Have You Planned Your Career For Tomorrow

By Perminus Wainaina

Do you consider yourself good at what you do?

One of the reasons why you become good at something is because of planning and execution.

Today we will focus on planning

According to Wikipedia, planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a desired goal.

When it comes to our careers, it consists of activities and actions that you take to achieve your individual career goals.

Career planning is the ongoing process where you: explore your interests and abilities; strategically plan your career goals; and create your future work success by designing learning and action plans to help you achieve your goals.

Who’s Responsible for Planning Your Career?

You have the lead responsibility for planning your career. Your boss,supervisors and managers can provide you with meaningful assistance in this process but the ultimate responsibility lies with you.

During one on one coaching with senior professionals many are surprised to know that they are good at planning for their jobs and employers but not for their careers.

For example, a finance manager can come up with budgets for the year and yet they have not taken time to establish concrete goals and plans to determine the direction they want their career to take.

Same goes for a sales manager who will come up with a fantastic sales plan/strategy.

Steps To Take when You Are Planning For Your Next Move

1. The first step is to take stock of where you are. Are you happy, advancing, content etc? What is working and what needs to change?

2. The second step is to determine the gap that exists between where you are and where you want to be. For example, say you are looking to grow into a leadership role and yet you have never supervised. The gap here is lack of supervisory skills.

3. Having identified the gap consider the next course of action. Do you need to go back to school? Does your company offer training opportunities i.e. in leadership? Do you need to develop soft skills such as emotional intelligence (Read why emotional intelligence matters in your career and personal life)?

Can you learn the skills through other means i.e. volunteering and part time work or even coaching? In short, you need to think of how you will close the gap.

4. Having closed the gap then you need to rebrand yourself. Here is a fantastic article I wrote on how to brand yourself for the next job you want job.

N.B

1. Planning and execution takes time. Do not expect instant results. It is also important to start early enough. Do not be caught off guard through layoffs, redundancies, etc.

I sometimes meet desperate candidates who have lost their jobs because of no fault of their own and at this stage it’s too late. You cannot plan well when your mind is distracted.

2. Start where you are. You could be at entry level or senior level. It doesn’t matter. You have to continually think of your career and ways to better it.

3. TAKE ACTION. Good intentions and plans will not take you far. You have to act.

Lastly, failure to plan is planning to fail. What are doing today to advance your career?

Perminus Wainaina is the C.E.O and Managing Partner at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading HR consultancy firm based in Westlands. He has wide experience in coaching, leadership development, recruitment, training and HR consultancy.
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