Know where you want to go, but not sure how to get there?

You need a Career Development GPS!

A career plan helps you determine your skills and interests, what career best suits your talents, and what skills and training you need for your chosen career.

By developing a career plan, you can focus on what you want to do and how to get there.

In this process, start by brainstorming what you might like to do, and particularly what you enjoy most. Feel free to think big, explore some audacious ideas, say ‘yes’ to whatever comes to mind. This is important, as you may find a theme emerging when you do that.

Don’t underestimate the power of your values, either. When a job or work environment doesn’t line up with your values, you are more likely to be unhappy or dissatisfied.

Listing key skills, experience, personal attributes and values will help you line up your planning with who you are and what is important to you. This can then help with the investigating stage of finding out who might employ someone like you.

Then when you are ready to develop your resume, you will have a better understanding of your career objective, skills and experiences to include and then to discuss with potential employers.

Many people do not take enough time to think and plan their career, and considering how much time of our lives we spend at work, and how much time and money we spend on education, it’s surprising how little we value the planning process or paying for some good advice along the way. A careers coach can actually save you wasting a lot of time, money and energy.

Creating a Career Map provides a simple way to guide your planning. Career Maps contain detailed information to facilitate choices, based on individual talent and organizational needs. Thus, they enable HR organizations and employees separately or together to choose development paths that build intersections between career aspirations and the needs of the business.

Like a GPS in your car, Career Maps display alternative routes or options to help you build mastery in your chosen profession. The key to the GPS is that you log in where you are and where you want to go. There are different routes that take you there, but the one constant is the final destination.  It’s ok to take some side tracks in your career journey, as they can be rich sources of adventure, creating opportunities for new skills, experiences and relationships that staying on the main road may not have given you. And you may also discover something about yourself you didn’t know!

So, take some time to have a look at where you are, where you want to go and start planning how you could get there. And if the road has some more deviations in it than you would prefer, remember that life is a journey, its all part of the same trip, so you may as well enjoy the view!

For assistance in creating your personal Career Map call 1300 363 128 to book a time with Harvest Careers.