Plan Your Career Path Right from Day One

You have graduated from university or about to graduate, or even still studying but you have your mind on work life. You are wondering about where to start off and how things are going to turn out in the next ten, twenty, thirty years. You’ll probably want to know what career is right for you. Well, it all depends on you. There are people who leave such things to chance, but the more successful people are those who planned a career path right from start.

A career path is a representation of how an individual progresses in a chosen career, right from the day they land their first job until they retire. It involves movements from a lower level position to higher position, changes in department and even jobs switches that enables the individual to remain in employment till retirement.

Why is it important to plan your career path?

Having a career path plan right from day one makes you to assess your skills, strengths and weaknesses in relation to the career you have chosen. What do we mean by “day one”? Well day one could be when you start thinking about how to get your first job; it could be when you are still studying and considering what the various courses you are taking will lead you to in terms of career. It could also be a day before you start your first job. This will help you know where to start from and where to branch to as you progress. It helps you identity your future training needs.

A career path enables you to identify the various options available for you in terms of progression within an organisation; you are therefore aware of when to exit from that organisation if your aims go beyond the organisation. Taking for example a career in banking, you might start as a personal banker and progress into corporate banking or investment banking. Planning a career path will allow you to be in control throughout your working life.

What’s your career path?

Now that you are sure of which career you want to choose, you have to determine your own career path. This should be based on your interests, your skills, your strengths, your weaknesses and the future prospects. Another factor that should determine your career path is the courses you take at the university. If you are still studying, you must choose your courses with your career path in mind. Your career path should be in tune with industry practices and possibilities. Once you are sure of this, it is time to map this out.

Map it out

Your career path should not remain a wish. You need to put it into writing; it should be in a simple form that you can refer to at any time. You can do this by using a simple flowchart. You are free to add colour to your plan. It should be inspiring enough to get you hooked to it. After you’ve done this, you are ready to move to the next stage.

Make a vision board or road map

You may either create a vision board and/or draw a roadmap using the information from your career path map. A vision board adds life to your career path plan. You are going to add images of how you expect things to be. One of the advantages of a vision board, according to makeavisionboard.com is to help you maintain focus on your plans or goals.
If you choose to make a roadmap, you are going to list all the strategies and resources you need to follow through your career path. You need to state what you should be doing at every stage of your career progression to enable you move to the next level. These will include going for further studies, taking a part-time course, and saving money towards future investment if you want to be on your own in the future.

Create a personal vision statement at various points in the coming years

One thing that you need to know is that a career path plan evolves with time. The world is very dynamic and you need to be adapting to the changes as they happen. That is why in your career path plan you should be creating personal vision statements at various points in the years as they come. The prospects of the coming years should guide you in your personal vision statement. For example, for your first working year, you could create a vision statement like:

“I want to be the most customer-focused worker in my workplace. I plan to achieve this by getting close to the customers, finding their names and offering to help them in any way I can.”

You may have something like this for the second year.
“My vision is to gain more insight into managing a unit. I will achieve this by offering to help my boss with some of his duties during my free time.”

At this point, you should be considering picking your first job.

Picking the right first job

How you begin determines how you end. That is why picking your first job is a very critical choice you make in your career development. According to Jessica Stillman a contributor at Inc.com, who you work for, where you work, and what you do when working determine your success in your career. You should not let the desire to earn income push you into picking a job that has nothing to do with your plan. One thing is true; you must begin from a low point in order to move to a higher point.

Your first job should be one that makes you use the skills you already have, and gives you the prospects of learning the new skills you require to move to the next level. It should be one that gives you the relevant experience you need in order to apply for the job in that company or organisation of your dream.

While at your lowly first job, you’ll have to broaden your skills base. The world of work is such that you need multiple skills in order to excel at your job. At the early stage of your career, you need to be open to changes. Things might not work out the way you want them, but you can take advantage of the changes. The next thing you need to do is to find a guide and a mentor.

Finding a guide or mentor

You need someone who has made significant success in your chosen career as a guide in order to succeed. This should be a person who exhibits all the requisite traits and character you need. The mentor should be a person you can approach for guidance and advice; someone you can trust. He/she should not necessarily be a very popular person; they don’t have to be working in your organization; he/she should be someone you respect and who is willing to provide guidance. A good mentor will help you avoid the pitfalls involved in your career. Mentorship is a requirement in some professions such as law and in academia.

There are many ways you can find a mentor for yourself. You can join professional groups or association where there are a lot of experienced people in your industry; you can even find mentors and guides on career related social media such as LinkedIn. The bottom line is that you should be able to ask in a polite way. There are many senior professionals ready to offer guidance to young people.

Career path planning determines skills to improve or have

There are certain skills you require in order to progress in your career apart from the industry specific ones. You need to develop good interpersonal skills, and IT skills. These are two skills that cut across fields.

Conclusion

It is those who have a plan who succeed in their chosen careers. Things don’t just happen in the world of work. You need a plan for yourself in order to see and seize the opportunities as they come. However, you will need to evaluate or re-evaluate your progress, learn new skills if you have to, and be willing to change jobs if necessary.
If you have any comments or questions about career path planning, feel free to post them.