Where were you in your career this time last year? Does your answer
describe the exact same place, position and salary you were in last
year?
If so, it’s time for a career growth plan to transform your success and take control over your career.
There’s
nothing wrong with taking your time to achieve a goal, or to even set a
goal to maintain and thrive in your current position. But staying in
"idle" for too long can derail your ambitions and leave you wondering
where the rest of your colleagues went as they raced up the ladder to
success. Here are eight steps to lay out a career growth plan that puts
you in the driver’s seat:
1. Reflect on 2015.
Kickstart
your career growth plan by reflecting on your failures, successes and
near hits and misses from 2015. Take some time to consider what you
learned and enjoyed from the last year and what you want to leave
behind. Get some clarity by documenting your milestones on how you
directly impacted your job and company with your skills and
contributions.
As
you’re going through this process, don’t write down just general
thoughts. Get specific. If, for example, you did N200,000 in sales as a
salesperson, knowing that number will allow you to set better growth
milestones for 2016 (say, to improve your sales by 5 percent, to N210,000). If your biggest goal was to sell more, and all you wrote down
was “Increase sales,” you wouldn’t know whether N150,000 or N250,000
represented an increase over your 2015 numbers.
The more you can
chart out and visualize your strengths, weakness, likes and dislikes,
the easier you'll find it to design a career growth plan that works.
2. Research job trends.
Before
diving headfirst into a growth plan, stop to research current job and
career trends. It may not be realistic to pivot and change careers right
now, or it may be entirely possible to make some advancements, with
careful planning and new certifications or degrees. Either way, you
won’t know until you’ve done some solid research on where your field is
heading.
Your career growth plan can also include researching thriving side business you could start in your spare time.
Steve Chou,
for example, launched a wedding linen business with his wife and earned
$100,000 in their first year of business. He still holds down a day job
while maintaining a popular blog and ecommerce course.
3. Identify your new career goals.
Once
you’ve reflected on what went right and wrong in 2015 and researched
job trends, start charting out your new career goals. But it’s not
enough to sit around and daydream about all the fantasies associated
with stepping into your new career. Brainstorm how to make each goal
happen whether you're taking on new responsibilities at work or earning a
new degree.
As an example, suppose your big aim for 2016 is to
make a lateral move within your company to a department you believe
offers better growth potential and more personal fulfilment. Answering
the following questions will help you chart a course to achieve this
goal:
- Do I need to pursue any additional education? If so,
how long will it take to complete? Where will I get that education? Are
there any prerequisites I need to fulfill ahead of time?
- Whom
do I need on my side? How can I get my current boss on board? How can I
connect with stakeholders and decision-makers in my new department?
- What
kind of work can I do now to prepare myself for the transition? Is
there anything I can do that goes above and beyond to prove my value to
my new department? Can I begin helping out on any projects within the
department?
The more information you have, the better prepared you’ll be to make your goals a reality in 2016.
4. Create your own career marketing plan,
It’s
up to you to turn your career into a thriving venture and
position yourself as a coveted asset. Create your own marketing plan to
generate buzz and give your credibility a boost.
One way to do that is to sign-up with a site like
HARO,
where you’ll get alerts from journalists looking for input and expert
quotes for their articles; and add press clips about yourself to your
LinkedIn profile or online portfolio. Even one quote in a reputable
publication can help advance your career goals.
5. Grow your network.
It’s
never too early -- or too late -- to grow your network, whether through
LinkedIn or attendance at local events in your area. Make curating your
LinkedIn contacts a priority, and offer to lend a hand or some advice.
Offer to connect others to members of your network that could help them,
without expecting anything in return.
The more you organically
grow your network by being generous and sincere, the greater your
chances of being someone worth remembering.
6. Make a big commitment.
What
kind of commitment are you willing to make for yourself and your
career? If sitting around and wishing for a big change hasn’t gotten you
anywhere in 2015, make a new resolution to take action. Invest in a
career coach, training or classes to hone new skills and credentials for
your resume. Look at spending money on yourself, whether through career
counseling or a much-needed investment, like a laptop upgrade.
7. Write down your goals.
Writing
out your goals may seem too simple to really work, but there’s a
science behind that exercise. Jordan Peterson from the University of
Toronto's psychology department
experimented in goal setting
and expressive writing. And the results were stunning. Students
reported turning their lives around, beating addictions, changing their
majors and realizing their goals.
8. Celebrate your successes.
Taking
the time to celebrate successes is just as important as charting out
your path to success. Without acknowledging your accomplishments,
without properly paying them respect, you’re likely to miss the fact
that they ever really happened.
Co-author of
The Geek Gap Minda Zetlin wrote
about missing out on enjoying her successes and the isolation she felt
in setting empty goals and not celebrating them. She recommended setting
both small and big goals and celebrating their successes as a means to
enjoying the journey along the way. A little bragging and thinking about
your life beyond your career can also help give your confidence a boost
and help create more meaning.
What’s on your career
growth plan for 2016, and how do you plan to get there? Share your best
insights by leaving a comment below:
