How to develop a career plan?
If you want to develop your career, you of course need ambition and motivation , but you also and above all need to define a career plan. This is not a “one-step” plan where you just aim to change jobs for something more lucrative or more interesting. The career plan goes beyond that. It consists of a set of objectives and actions allowing you to achieve, in the long term, your professional objective. Without this, it will be difficult for you to decide what direction you want to take in your professional life. Follow our practical guide for career management that allows you to both develop your potential and achieve your set goals!
Where are you currently located?
Before determining where you want to go and what route you want to take, you need to take stock of your current situation . To do this, carry out a self-assessment of your professional situation, your personality, your preferences, your skills and your values.
From this self-assessment, you have successfully determined your skills, whether technical or behavioral . You now know what sets you apart, and what gives you added value in the professional world . It is these strengths that will allow you to take the next step in your career.
Where do you want to go?
Based on this assessment of skills career plan and your professional experience, now formulate your ideas on the type of position and sector that interest you, in the form of a brainstorming session : write down all the ideas that come to mind! You must start from the principle that nothing is impossible , but you must remain realistic and check that your desires match your skills, and that economic reality allows your objectives to be achieved. Indeed, the profession or activity you are targeting must offer solid long-term future prospects.
It is possible that after this analysis you will come to the conclusion that a professional reorientation is necessary . Remember, it’s never too late for a new career. Even retirees make career plans! For executives, transition management, for example, can open new doors. And if you need help, don’t hesitate to take a skills assessment . Many approved organizations are able to provide you with answers by helping you define a coherent professional project or validate a training project. Carried out during or outside working time, you can now finance this assessment thanks to your Professional Training Account . To create a training file, you simply need to log in to your account on the government website.
Finally, your reflection could even take you beyond French borders. Yes, an international career is also a possibility to consider in your career development. Expatriation is in fact increasingly popular among employees and offers many advantages: more advantageous remuneration, positions of responsibility, or even a more interesting living environment . Closer geographically, it is also possible that your career goal can only be realized outside of the company where you work today. Indeed, in your current company, you only have one choice, that offered by the organization chart.
Finally, we must also take into account the fact that managers often have in mind the career plans of their close colleagues . If you think this is the case, it is useful to compare your career plan and the one envisaged for you, by your manager, during your evaluation interview .
How to get there ?
You have defined your career direction and made the necessary decisions; you now need to deduce the path to take, the knowledge or experience to acquire and the time necessary to achieve it. How soon do you want to reach the first step of your plan? What means will you have to implement to achieve this? What tools do you need? Above all, take your time and proceed step by step for greater peace of mind. Successful people, whether athletes, businessmen or artists, are always incredibly focused on one goal, then another when the first is achieved and so on. To help you, specify your objectives and define a skills assessment by answering the following questions:
