Career planning has no ceiling

In today’s age, people tend to switch jobs and change careers more than ever before. Therefore, career planning assumes great significance. It cannot be regarded as an activity to be indulged once and then forgotten. You should regard it as one that offers ideas about what you intend to achieve in your life besides emancipation and satisfaction.

The process of career planning is not as difficult as generally perceived to be and you need not be unnecessarily apprehensive about it. Here are some simple suggestions to go about it:

·   Let it be a yearly affair: Don’t we celebrate our birthdays or anniversaries? So why not career planning? You will need to find a day or two for the purpose and apply yourself optimally to discern what you actually want to do and achieve in life. You will have to ensure that there are no interruptions and disturbances to facilitate a pragmatic identification of your potential impediments and measures to overcome them.

·   Review what you have done: You need to evaluate whatever has transpired since the last time you indulged in career planning. Without getting into details, you should ponder on the course that you set out on and whether it has been smooth sailing or a bumpy ride. You will thus be able to understand why your journey has been as it has been. It will also help you to identify your shortcomings and ways and means to do things better.

·   Ponder over your preferences:  It is likely that a pursuit that you have been indulging in is not as satisfying as it was a couple of years ago. You need to mull over various aspects of your work and life; what you like and what you do not; and what your aspirations are all about. The findings can then be used to scrutinize your present career and job. If your findings are not in consonance with your job, perhaps it is time for a change.

·   Reflect on your leisure activities: You do not work 24/7 and would be indulging in other activities as well. A large majority of people want to give wings to their passions because then they are their own bosses in the true sense of the word. . For example, Srikkanth and Venkatraghavan, both great Indian cricketers are engineers but loved playing cricket. They gave up their technical profession and opted for the game; their success was phenomenal. Hobbies are great pursuits as a career too.

·   Recall your attainments: We tend to disregard our successes and fail to include them in our curriculum vitae. You must keep a record of your triumphs as they are of great utility in career planning. There is great likelihood that an achievement that you regard as trivial can prove to be a monumental asset in boosting your career.

·   Look beyond the horizon:  Many people get so much engrossed in their job that they have no time to think about any alternatives. There is typical expertise related to a particular job. Rather than having a frog-in-the-well approach, you should catalogue yourself in terms of requisite proficiencies. Resultantly, you will be better geared to apply such skills to a plethora of jobs in diverse careers.

·   Gain knowledge about new drifts: You need to be forward-looking and imagine yourself where you stand several years down the line. To that extent, you need to keep yourself updated on various new trends related to the job and career market. You will thus be able to determine what additional qualifications you need to acquire to climb up your career ladder. Most importantly, you should not be apprehensive of setting your sights on things beyond, that is alternative careers.

·   Identify objectives and targets: You should formulate a concrete plan for succeeding in your current job and career. The objectives and aims that you set for yourself should be pertinent to both immediate and distant future. And as you move forward, a stock-taking will be necessitated so that you can apply mid-term corrections to remain on rails.

            The fact is that career planning has no restrictions vis-à-vis your experience and even age. It is a highly beneficial activity that eventually results in a successful life. After all, you want to do well in your life and that implies a continual assessment and evaluation. The process of career planning helps you to do precisely that.