Planning your career so far in advance can feel quite daunting, especially when you have no idea where you want to go, but it can be an essential tool that influences many choices you make regarding your future.
- Roadmap
Planning your career is a great way to give yourself effectively a roadmap to your future; if at any point you feel stuck or unsure what to do, you have this plan to look at and figure out what you need to do next. This stage is great because you always have a great reference point if you include detailed steps for your journey.
- Extra work
Career planning is great because if you write it in detail enough, it can help you identify areas you might need to improve. This can be either qualifications or further education; having a clear goal can help you identify where you need to be and how you can get there. Your plan will highlight points where you need to expand your knowledge or skills to attain the level you wish to; this is great when comparing your skills with those of a person at the next level you wish to reach.
- Reflection
It is not often that you sit and reflect upon your personal and professional development except for an annual appraisal. Having a career plan forces you to review your standings in comparison to your plan regularly, you can identify areas that need improvement and see the areas you have excelled in. It’s great to effectively monitor progress and review the steps you need to take, as it can provide you with a great sense of accomplishment. It is great to be able to reflect on how you have approached your goals in the past and reflect upon how you could have achieved these accomplishments quicker or easier. Self-reflection is a great way to improve as there’s no critique as harsh on you like yourself, as long as you have a strong work ethic you can use any failures or problems you have had previously you can effectively review these experiences and determine how to do them better in the future.
- Motivation
One of the hardest parts of having a career plan is having the motivation to keep up to date with it. By keeping up to date with your career plan, you can regularly note down any progress or any issues that have arisen on the way.
By seeing the clear progress that you have made, motivates you to continue and work towards your next goal. After you have seen clear progression within your career plan,, you can use this as a form of motivation to help you to continue progressing. Progression is a great form of incentive and will help to motivate you and push you towards your ultimate career plan goals.
