When Was Your Last Career Planning Session?

By:Sandra Stammberger

Career planning is not an activity that should be done once and then left behind as you move forward in your jobs and careers.

Instead, career planning is an activity that is best done on a regular basis. You may already know that the average worker will change careers many times over his or her lifetime.

That is why, it is never too soon or too late to start your own career planning.

Career planning is not a tedious activity, not something to be dreaded or put off. It should be an activity that should be liberating and fulfilling. There should be goals to achieve in your current career or plans for beginning a transition to a new career.

As a whole, career planning should be a rewarding and positive experience.

Here, then, are some tips to help you achieve successful career planning.

1. Make career planning an annual event.

Many of us have myriad of other things on an annual basis, so why not career planning?

Find a day or weekend once a year and schedule a retreat for yourself. Try to block out all distractions so that you have the time to truly focus on your career -- what you really want out of your career, out of your life.

By making career planning an annual event, you will feel more secure in your career choice and direction. You will be better prepared for the many uncertainties and difficulties that lie ahead in all of our jobs and career.

2. Map your path since last career planning

One of your first activities whenever you take on career planning is spending time mapping out your job and career path since the last time you did any sort of career planning.

While you should not dwell on your past, taking the time to review and reflect on the path will help you plan for the future.

Once you have mapped your past, take the time to reflect on your course. Note why it looks the way it does.

Are you happy with your path? Could you have done things better? What might you have done differently? What can you do differently in the future?

3. Reflect on your likes and dislikes, needs and wants

Change is one factor of life. Everybody changes, as do our likes and dislikes. Something we loved doing two years ago may now give us displeasure. So always take time to reflect on the things in your life that you feel most strongly about.

Make a two-column list of your major likes and dislikes. Then use this list to examine your current job and career path. If your job and career still fall mostly in the like column, then you know you are still on the right path; however, if your job activities fall mostly in the dislike column, now is the time to begin examining new jobs and new careers.

Finally, take the time to really think about what it is you want or need from your work, from your career.

Are you looking to make a difference in the world? To be famous? To become financially independent? To effect change? Take the time to understand the motives that drive your sense of success and happiness.

After all this has been done, you will see that the time given on your career planning is a time well spent.

Digg del.icio.us Blink Stumble Spurl Reddit Netscape Furl

Article Source: http://www.articles2k.com

S. Stammberger is the owner of Job
Interview Helper. A website where you can find useful tools, news, tips and recommended career sites.

Top Career Articles
1). Learn How To Draw Realistic Faces By : Adam Reeder Drawing a face isn’t as hard as it looks. To begin, you start with an egg shaped oval. Draw a line down the center of this egg. This line will giv
2). Pharmacist Resume Samples Will Help You Create An Unmistakable Resume! By : Robert Marcus Pharmacist resumes must have information of your experience relevant to the position in a quick and clear format. Employers are interested in a highly qualified person and customer friendly attitude. Apart from highlighting your qualifications, contact information, experience etc, the following points will provide a hint on how to prepare the resume for a Pharmacist position.
3). How To Write The Best Teacher Resume You Can By : Laura Adams It should come as no surprise that there is a currently a shortage of teachers in the United States. This unfortunate trend has been seen for well over a decade. To compound the issue, recent labor studies have predicted that teaching positions will likely continue to grow faster than the national average for the next several years due to recent government regulations to reduce class size and increase educational accountability.
4). Skilled Workers Needed By Auto Industry By : David Sanders An auto dealership job may put you on the road to a rewarding career-particularly if you're a veteran. Military veterans have the skills and work ethic needed for many careers. A new study by Harris Interactive estimates there are more than 100,000 career jobs currently available at auto dealerships across the country. The report also found that auto dealers hired more than 15,000 veterans since January 2004.
5). Reflections on "How to Do what you Love" by Paul Graham through Meditation. By : Swami Satchidanand I was reading "How to Do what you Love" by Paul Graham last night and because I loved it so much I decided to write a little more of me into it.
6). Keys To Getting The Law Enforcement Job You Want By : Don Cirillo These days, when uncertain economic times are putting many careers in doubt, an increasing number of people are looking to work in law enforcement. And there are very good reasons for this. As many industries have shrunk, North American communities have steadily increased their budgets for law enforcement. Police officers now enjoy better pay and often outstanding benefits.
7). Nursing facts that everyone should know By : Suzanne Verita Most people say it is a career about caring. Others say it is a job about professional administration of medications and cure to patients. Some say it is the duty to work out predicaments by using critical thinking skills. In whatever way you want to call it, nursing is, indeed, a conglomeration of all these beliefs and the faculty of many other skills.
8). The Female Firefighter By : Barney Garcia Firefighting is no longer just the domain of the male. Just like every other career, trade, or profession women have made inroads into this traditionally male territory.
9). How To Achieve A Balanced And Healthy Lifestyle In Retirement By : Cynthia Barnett Now that you’ve retired, you have entered an entirely new phase of life, a life filled with new challenges, adventure and hopefully one that brings you complete and total satisfaction. However, if you’re like most people, change isn’t always easy and is sometimes stressful. This stress is completely normal but may be compounded if you don’t learn how to balance all the demands on your time.
10). Career - Test Your Negotiation Skills By : CD Mohatta Negotiation is part of every professional’s life. To negotiate, means to arrive at an understanding with another person, so that both of you are satisfied with the results. Do you know what is your skill in negotiation? If not, why not test and find out because most of our interactions demand negotiation. You are negotiating with your love partner about which place to go for dinner.

New Career Articles
1). Quitting Your Job Can Be A Reality By : Jeff Schuman Thanks to the internet anyone living anywhere can quit their jobs and live their dreams. You just to need get started planning how you are going to do it.
2). Job Hunting On A Shoestring By : David Cassell Tips that you can easily implement to stay in the black during your job search
3). Unemployment Blues: Reframing The Pain By : Virginia Bola In addition to the anger and fear generated by job loss, there is the total emotional devastation of being figuratively thrown on a pile of human debris.
4). Employment Interviewing: Ask For The Job By : Virginia Bola During any interview, it is important to display unabashed enthusiasm for this position, with this company, at this time.
5). The Business Opportunity of a Private Investigator By : Robert Gravener In this article we talk about some of the opportunities that are out there for a Private Investigator and what aspects of this exciting career may be or not be for you.
6). How to Answer Interview Questions: A Guide to Job Seekers By : Dave Poon When seeking for a job, it is important that you are ready when you face your future employer. The most challenging part is the interview.
7). Are You In The Right Job? By : Garry Zancanaro If you become known as a person that can be relied upon to get a job done, who is efficient and productive, has initiative and is prepared to accept challenges, and has a positive attitude to your work and your co-workers, you will be considered a great asset by any well run organisation.
8). Unemployment Blues: Mind Over Mood By : Virginia Bola Unemployment plays havoc with our emotional system. We take a number of hits all at once: loss of occupational identity, economic pressure, family anxiety, and the humiliation of job search.
9). Prolonged Unemployment: Reconnecting With The Labor Market By : Virginia Bola If you have been unemployed for an extended period of time, you know that potential employers are going to look at your long period of unemployment with a jaundiced eye.
10). Your Online Home Internet Business By : james lowe The triumphs and traumas of starting your entrepreneur career on the internet