Career Planning

Definitions of Career Planning

Career planning is a process of accessing one’s skills, evaluating key parameters and planning for long term prospects of job and career. It is a continuous process where one sets goals, reaccesses skillset, adds new skills, sets milestones and makes and reaches new career goals. It is a practice performed by Human Resource departments as well as working individuals.

“Career planning is a process of systematically matching career goals and individual capabilities with opportunities for their fulfillment.”

Schermerhorn

Importance of Career Planning

A career is what one does in the whole of professional life. A well planned and well defined career path helps achieve most out of it. According to Chime Bank, a solid career plan becomes the roadmap to your future. One can know about the strengths he/she possess and use it to the career benefit. It also motivates to reach higher in the organizational hierarchy. This motivation, in turn, becomes the driving force for learning and honing new skills and reaching towards increased and improved performance.

Steps in Career Planning

Self Assessment

Assess the skills and potentials. Just list out what you like and what you do very well. Think about it and write all of them somewhere.

Research

Learn about workforce demand in your vicinity. Do some research on what skills are more in demand, what will be in demand few years later, which demands are long-lasting and which one is seasonal. This will help in understanding the career prospect in a better manner.

Setting goals

By self-assessment and market research you must have got some skills in common what you possess and what market needs. Work on some of those skills which can make a long-lasting and stable career with lucrative growth options with a reasonable work-life balance.

Filling the skill gaps

For the decided career path, you might not be having the exact skill set or might not be that competent on that particular skill. This is the time to know the level of competency required and training yourself to reach that competency level.

Job hunting

Now you have skills and you know where these are required. Start applying to those organizations and start appearing in job interviews. This will finally lend you a job that is in your desired career path.

Repeat

After some time, you may find that you have more skills now and want to reassess them to formulate a better career strategy. You should now repeat the whole process again.