What are the best ways to evaluate a career development plan?

I personally think it depends upon how one lands up in his/her first job. I am a Finance Professional and hence will take an example from Finance only. Let’s take an example of a Fresh CA. If he lands up with HDFC Bank as his/her First Job vs. Pidilite, his/her Strategy for future career has to be different. A Finance Professional can excel in Finance or Accounts or Taxation etc. If someone starts with a Bank, then his goal is different than if one starts with a Manufacturing Company. Here, one needs guidance from an expert which can be your boss also. Self Assessment of own skill and aptitude is also very important. Similarly, a CFO material will realise by himself/herself if he/she has the material. Accordingly he can set goals.

Stellen Sie sicher, dass die Ziele im Karriereentwicklungsplan spezifisch, messbar, erreichbar, relevant und zeitgebunden (SMART) sind. Dies erm?glicht eine klare Definition von Zielen und Erfolgskriterien. - Regelm??ige überprüfung - Feedback einholen: - Messbare Fortschritte - Involvieren von Vorgesetzte (Mentoren) # - Zufriedenheit und Engagement messen - Benchmarking Achten Sie darauf, Erfolge zu feiern und die erzielten Fortschritte zu würdigen. Positive Verst?rkung st?rkt die Motivation des Mitarbeiters.

Once the “Goal” is set, it’s time to walk the path and time to time review the same. The best two ways to do this are - 1. Seek Feedback 2. Do Self Assessment While seeking feedback, it can be from three types of people - 1. Those who are going to be favourable to you 2. Those who will be your critics 3. Neutral No. 2 and 3 are extremely important as they will give you the “Not So Good” feedback and that’s going to actually help you. No. 1 can be a little biased and hence their feedback must be checked once more by your “Self Assessment “ Unfortunately, in India many bosses are not open to honest feedback. If the Working Managers can groom their Team Members with continuous Constructive Feedback, nothing can be better.

There can be a Plan, there can be Feedbacks, which can be biased at times, in either way. The best way is to do a Self Assessment after all those feedback. A person by himself/herself is the best judge of his/her capabilities. So, he/she needs to filter all the feedbacks through his/her own Self Assessment. My personal experience says, we, ourselves are the best critics for ourselves. Since, I had started my career as a Regional Accountant in Onida, I slowly started thinking about the long term plan of becoming a Head of Finance or CFO. This Self Assessment is extremely important. If one gets an exposure in IPO or M&A once, he can encash that and slowly become an IPO or M&A Expert where demand is high and supply is limited.

I always thought, a Good Start is very very important to build up a good and definite Career. One can work well and learn well in any company. But if someone starts with a good and big company, the learning is invaluable. It’s not only because of the Company, but also because of the Leaders under which he/she will be groomed. The Culture is also learned and earned there. That’s why, for the first 1-2 jobs of the career, one is to choose very wisely. This can be a deciding factor for the entire career. In this stage money etc. shouldn’t be the deciding factor. Money will come automatically if the grooming is done proper. The youngsters must remember this. It’s a time to invest in a long term career and not to earn only money.