Short-Term Career Planning

How to develop a Strategic Vision for my Career Plan?

This article provides you with some basic guidelines for short-term career planning.

A short-term career plan focuses on a time frame ranging from the coming year to the next few years, depending on the job-seeker. The key characteristic of short-term career planning is developing realistic goals and objectives that you can accomplish in the near future.

As you begin your career planning, take the time to free yourself from all career barriers.

You may ask yourself what are those career barriers?

Types of career barriers:

• personal barriers (such as lack of motivation, apathy, laziness, or procrastination);
• family pressure (such as expectations to work in the family business, follow a certain career path, or avoidance of careers that are below your status/stature);
• peer pressure.

And while career planning and career decision-making is an important aspect of your life, try not to put so much pressure on yourself! This may paralyzes you from making any real choices, decisions, or plans. Career planning is an ever-changing and evolving process therefore you may allow yourself to take it slowly and easily.

For your career planning, you may consider using the following exercises to their fullest potential.

Career Planning Exercises:

1. Start making an analyze of your current/future lifestyle.

• are you happy with your current lifestyle?
• do you want to maintain it or change it?
• does your current career path allow you the lifestyle you seek?
Be sure to identify the key characteristics of your ideal lifestyle.

2. Continue with analyzing your likes/dislikes.

• what kinds of activities -- both at work and at play -- do you enjoy?
• what kind of activities do you avoid?
Make a list of both types of activities.
Now take a close look at your current job and career path in terms of your list of likes and dislikes.
• does your current job have more likes or dislikes?

3. Analyze your passions.

Reflect on the times and situations in which you feel most passionate, most energetic, most engaged - and see if you can develop a common profile of these situations. Develop a list of your passions.
• how many of these times occur while you are at work?

4. Analyze your strengths and weaknesses.

Step back and look at yourself from an employer’s perspective.
• what are your strengths?
• what are your weaknesses?
Think in terms of work experience, education/training, skill development, talents and abilities, technical knowledge, and personal characteristics.

5. Analyze your definition of success.

Spend some time thinking about how you define success.
What is success to you: wealth, power, control, contentment...

6. Analyze your personality.

• are you an extrovert or an introvert?
• do you like thinking or doing?
• do you like routines or change?
• do you like sitting behind the desk or being on the move?
Take the time to analyze yourself first, then take one or more of these self-assessment tests.

7. Analyze your dream job.

Remember those papers you had to write as a kid about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Take the time to revert back to those idyllic times and brainstorm about your current dream job; be sure not to let any negative thoughts cloud your thinking. Look for ideas internally, but also make the effort to explore/research other careers/occupations that interest you.

8. Analyze your current situation.

Before you can even do any planning, clearly and realistically identify your starting point.

Good! Have you completed these exercises?

The next step:
• develop a picture of yourself and your career over the next few years.

Do you have the mental picture?

The final step:
• develop a plan for achieving your goal

Career Planning Steps:

1. Identify your next career move.

If you have been examining multiple career paths, now is the time to narrow down the choices and focus on one or two careers.

2. Research

Conduct detailed career research and gather information on the careers that most interest you. Use the many resources we list in our Career Research Checklist.

3. Qualifications and skills

Pinpoint the qualifications you need to move to the next step in your career or to make the move to a new career path. If you’re not sure, search job postings and job ads, conduct informational interviews, research job descriptions.

4. Compare your current profile with the qualifications developed in step 3.

How far apart are the two profiles?

• if fairly well-matched, it may be time to switch to a job-search.
• if fairly far apart, can you realistically achieve the qualifications in the short-term? • if yes, move to the next step;
• if no, consider returning to the first step.

5. Plan development

• develop a plan to get qualified. Make a list of the types of qualifications you need to enhance your standing for your next career move, such as receiving additional training, certification, or experience.
• develop a time line and action plans for achieving each type, being sure to set specific goals and priorities.

Next: Long-term career planning

Good luck :)
Gabriela