Published articlee - How to plan your career

1. How to planyourcareer
By AndrewM. Breen
The last time Icheckedthe statistics,itturnsout that the average Americanchangeshis/herjob noless
than 7 timesoverthe course of theirworkinglifetime.
That frequencycouldbe good,but itcouldalso be bad. On the one hand, the highturnovercould
representanactive identificationandacquisitionof the rightjobatthe righttime. Onthe otherhand, It
couldalsobe an indicatorof repeatedfailure.
Each of us has ourown background, circumstances, capabilities, interestsandmotivators.So,what
worksfor someone else,maynotapplyinthe same wayto the restof us. And,actually,itturnsout that
that’sfine.The reasonbeingthatthere are some time-testedmethodsfordoingthissortof planning
and they’re tailoredtofituslike anewsuitor dress.That’swhatwe’ll coverinthisarticle: How to plan
your career.
To beginwithwe have tostart out witha few assumptionsinordertomake thisrealisticandvalid,so
here goes:
 We assume youhave an active andreal interestindoingthis.Youcan get helpfromother
people,butinthe end,howwell thisworksisuptoyou and the effortyouputintoit.
 There may notnecessarilybe one ‘best’orrightanswerforanyof us.Instead,there maybe a
numberof options.
 The cost of doingthisisnot prohibitive orsohighas to preventanyone frompursuingit.
 I’mgoingto use myself anda lotof the planningIdidas a sortof pathwayforyou to followto
understandwhatisneeded.
Ok,here goes.
Careerplanningcanoccur any time duringyouradultworklife.Aftercollege orhighschool graduation,
afterleavingthe military,afterendingarelationshiporafteranyother significantpointinyourlife.In
my case it has happenedtwice.The firsttime waswhenIgraduatedcollege withadegree inPsychology
that I pursuedbecause Ilikedthe universityprogramandstaff,notbecause Iwantedto pursue itas a
career.The secondtime waswhenIrelocatedwithmyfamilyandfacedmyprime earningyears.
Early CareerExample:AfterreceivingmyBachelors’inPsychologyIwasfacedwitha veryslow job
market, almostno workexperience exceptsome highschool andcollege sales,andagreat deal of
uncertaintyaboutwhatI wantedtodo for a living. Mysearch consistedof desperatelygoingthrough
the classifiedadvertisements(pre internetdays) andphone book.Itwasthenthat a goodfriend
approachedme,aware of my predicament,andsuggestedthatIapplyto IBM. Theyneededworkersto
helphandle administrative tasksindefenseof some lawsuitsandwere lookingforyoungpeople tohelp.

2. Thissuggestionfromafriendledto14 yearsat that firm, a partial pension,anMBA and acquisitionof
great skillsandexperience. That’swhywe start the how to listwiththese points:
1. Network,network,network throughoutyourcareer– it’sby farthe mostpowerful waytofind
jobs,evenwhenyoudon’texactlyknow whatyou’re lookingfor.Anddon’tjustfocusonthe
people youknow –you mustget to anyone youthinkmightbe able togive youleads.Note:
mostpeople geta little uncomfortableif youaskfora job,soask for informationor contacts
instead.Theywentthroughthisonce themselvesandknow youreallywantajob,but maynot
be able to deliverthat.Sotry notto make themuncomfortable andthey’llbe inabetter
positiontohelpyou.
2. Followopportunitywhereveryoufindit – youwon’talwaysgetthe chance and itleadsto good
things.Atthe time,I knewIBMhada fine reputationandwas growing.Sure enough,diversityof
areas available forexplorationinsuchalarge firmprovidedcareerpathwaysIexplored,which
helpedme understandmyinterestsandgoalsbetter.
3. Life isa seriesof continuingeducational opportunities.Trytolearnwhatinterestsyouandthen
go aftergettingthe educationyouneedtoqualify.
Mid CareerExample: Inmy case,duringmyearlycareer,I foundthree areasI was interestedin –
InformationTechnology,Finance/AccountingandProjectManagement. Thatwasthe goodnews.The
bad newswasthat I wasconfusedanduncertainaboutmy future direction.The answertowhat I should
do nextwill differforeveryone,buttwothingsare clear.The firstis that eachof us needstogetthis
questionresolvedunlesswe canlive withoutfindingthe answer.Butgiventhe amountof time we spend
at work,and whenone considershowcentral workistoour identityandlife,findingthe bestanswerfor
us will be time wellspent.
Fortunately,apowerful tool isavailabletohelp withyourplanning.It’snotthe onlytool andmaybe not
necessarilythe besttool foreveryone.Butitworkedverywellforme, anditcan foranyone willingto
devote areasonable amountof time andthought. The tool I’mgoingto describe iscalledaholistic
careerevaluation. If youare planningtohave one administered,be sure todiscusswhatyouwill getout
of the session(s) withthe provideraheadof time.
In the course of myresearch, I talkedtopeople whoadvertisedthemselvesas‘CareerCounselors’.I
decidedtheydidn’toffermuch additionalhelp tome atthisstage of my career,otherthan basicallyjust
providingaskillsinventory,whichtells youwhere yourstrengthsandweaknessesare.
On the otherhand,a holisticevaluationincludesthat,butalsoanalyzesyourpersonality,motivation,
likesanddislikesandotherso-called‘soft’factors. Itputsall of thisinformationtogetherandcomesup
witha listof jobsthat bestfityour combined criteria.
For example,myevaluationnotedthatI’msomewhatanalytical,butthatI alsoenjoyworkingwith
people.Puttingthattogetherwithmystrongwritingskills,itwassuggestedthatone of the thingsI’d
enjoydoingisworkingupa newjobsearchstrategyand preparinga new resume forclients.Idothis
professionallytoday.

3. Anotheroutputof my evaluationwasthatIlikedall three of mybackgroundsandshouldstaywiththem.
Gettingthissort of validationisinvaluable.Iwentontoget more trainingineacharea (Finance,ITand
ProjectManagemnt) andcan now see how well eachcomplimentsthe othertwoareas. I’ve been
happilymakingagoodlivingasa Financial /IT ProjectManager the last 15 years.