Career Planning

Developing a career plan will help you assess your skills and interests, explore what careers might be a good match for you, as well as determine what additional skills or training you may need to reach optimal career success.

Career planning is helpful for anyone at any age or stage – whether you are still in school or not, seeking to improve your skills to advance in your current field or interested in changing your job or career entirely.

Developing a career plan involves taking the time to think about your interests, values, skills and preferences. It pushes you to explore the life, work and learning options available to you and ensures that your career choice fits with your personal circumstances.

By developing a career plan, you can focus on what you want to do and how to get there. It is an ongoing process that can help you manage your learning opportunities and development.

There are many important steps in developing a career plan and the Career Centre has created a list of important questions to ask yourself along the way:

Self-Assessment

Take the time to assess your interests, skills, as well as your strengths and weaknesses as these will affect your ability to fulfill your career goals.

Begin by asking yourself the following questions:

• Where am I now?
• Where do I want to be?
• What do I like to do?
• What are my strengths?
• What is important to me?
• What do I want out of a job or career?

Exploration

This second step involves exploring various occupations that might be of interest to you. Take the time and search for occupations that utilize your talents and interests. Talk to others and ask them what careers they think you may be well suited for. Once you have some idea of occupations that you may be interested in, you can research the specific skills and qualifications required to work in that field.

• Explore occupations that interest you and ask yourself, “how do my skills and interests match up with these occupations?”
• Where are the gaps in training or certifications?
• What additional skills do I need?
• What options do I have to gain these skills? 

Planning

It’s time to compare your options, narrow down your choices and think about what direction you want to take.

Ask yourself:

• What are my best work/training options?
• How do they match with my skills, interests and values?
• How do they fit with the current labor market?
• How do they fit with my current situation?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of each option?

Execution

This is where you plan the steps you need to take to reach your goals. Use all you have learned about your interests, skills, and values along with the information you have gathered about occupations of interest to create your plan. 

Begin by asking yourself:

• What actions/steps will help me achieve my work, training and career goals?
• Where can I get help?

At the end of this step you will have:

• a plan to help you explore your options further (i.e. work experience, work shadowing or more research); or
• a plan which sets out the steps to help you achieve your next learning or work goal. 

Reflection and Reassessment

It is essential to set milestones for your career plan. Doing so will give you a sense of direction and allow you the opportunity to reflect on how your career path is progressing, whether you are achieving the milestones that you have set for yourself, as well as present you with the opportunity to recognize where adjustments may need to be made.

Remember that career planning is a lifelong process to be continued throughout your career. It's important to actively and professionally develop yourself in order to achieve your desired goals.

Ed4Career provides online training opportunities to help you reach your career goals. Sign up for one or more courses today!