Plans are ubiquitous in all aspects of our lives. We are constantly following our own plan or someone else’s for most of our daily existence. From Game Plans to Lesson Plans, Medical Plans to Retirement Plans, Bonus Plans to Pension Plans, Financial Plans to Travel Plans, and Strategic Business Plans, plans are prevalent. However, the most infrequent plan is the Career Plan, and we spend so much of our lives working. This misalignment is evident. The scarcity of Career Plans is such that there is little available data on the number of people who have even created one.
Some individuals work according to a development plan structured by their employer, and others are even unsure of the company’s plan for them. The company will usually extract the work necessary to its agenda, sometimes to the detriment of the individual. It is unsurprising, as that is the function of a development plan made by your boss. If you fail to advocate for yourself and create a personal career plan, the company will only provide a development plan to meet its goals.
As the saying goes, “Hope is not a plan.” You need to develop your own Career Plan to safeguard and promote your development.
Traditionally, individuals have been too reactive to changing circumstances and career opportunities, hampering their ability to create effective career plans. In the present job market, individuals have more power than ever to take ownership of their career plans.
While it’s not their responsibility, employers appreciate well-crafted career plans from their staff that align with the company’s mission, enhance engagement, foster transparency, and build trust. Constructing a successful career plan is a deeply personal and multifaceted process for which you must take responsibility. It’s unrealistic to expect employers to create your career plan for you. Nonetheless, companies can support you in achieving your career goals if you provide clear direction.
A career plan is a comprehensive strategy that considers utilizing your unique talents while factoring in financial outcomes and effectively using your available resources, primarily your time and energy. Since your skills and goals for personal resources will evolve and change throughout different stages of life, only you can plan the outcomes you want.
Your plans at 23 will likely differ from those at 30, 38, or 47, as each stage has unique considerations. Nevertheless, you are high-potential and have unique values and a purpose that drives you, which should inform your plan and growth. Crafting a career plan is a personal process, but you need a support system of people who can offer feedback and advice as you progress.
CareerTruth is a Career Management Solution with tools and exercises to help you create and continually update your Career Plan throughout all the seasons of your career. Your career is your life’s business, and you are your business’s CEO. To create a great Career Plan, there are four steps to understand your current state, your desired future state, and the actions with metrics to continuously pursue Mastery, Freedom, and Legacy in your career.
Step 1: Reflect and document the core attributes of your current state
- Start by defining and documenting your values and purpose statement. Many people need help articulating who they are and how they view life. Still, it’s essential to recognize your unique values and purpose statement, even as it may evolve. Knowing yourself in this way helps you identify how you should grow and make decisions that will fuel your career.
- Take stock of those technical and leadership skills you have mastered – one way to assess is if you could teach the skills or have significant successes. Claim your strengths and identify gaps in your abilities.
- Establish your professional and personal goals for this time of your career. In the near term, you have professional and personal goals that need to be accounted for to maximize your performance while realizing your work is only a part of life and can’t cause problems in your life.
Step 2: Account for the strategic assets of your career
- You have specific high points in your career that you have created or taken part in your career. You can take assessments, document your most important success stories, document what you’ve learned from failure, review your feedback or performance development plans, and any other career elements that help you see where you have been and want to go.
- The people who have influenced your career or you can rely on for mentoring, advice, and sponsorship are vital to your success. In these cases, you may be on someone else’s Leadership Tree. You likely have people you also influence, may support as part of your purpose, and are on your leadership tree. Your purpose will show up in the people of your life and be your legacy.
- The number one asset of your career is time. Getting a handle on how you spend your time is crucial in making decisions for your career development, performance, and purpose-filled legacy.
Step 3: Creating action plans to meet your future vision of success
- Create a purpose-driven course of action someone can hold you accountable for with specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives. Your professional action plans tied to your goals should be tailored to your career aspirations, whether that involves developing technical skills or enhancing your leadership abilities.
- Ensure that your Work Life Flow is appropriate by establishing action plans tied to personal goals associated with your work or home life, such as determining how you will allocate your time to family or community, your financial rewards, where you want to live, or commute or travel.
Step 4: Communicate, execute, and establish accountability
- No one can succeed alone. Having completed the entire CareerTruth Career Management Process, you are ready to discuss your strategic action plans with people who can help you achieve your short and long-term goals. In addition, you are building accountability through the people you activate to help you and within CareerTruth, as the platform will support and remind you of your action plans.
- Like any good plan, you must consider and revise your Career Plan often, not just once. Circumstances in your “markets” constantly change and must be accounted for daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, depending on circumstances. This accountability to work on your career and be self-aware of the evolving conditions of change at work, at home, or in the market will help you be proactive and own your career.
By investing in a holistic career management process, you can clearly communicate your personalized career plan, making you significantly more valuable to the marketplace. Along the way, you will always have access to a highly capable certified CareerTruth coach to enhance your planning needs or support your development.
Since plans are so common in our daily lives, many overlook the importance of creating a career plan. Developing a personal career plan to safeguard and promote individual development is crucial. Employers appreciate well-crafted career plans from their staff that align with the company’s mission, enhance engagement, foster transparency, and build trust. Constructing a successful career plan is a deeply personal and multifaceted process for which individuals must take responsibility. With CareerTruth, individuals can create and continually update their Career Plan throughout all the seasons of their career. CareerTruth four-step process helps individuals understand their current and desired future state, their strategic assets, and how to create action plans to meet their vision of success. By communicating, executing, and establishing accountability, individuals can achieve their short and long-term goals and create a purpose-filled legacy.