fail Forward!!

The second realization in creating your career planning strategy is where and how you were unsuccessful in past. It’s fine to fail, as long as you learn from that failure. Consider the following before preparing a strategy for your career path:

–Do you lack enthusiasm at your workplace
–Did you choose a job and not a career
–Have you set goals and plans
–Was there a lack of focus or skill specialization
–Did you lack loyalty, accountability, reliability

A Path that Moves Forward

Reviewing innumerable resumes over the years, it becomes obvious those that have a defined purpose in their chosen positions. A clear, progressive upward path. For others, we’ve seen careers appear to falter when the positions accepted appear to move them back down the ‘corporate’ ladder. These career choices, as mentioned above, often have explanations. Depending on your passions, a redirect may be in order. Moving forward is key.

If you, as a career seeker consider the above factors and stick to them, then it will help you to create a strategic plan for your career path.