Career pathways - Planning your career

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Choosing a particular

career path can help you

determine your personal

career goals and also

develop an effective

strategy to take you

where you want to be.

There are several factors

that should be considered in making career pathways,

including an honest evaluation or assessment of your

own interests, talents, abilities, and even weaknesses.

Although such elements may change eventually

because of different choices and circumstances, you

may still effectively make important decisions by having

a clear professional objective.

Education

If you know to yourself what career path you would like

to pursue, it will be much easier for you to come up

with the most important decisions with regards to your

education and training. There are numerous lines of

work that require certifications and degrees, and it

could take years to attain them. Therefore, it is crucial

that you understand whatever is required in your

chosen path not only to prepare yourself, but also so

avoid wasting time and resources.

Career Planning

A career path is not just a one-time decision or decision-

making process. Rather, it is a journey. Each individual

career path involves milestones and hurdles. For

instance, if you are serious about becoming a chef, it

would be ideal for you to start working in any

restaurant cleaning up tables while you are still in high

school, getting a part time job in college as a waiter,

going to a culinary arts school, and finally applying for

an entry-level job for the position of a prep chef. With

the help of a career path, you can make a plan on how

you can build experience and then work your way

through your desired occupation.

Long-Term Goals

As you pick your personal career path, you actually put

yourself in a position where you can look ahead and see

your ultimate goals in life. This way, you will be able to

figure out what positions you want to have and even

what salary levels you would like to achieve. In addition,

you may use this career path as your guide in building

your professional and personal networks within the

field or industry you wish to belong. By having a long

term goal also, you would stay focused on your career

goals and would not move aimlessly from one job to

another.

Family Matters

Whatever it is that you may decide on later on in your

career will have its effects on your family. Your

profession can dictate where you should live and when

you can get married and have a family. What career

pathways can do is prepare individuals for what may

happen should they pursue a certain career, and this

involves his or her personal relationships. By setting a

goal, you may even avoid getting too stressed out about

the things that could happen in the future.



Contrary to what many people think, choosing a

career is not at all a one-time decision. Deciding on

what career path

you will take is

actually a series of

huge and

important decision.

These decisions are

what you will have

to make as you pass different stages in your life and

as you gain more experience both professionally and

personally. Thus, it will be hard to choose a certain

career and stick with it for the rest of your life. This is

what career pathways can be very useful for.

Everything is about making plans and taking action

according to those plans.

Making a mistake in choosing a career is not

uncommon. We all tend to experience this because

the future is unpredictable. The least we could do is

try to avoid those mistakes that could cause us to

completely lose control of our career. Here are some

of those mistakes you should avoid.

1. Getting the easiest or the first job available.

Needless to say, job seekers must be practical and

avoid being picky. But this doesn’t mean that you

should not take the time to survey the market to look

for what other opportunities are waiting for you. Be

patient and make sure that you take every

opportunity you have to apply for the job that suits

your personality and vision.

2. Accepting a job offer on the basis of high salary.

Money is what we are all working for; that’s the truth.

But money isn’t everything. This is what you should

realize and accept if you are to accept a job offer.

There are other more important things than money,

like your happiness, your family’s comfort,

fulfillment, and so on.

3. Getting a job that your parents want you to have. It

is very common for a parent to insist to his or her

children to pursue a particular career. Insomuch as

you want to please them, you should not try to make

them happy at your own expense. Listen to what your

heart is telling you and follow where it leads you.

What matters is how happy you can be in your job or

career.

4. Opting for a career that can give you a good title.

There is no point in becoming someone that everyone

adores if you know to yourself that you are not

satisfied with what you are doing. Again, the most

important consideration you should make as you

figure out what job or career to take is how happy

you are going to be in this job.

Planning your career is vital, but it is not easy to

create your own career pathways. The good news is

that there are so many career coaches and mentors

around who will be willing to guide you as you make

this very important decision in your life.

For those who are already employed, it is wrong to

think that their career

growth should stop as

soon as they got their

jobs. You may not know

this, but it is often easier

to look for another job if

you are employed

already. And so, your

search for a better

career and a more fulfilling job should not end with you

getting employed.



What so many employed individuals are so anxious

about is the fact that they cannot assure themselves

that they will not be left with no job and any

opportunities to find a good job. Thus, while you’re at

it, be sure to keep your career growing and moving

forward. This is where career pathways become really

essential. Here are some things you can do to keep your

career on the right path.

Always Be Positive

While it may sound really simple, embracing the

concept of positive thinking can be challenging

especially if you are thinking about what to do with your

career. If you continuously believe that something

undesirable is going to happen to, there will surely be

something bad to happen. On the other hand, if you try

telling yourself how good and marketable you are, you

will be more confident about yourself, and you will

attract positivity in your life and good things will

happen.

Think Ahead

Keep up-to-date with all the trends in your industry is

necessary. You should keep your eyes open to all the

changes happening around and to whatever learning

you still need to do. As you look at the trends in your

field, you will realize also that there may be some areas

that you need to improve on. By having the right and

new skill sets, you are giving yourself a guarantee what

whatever happens to the economy and the field you are

in, you will remain needed and desirable.

Update Your Resume Regularly

You can become more confident knowing that you

always have your resume ready. With your updated

resume, you will always be prepared whenever the

opportunity knocks at your door. As a matter of fact,

even when you are not looking to find a new job, you

should continuously update your resume so that when

the need comes, you have this important tool ready for

you.

Keep Your Eyes and Ears Open

Always be curious about what your colleagues are doing

that you may not be doing. Doing this will help you

determine whether you are competitive enough or not.

This will also help you figure out if it is the right time for

you to seriously consider changing careers.

There are certain industries in which the demand for

workers could vary

considerably from

one season to

another. So what

employers in such

industries do is

rely on temp

workers to fill their need for staff. These types of jobs

are very attractive for students, working mothers, and

even retirees. Taking any of these jobs can also help a

new entrant to get started in the industry. But what if

you find the work really enjoyable and you decide you

would like to stick around?

Being in a temporary position in a company doesn’t

always mean that you have to stay that way all the

time. Some companies prefer to hire permanent

workers from their temp staff. There are things you can

do to avoid the need of changing jobs all the time and

get the opportunity to stay in the company you are

doing a temp job for.

1. Become a student at work and learn everything about

the organization.

As you get hired for a temporary work, use this time to

learn everything there is to learn about the

management, the property, the staff, and the entire



business. This will help you prepare for the next steps

you are going to take and will show the employer how

serious you are about becoming a permanent

employee.

2. Be a team player.

It is not always obvious, but hiring managers pay a lot of

attention to how a certain employee blends in with the

others in the company. Try your best to build good

relationships with your coworkers and make an effort to

blend in with the team.

3. Show how flexible you are.

If you really want to get that permanent position in the

company, you have to demonstrate your capability to

do more than just one role. If you’ve got some other

experiences in other positions or fields, for instance,

you should make it known to the people in your

organization. This is important especially when the time

comes that they need to hire someone for a particular

task that you might be capable of doing.

4. Exceed their expectations.

You would, of course, want to catch the attention of

your employers. You can do this by performing way

better than how you are expected to perform. Be

careful, however, not to seem too showy because this

may backfire on you. Don’t try to outperform everyone

else. Just like what you may have indicated in your

career pathways, all you need to do is perform your job

to the best that you can, and your efforts will surely not

go unnoticed.