The Importance of Career Planning

Lots of people finish their years of education with plenty of drive and enthusiasm and a clear plan where they want their career path to go over the following years. Sadly for many of those people, life will get in the way, their drive and enthusiasm fade and they fail to obtain the goals that they set for themselves all of those years ago. One way to stay on track is career planning or as Danes refer to it karriereplanlægning.

Career planning can take many forms and each individual will need to choose the way that works best for them. The most popular and measurable is a career action plan. This is created when a person starts his first job and the plan can stay with him throughout his career. It will list each promotion that a person wishes to obtain as main goals and then every step he need to take along the way to obtain those goals. It can be referred to throughout his career and amended to include new positions and additional steps.

How to Create a Career Action Plan

Ok, you have finally finished education and obtained your first position in a company. The first thing that you should do is look at how you can move up through the company you are with over time. You can do this by chatting to your supervisor or human resources department, who will be happy to give you all the information you need.

Once you have an idea of the potential promotions that you can take, you can start your career planning and make an action plan. The first thing you should do is list the promotions as your main goals in the order in which you hope to achieve them. You will next need to do some research about the steps that you will need to take to reach those goals and then add them underneath as sub-goals that you can tick off as you complete them. The sub-goals may be another skill that you need to learn, experience that you need to achieve, extra qualifications that you need to obtain, etc.

Do not be afraid to discuss your action plan with your superiors in the company that you work for. Many people assume that they will be discouraged or thought of as too pushy. In actual fact, your firm will be happy that you have drive and determination and will encourage you. This will also have the benefit of making sure that they are aware of you and will often make them consider you first for any training that they have planned.

Your career action plan should stay with you for the life of your career and you should adjust it and amend it as your career grows. Make your goals measurable and time sensitive to keep yourself on your chosen path. Plan in any career breaks for family and be prepared to obtain any extra qualifications that you will need during your own time and with your own money.

Career planning is something that we should all take part in as it could make all the difference to our careers and help us to provide security for our families throughout our lives.  

Author: Avelina Smith