Where Are You Going?

“You can’t row a boat in two directions at the same time” - Anonymous

What? You haven’t mapped out your career already? Don’t worry just yet. You’re still in the majority, but you shouldn’t stay there for very long. More and more individuals, and companies, are making career mapping part of the picture. Whether for development purposes or as part of an organizational succession planning process they are finding that involving the employees rather than simply relying on a few individuals in management has its benefits.

With the current economic picture even those who had long considered themselves to be locked into their careers have been forced with reevaluating. Cutbacks, mergers, and shifts have left many companies at crossroads and many careers in a state of disorientation. Creating a career map can become a lifeline for hardworking employees who have gotten off track, or who simply want something different and need guidance on their way.

Get The Proper Viewpoint
Step one in creating your career map is to run an unbiased check on your current position. This isn’t always easy to do. Put yourself in the role of a career consultant and look at your career the career of a client. Take note as to how you came to be where you are, and document the end goal of where you want to be. In order to create a proper map you will need to visualize the entire path over a given amount of time.

Some considerations:

·        Establish an ideal position & salary

·        Determine the length of your plan. You may want more than one.

·        Write down desired locations, involve your family or loved ones

·        Know what you DON’T want to do

Plan Your Work
If you are going to create an effective & realistic career map you’ll need to do some digging. Find the individuals in your company who can help you to achieve your internal goals, or speak to those who are currently at your desired position level. This will give you a much fuller picture of how you can navigate your mapped path. Ask about specific actions that helped other arrive and document what they tell you. Aside from speaking directly with incumbents you can bolster your research with trade magazines, websites, and industry analysis as it pertains to the position – or better yet state your career goals to an incumbent and see if you can create a mentorship.

Some Considerations:

• Identify the best research vehicles before you begin
• Approach a potential mentor with care and forethought
• Formulate good, results-oriented questions for your target conversations

Work Your Plan
Now that you’ve got an idea of where you would like to go, and the path it takes to go about getting there, you need to consider how you can make turn your goals into reality. Landing your dream job is rarely easy, and you will need to become your own promotional agent as you prepare to market yourself. Self-marketing isn’t comfortable for everyone, but you can learn to become more comfortable with it by doing the following:

Know your product: Just like any company you need to know how to position your product – in this case it’s you! Make a list of your biggest benefits and build your self-marketing program to take advantage of those specific characteristics.

Run a SWOT analysis: Use the help of friends and colleagues to point out the strengths and weaknesses of which you may not be aware. Ask them for both personal and professional opinions. It is likely to be as important to be aware of you weaknesses as your strengths, and provides you with new development opportunities as well.

Create a career oriented One Page Business Plan™ and outlines your mission, vision, objectives, strategies, and action plan. This format gives you an at-a-glance view of what it will take from both a strategic and tactical viewpoint. Following it will also help you to reduce career “scope creep” and keep you on the right path. Click here to download a Microsoft Word version of the One Page Business Plan.

Don’t expect An Easy Road
You’ve worked hard to get where you are. Creating a career map will benefit your career and provide you clarity, but it’s a rare occasion indeed when the chips fall exactly as we plan. There will be bumps in the road, and detours in your path, but stick to your plan and continually bring yourself back to it. If your map is realistic, clear, and financially responsible you’ll find it to be an invaluable tool in keeping your career on track, and providing you with a level of comfort in knowing what you want and how to achieve it.