About the skill Career planning can assist you in becoming more knowledgeable of your needs, values, and personal goals through the following three-step, self-assessment process.
Identify and organize your skills, interests, work-related needs, and values. The best place to begin is by drawing up a profile of your educational record. List each school attended from high school on. What courses do you remember liking most and least? Solve In what courses did you score highest and lowest? Solve In what extracurricular activities did you participate? Solve Did you acquire any specific skills? Solve Have you gained proficiency in other skills? Solve Next, begin to assess your occupational experience. List each job you have held, the organization you worked for, your overall level of satisfaction, what you liked most and least about the job, and why you left. It’s important to be honest in covering each of these points. Convert this information into general career fields and specific job goals.
By completing step 1, you should now have some insights into your interests and abilities. Now look at how these can convert into organizational settings or fields of endeavor with which you will be a good match. Then become specific and identify distinct job goals. What fields are available? Solve In business? Solve In government? Solve In nonprofit organizations? Solve Break your answer down further into areas such as education, financial, manufacturing, social services, or health services. Identifying areas of interest is usually far easier than pinpointing specific occupations. When you identify a limited set of occupations that interest you, you can start to align these with your abilities and skills. Will certain jobs require you to move? Solve If so, would this be compatible with your geographic preferences? Solve Do you have the educational requirements necessary for the job? Solve If not, what additional schooling will you need? Solve Does the job offer the status and earning potential that you aspire to? Solve What is the long-term outlook for jobs in this field? Solve Does the career suffer from cyclical employment? Solve No job is without its drawbacks—have you seriously considered all the negative aspects? Solve When you have fully answered questions such as these, you should have a relatively short list of specific job goals. 3. Test your career possibilities against the realities of the organization or the job market. The final step in this self assessment process is testing your selection against the realities of the marketplace. Go out and talk with knowledgeable people in the fields, organizations, or jobs you desire. These informational interviews should provide reliable feedback as to the accuracy of your self-assessment and the opportunities in the fields and jobs that interest you.
