Posted by ” The best way to predict a future is to create it “
Abraham Lincoln.
With the clock ticking, young graduates are anxious to find a firm footing in a career leading to a bright future. Career options are one too many, and there lies a gap between what these graduates want and the opportunities that are available out there. There are several new career choices and job roles across varied industries; however, the gap lies within the awareness concerning these job roles.
What is career planning?
Working with a roadmap just after graduation is the primer to planning a successful career. Students and job seekers need to consistently match career goals with his /her strengths and capabilities against an ambition. Identifying the right opportunity, analyzing skill sets, and working on the same over the most extended period is a fail-proof route to a bright future. A plan encourages people to explore and gather info, that permits them to synthesize, gain competencies, create selections, set goals, and act.
How does one plan a career?
1. Self-assessment.
Taking stock of individual strengths, life-style preferences, passions, work style, and money demands plays a vital role in planning a future. Take a keen interest in your current career values, interests, skills, and unique qualities.
A career counselor can help with personalized direction, exercises that can be taken up, interest/personality inventories.
2. Relevant research.
Once your interests, skills, and your temperament are understood, it’s time to seek out the proper match. This stage involves assessing relevant job choices and investigating them thoroughly. During this analysis, you may discover several new avenues, other career choices, typical entry points, advancement opportunities, etc. to work out a specific career that would be a decent fit for you. Further, you may need to speak to varied people that square measure concerned therein particular field and may offer you an improved insight into the profession.
3. Experimentation
Once your self-assessment and research are complete, it is time to slim down the choices by experimenting as much as you can. You may consider freelancing, essential internships, or part-time jobs that can extend hands-on expertise based on what is selected and enables you to decide on a specific job. You can also begin this during college days. You may take on-campus roles associated with potential job functions of interest or selecting project-oriented courses associated with attainable career targets.
For example, if you’re considering digital marketing as a career, you may choose a path wherever you may formulate campaigns for a product as a project, or by selecting a course by that, you’ll master the art of writing blogs, content if you’re searching for employment is copywriting.
4. Decision-Making
Once you’ve got a hand within the expertise of different job choices, it becomes easier to settle on from. Now you have more significant decisions such as relocation and value analysis that need to be considered. Have a fair idea of where you see yourself starting and proceed from there.
5. Job Search in line with your ambition.
And here begins the hardest part- What kind of a job would you like? Would you love an active role which involves skilled networking, interacting, and leading a team after a point? Would you rather sit down and be left to yourself to focus? Do you have an endless thirst to upskill, learn, and grow in your role? Make a choice based on the characteristics of the opportunity that presents itself to you.
6. Acceptance.
Sooner or later, you may be offered employment, and this moment can mark the start of your career and a bright future. Especially when you are just starting a job cannot be expected to meet all of your demands, and therefore, there must be some level of acceptance concerning what is available. It might be wise to remember that nothing needs to be final and rigid, and the entire process may repeat if you feel that things are not going as per your expectations.
Last but never, the awareness of trends in employment needs to be mandatory. If it means networking and being active in social media to keep abreast of updates and news, one must indulge in it for an hour or two in a day. We live in an evolved employment market today; there are scores of opportunities that are available; all one needs is to plan a career effectively.