Career planning, career changing
Through most of the 20th century, the typical working life included one career only. People started in their youth with one company or government department, and 30, 40 or 50 years later, finished their working life, still with that same company.
Over the last twenty years or so, the work scene has become very different. And career planning is a concept that more or less everyone is familiar with.
Today, it is common for people to change careers several times over the course of their working life.
How successful an individual is in making transitions from one career to another, can at least be partially attributed to the level of career planning and preparation.
At some stage, probably every worker needs to take the time to step away from the day-to-day grind of work and spend quality time reflecting on career. It is important to look at options and develop plans for the future. It is in this process that Human Resources specialists can offer practical guidelines to employees.
Of course, work is just one expression of life. When an individual finds that a once-satisfying job no longer offers the same enjoyment that it used to offer, it may be time to consider preparing for another, more meaningful pursuit.
Being "finished" with a current role is the first step toward opening up to the possibilities of a career transition. But how do you break out? This is where career planning can help.
A worthwhile approach is to think of career planning as building bridges from a current job/career to the next. Without the bridge, many people stumble or lose their way, but with the bridge there is safety and direction.
Some practical guidelines for people approaching a career move can include:
- Work out where you want to get to:As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you want to go, any road will get you there”. For career change it is valuable to have a plan of where you want to get to, and how you intend to get there which may well include plans for re-skilling.
- Network:all business involves people and knowing people can only help an individual’s cause. The benefits of networking include liaising with people both within and beyond ones current organisation. Plus, the more you know about the organisation you work for, or want to work for, the better.
- Keep up-to-date in your industry:It is always useful to be up-to-date, but when a person is thinking about a possible move, it is especially useful to keep abreast of issues and new trends in their industry. However, just as ‘you can’t fatten the pig on market day’, similarly developing in depth industry knowledge is a long-term process.
Changing your career at any age can be very unsettling. However, for some people over 40, it can seem very tough indeed. Some older people can be weighed down by factors such as age discrimination and the opportunity, or lack of it, for further education. However, there are now countless examples of much older people making successful changes.
One of the essentials for all people, including the over 40s, is to take an inventory of skills. It is good to write down a very specific and detailed list of skills and competencies from personal skills such as listening and writing skills, to technical skills and any particular workplace skills.
For many people it is a matter of assessing themselves carefully, exploring career options, setting realistic and achievable goals and then giving it a try. The ‘giving it a try’ might be the hardest part but it has to be done or nothing practical is achieved.
When you begin something as new and as different as starting a new career, you may make mistakes. And that’s what frightens many people. But it is all part of the learning process and without implementation, all the most brilliant plans are useless.
And realistically, no matter how much and how detailed the planning is, set-backs can pop up. Where the steps taken do not work out perfectly as planned, it is often necessary to change tack. In most situations, there are numerous ways to achieve a desired goal.