The future is full of uncertainties, and for this reason, many people refuse to make plans or New Year resolutions or set goals for their lives.
The very fact that the future is uncertain should be reason enough to plan for it so that you can take charge of your life and live purposefully.
So far, you have learnt how to take charge of 2019 by having a vision for the year and having a financial plan, and now you should know that you also need a career plan. A career plan is a realistic scheme or strategy that helps you to figure out what your skills, strengths, priorities, experience, and interests are; set career goals, and create action plans to ensure that you reach those goals.
A career plan is important for a successful 2019 because with it you can be sure that you are in the right career for you and it is going in the right direction. A career plan helps you figure out what your passions are so that you can set career goals and actionable steps to achieve them. As such, a career plan helps you to assess your options, helping you figure out what career plan is right for you as you consider factors like salary, working hours, commute distance, and company culture. With a career plan, you can objectively assess your knowledge and experience so that you can acquire more knowledge necessary for you to get your dream job or succeed in your current career.
It doesn’t matter if you are a student, a teacher, or a banker: anyone can benefit from a career plan. A career plan doesn’t have to be complex, but it must be written down and as concise as possible and should contain the following:
- A personal overview – including name, marital status, age and the like
- Educational qualifications – including where and when you went to school
- Employment history – including volunteer work
- List of your current skills – this will show you what you can do and what you need to improve on
- Training and development requirements – what can you do to increase your skills and experience?
- Set goals and action plan – a short term goal could be getting a job with opportunities for progression in 6 months; a medium-term goal could be getting a promotion in 2 years (or less); a long term goal could be becoming a manager in 5 years or less. Then create realistic strategies to achieve those goals.
- Set time frames – create deadlines that will keep you on track and motivate you to put in your best into achieving your career goals.
- Periodic checks on your plan – from time to time, look at your career plan again. This will help you track your progress, and make changes where necessary due to unforeseen circumstances (remember that your career plan has to be flexible enough to account for such circumstances).
