Career growth and development is important to everyone. But that growth won’t happen without some idea of where you want to go in your career, what kinds of things you want to accomplish. You need to have that overarching purpose in mind in order to give direction to your growth and to the things you need to do to achieve that growth. That is why a career plan is so important – to provide that purpose and direction. Here are some tips on how to make one.
How To Form a 5-Year Professional Plan
1. Look at where you are now
Assess your current situation. Are you where you thought you would be at this point in your career? Do like what you are doing, what would you change, what is important to you? What things are you good at, and what things are you not so good at?
2. Make some goals
This is the most important part of your career plan. First, do some brainstorming. Put your creativity to work and write down whatever comes to mind as far as a potential goal. Then evaluate the goals. Ask yourself why something is a goal for you, what its importance is for you.
Then you need to refine your goals. Using the SMART system will help with this. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. Each goal should meet all of these criteria. For example, a goal you may have is to make more money. That is good, but it is not enough. Exactly how much more money? Is it achievable? What is your timeline for this goal?
You now have a list of goals. The next step is to cut that list down to just a few goals that you can focus on. If you have difficulty doing this, work it in steps. Take your list and cut it in half. Then cut it in half again and so on until you just have a few left.
3. Make a plan
Now that you have your goals, you need to develop a plan for how to achieve them. This is a step-by-step strategy for reaching your goals. You need to first take those big goals and break them down into more manageable pieces.
You should also come up with a deadline for each goal and subgoal.
Looking for the Next Step in Your Career?
At Opti, we look beyond the resume and the job description, because making a good hire is about more than just a matching skill set. It’s about personality and culture fit, business perspectives, work ethic, management style, long-term company and career goals and more. We see the big picture. Contact Opti today
