Creating Your Career Plan

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Host Sheila Boysen-Rotelli is here to talk about how to create and implement a career plan that will bring you true happiness in life. It may seem like a giant monster but with Sheila’s help, you can tackle it one step at a time!



Episode Highlights:

  • Whether you’re very close to your dream job or have a few steps to go, you need to have a career plan

    • A career plan is going to be a constantly evolving process throughout your life

    • Having a career plan helps you to answer the question, “what do you do?”

    • You’ll be able to make smarter decisions about your career

  • Creating your plan can be done in 3 steps:

    • Reflection into yourself is made more effective when taking notes and making lists to assess where you are right now

    • Lists can include what you’re good at and how you want to feel in your next job; prioritize those things

    • Research the jobs that you think you would enjoy and make a list of as many jobs as you can think of

    • Use your network and any resources possible to learn about jobs; you might find some you didn’t even know existed

    • Review these lists that you have made and narrow them down to one or two jobs that would best fit you

    • Think about your skills and strengths and how they would apply to each of these positions

    • Do the job tasks align with how you want to feel at work?

  • Sheila still reassess her plan every 6 months because she knows that as life goes on, people change

  • After you have established your career plan, it’s time to put that plan together

  • Utilize job boards and postings to highlight the different aspects of the job so you know what areas you are good at and what areas you need to work on

    • Green: what you’re really good at and have a lot of experience in

    • Yellow: what you are kind of good at and have a little experience in

    • Red: what you have no experience in

  • Find any way that you can to learn and grow in whatever way that works best for you

  • Write your goal down and make it SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound)

  • Seek out a mentor that has the skills that you’re looking for, can hold you accountable, and sees your blindspot

    • Make a list of the qualities and characteristics that you need your mentor to have

3 Key Points:

  1. The process of creating your career plan involves 3 steps: reflection, research, and review.

  2. It’s important to reassess your career plan one or two times every year. As you go through life, your wants and needs will shift.

  3. There are other ways to learn other than formal training, such as having a mentor or on-the-job learning.

Tweetable Quote

“A career plan is a continual process that you’re going to visit all the way through your career.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“One thought might lead to another, so it’s a good idea to just put it all down.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“There are lots of different ways that you can gain experience and knowledge and upscale yourself.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

“Self-awareness takes reflection.” - Sheila Boysen-Rotelli

Resources Mentioned: