The Importance of Career Planning

image:ucdenver.edu
culled from:careerplus.com

Career planning is essential for people who are just starting out in their career or thinking about changing careers. The typical strategy for a job candidate with uncertainty is to speak with a professional career counselor at a school, college or university.
When a person does not have the time to consult with a career counselor, taking an online career inventory becomes another option. The point of the consultation or the career inventory is to identify several pieces of information. For career planning, you should be able to articulate these pieces of information about yourself—
1.    What type of position matches your interests?
2.    What skills, education and experience do you need to qualify for your career choice?
3.    How long will it take you to reach your career goal?
4.    How can you build on what you already know and have already done to enter a new profession?
By planning your career, you are able to create concrete goals and deadlines for goal achievement. As time passes you can reflect on the work that has been done, as well as reevaluate your current position and whether or not your ultimate goal has changed. Remember, that even with planning, this “plan” is merely a blueprint for your success and not your life’s contract. By being flexible in your planning and by understanding that “life happens”, you’ll be able to move forward successfully even if all deadlines aren’t adhered to.
Aside from listing goals, career planning involves many more steps. If you get stuck, it’s advised that you use professional consultation or a career inventory a starting point. Research those in positions you are looking to obtain in an effort to recreate their career blueprint and although no two situations will be identical, previous success stories serve as an excellent starting point.
Then you can use other career-planning tools to build a plan for achieving career success. Most often, you won’t fall into your dream job but you can take incremental steps towards finding this position!