Planning out your career path helps reach your professional goals. Mapping your career objectives and the steps needed to reach them helps create a timeline for professional advancement.
Understanding what you want from your career creates a path forward. This increases your odds of building a satisfying, long-term career.
Follow these steps to plan out your career path.
Research Potential Careers
Learn all about the career paths that interest you. Consider going online, talking with your professional connections, and setting up informational interviews to assist with the process. Include the education, skills, and other qualifications essential for success in each path. Also, find out what professionals in related roles like and dislike about their jobs.
Look for Growing Job Markets
Determine which of your preferred career paths has the strongest growth potential. Use sources such as industry publications, online news, and data-based studies from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Discussions with experts in the field and a recruiter from a local staffing firm that specializes in the field can provide insight into which career paths have the greatest potential and highest compensation. These also are top sources to learn more about job openings.
Develop Your Job Qualifications
Look for opportunities to gain the knowledge, skills, and experience required for your career path. This may require participating in webinars, taking a class, or gaining certification. It also could involve volunteering with a nonprofit organization, securing an internship, or job shadowing.
Better yet, land a temporary job with a local staffing firm that specializes in your industry. You can spend a set amount of time determining whether the work is right for you. If it is, you can pursue other opportunities, including full-time employment, when your contract ends. Or, if the career path is not a good fit, you can pursue other interests.
Create Career Goals
Divide your career path into small goals. Ensure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
Setting milestones for your career path helps you understand what you want to achieve and when. This provides motivation to continue moving forward. It also helps track your progress and measure your success.
Need Additional Help Planning Out Your Career Path?
Partner with a recruiter from ektello to develop a plan for your digital, creative, marketing, or IT career path and land your first role. Visit our job board today!
