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What do I want to do when I grow up?
Do you remember being asked what you wanted to do when you grew up? Some of us are still asking ourselves that question. That’s because career planning is a process that begins when you are young, and continues throughout your life. The career planning process is just as developmental as growing up. Career planning is a process of discovering who you are, where you are going, and how you will get there. Another way to think about it is as if you were going on a trip; you need to figure out where you’d like to go, how to get there, where to stay, how you will afford it, what to do when you get there, who to take with you, and many other important issues. Just like planning a trip, your career needs to be well planned, too. Simply put, career planning involves the following four steps: 1. Answering the question: Who Am I? What do you like to do? What are you passionate about? What excites you? What are you good at? (Everyone is good at something.) What personality traits do you have that will affect your career or lifestyle choices? How much money will you need or want to earn? Do you want to live in the city or in the country? Are you willing to move to a different part of the country? The world? How much training are you willing to participate in? Will you have the necessary job-seeking skills to get a job? Your answers to these questions will have a large impact on your career choice since everything about you—your career interests, lifestyle, wants and needs—are interrelated. 2. Exploring different careers that match your skills, interests, wants and needs. Once you have discovered what really excites you and have identified your skills, interests, needs and wants, you can explore realistic options. When you explore career options, you are taking the same steps as if you were planning a trip: determining which ones suit you better than any others. It is important to collect as much information about careers What job duties does the career require? What are the working conditions? What skills and/or education will be required? What is the long-range outlook for this career? Will it still be in demand in 10 years? 20 years? What are the wages and benefits of the career? What opportunities for advancement will there be? This is your time to be a true explorer. You are the only person who can discover the fit that works for you. 3. Choosing a career path and implementing your plan. This is where your planning is set in motion, when you make important decisions and set realistic goals. It is said that most successful people in the world start out with a plan, and stick to it. This can only happen if you’ve taken the time to learn and understand yourself, collected enough information about the world of work, and assessed which careers suit you. The career you choose for yourself will largely determine your lifestyle. And, your lifestyle is the way you live—the clothes you wear, the house you live in, the money you earn, or the car you drive. It is also a culmination of your attitudes, your income and education as well as your political and spiritual beliefs. In the career planning process, it is extremely important to determine what kind of lifestyle you want, because your career choice will have a determining impact on the lifestyle you will lead. 4. Going back and revising your plan when the need arises. Even the best of plans can change. There is no assurance that your career plan will last a lifetime, especially in this ever-changing, technological world. Since the average life cycle of a job can last as few as one to seven years, most people switch careers at least once during their lifetime. You may decide some day to take a break from your career, or maybe you’ll get a promotion or lose your job because of downsizing. Whatever happens, once you reach a career goal, it is important to keep learning and improving yourself—striving for satisfaction. So, periodic assessment and revision to your career plan will be important if you want job satisfaction. You will undoubtedly ask yourself the question, “What do I want to do when I grow up?” many times during your lifetime. The answer may change from time to time, but the important part is that you continue to ask yourself that as you change and grow. |
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