Career Planning -- Do you need it?

Before asking others, I asked myself, “did I do career planning?”  The answer is neither a straight Yes nor a loud No.   Quite a bit of my career happened, but a few important steps/decisions were taken consciously and proactively.  In that sense, I didn't go through a ‘formal’ career planning process. I was, however, conscious enough to assess and exercise my career options at different points of time in my career.   I have also checked with some of my friends on how much of their careers were planned.  The answers were pretty similar – a lot of it just happened but in most cases there was an implicit sense of direction, a sense of where to go.

My father didn't have a career plan. In those days, it was even simpler.  There were fewer choices and almost no uncertainties once they started their careers.  Most careers were well defined, predictable and had long term visibility – lifelong employment was a norm.  Under such circumstances, there was very little need for planning.

Unfortunately, the circumstances have changed and have been changing drastically. There is no life-long employment, no predictability in jobs, little or no visibility of career-paths but you still need to work for a good 30-50 years.   You want a meaningful engagement, need enough money to feed your family and perhaps also have a desire to make an impact. You need a career that provides you all these things over a long period of time. Does it happen all by itself ?

Be assured that it won’t just happen by itself. Being a leaf in the wind does not give you the freedom to go wherever you want to go. When you are at the mercy of the wind, it can dump you in a garbage or take you to the top of the mountain. You need career planning as a tool to take control of your career. It also helps you to deal with uncertainties and changes. The act of planning makes you think and assess your position. A plan helps you document your thoughts, share with others, review it periodically, update and refine it with changing times.

If you have read up to this point, you might be having some obvious questions like – What does a career plan look like? Where do I start? Can I do it myself or do I need help from an expert?

Career plan is not (or should not be) a long complicated document that documents your desired career for next 30 years in great details. It's a place to hold your thoughts and it's amenable to frequent updates based on changing circumstances, There is also no restriction on when should you start a career plan. You may just be a fresh graduate about to start a career or a mid-career executive or even someone about to retire -- each one of you can have a plan based on your unique needs and wants.

Create a simple and SMART career plan with the following basic components..

1. Starting point – An understanding of your current position ( “You are Here”)
2. Milestones – A set of milestones on the way to your destination
3. Action Items – Tasks you need to carry out to reach the next milestone
4. Review points – Periodic as well as event-driven review of the plan
5. Target – Where you want to go in your given time frame.

Start your plan with a Time Frame and Target Destination in mind. How do you choose your target destination is a matter of another article to be discussed later. For now, let's assume that you have a clear target in mind. Regarding choosing the time frame, a 3-5 years of time frame is perhaps the best. There is very little visibility for anything more than 5 years and anything less than 3 years may be a bit short to achieve something significant. Having said that, you are the best judge to choose a time frame based on your unique needs and circumstances.

Once the target is identified, work backward to identify intermediate milestones. Each milestone is an intermediate target. Every time you reach a milestone, you are a step closer to the final destination. There is no rule on how many milestones you should have or how the milestones should be spaced out. It may be a good idea not to have equally spaced milestones as you tend to have higher visibility in immediate future. Immediate milestones should be more specific and more milestones are packed in a short period of time.

Planning is of no use unless you act on it. Action items are specific tasks that you need to do to reach the milestones. Do a gap analysis between your current career state and the next career state (next milestone). A good gap analysis will reveal what all you need to do to reach the next milestone within a specified time frame.

In a fast changing world, a static plan is of no use. Neither does it help to be impulsive and react to every day changes. Review points help you balance between these two extremes. On one hand, it allows you to be proactive and keep the plan aligned with changing realities and personal circumstances. On the other hand, it stops you from making hasty and impulsive decisions.

Review points should be periodic (say, every 6 months or 1 year) as well as event driven (e.g., reaching a milestone or an external event that had an impact on your job/career). It may be a good idea to review your major career decisions with a mentor of your choice.

Are you skilled enough to create a career plan?  You can certainly make an attempt. If you need help, seek help of a career mentor and share your thoughts (and may be a draft plan) with him/her. A good mentor brings higher level of awareness and expertise and acts as a good ‘bouncing board’.

As always, do share the article if you find it useful. Also, looking forward to your comments and perspectives.

Thanks and Regards

Dr Susanta Misra

Founder and CEO, NICEFIT Career Consulting Pvt Ltd

[email protected]