i need all this by friday 3 papers

GETTING STARTED

When jobs were for life, you decided what line of work you wanted, worked hard, and the career path was pretty much mapped out for you. The working world has changed, and the recent global financial crises are changing it ever more rapidly. Now individuals wanting to maximize their potential will take a much more active part in mapping out their career. Career planning today needs to be a frequent, dynamic process of self-awareness, market and trend analysis, planning, development, and self-marketing.

The good news is that career paths are more flexible. Individuals can choose a spiral one, stepping through different fields or functions. Many employers encourage cross-fertilization of ideas through diversity in their workforce. They also value the different perspectives offered by those from outside their industry.

As career breaks are more common today, even transitory career paths are possible. These are popular with people who like variety, novelty, or have other worthwhile priorities. If you require periods of employment, interspersed by breaks, be it for study, travel, raising a family, starting a business, or caring for elderly or unwell family members, this option could be for you.

There are, however, still expert career paths for those who want to specialize in a particular field and linear careers for those who enjoy the challenge, responsibility, and status of climbing the hierarchical ladder. Whatever your circumstances, think about this: what does your career need to do for you?

FAQs

What's the difference between a career plan and a development plan?

Your career plan maps out long-term objectives, your immediate objectives, and how you want your life and work to fit together. Your development plan maps out the skills and experience gaps for the different steps along the way and how you will address those. In effect, the development plan enables the career plan to work.

How do I find out what jobs I might be suitable for?

If you are naturally outgoing, start your research by talking to people. Make use of your contacts and ask for names and contact details of people who might be able to help with each of the options you're considering. This approach not only increases your network but it also gets you the targeted information you need. It may also put you in touch with contacts who can often open doors for you.

On the other hand, you may prefer to get started with some Internet or library research and save the networking until you feel a little better informed about your possibilities. Neither approach is right nor wrong, but people who use both approaches are likely to be the best prepared, most knowledgeable, and “luckiest” when it comes to opportunities.

MAKING IT HAPPEN

Be Self-aware

Review your career so far, asking yourself some key questions. For example, what expertise do you have? What achievements are you proud of? What work have you received praise and recognition for? What were the outcomes of these achievements for your clients, team, or organization? What flair or talents have you not yet fully used? Do you have areas of untapped potential?

Also think about the skills you've used throughout your career so far and any differences in the way you've worked from job to job. Go through a typical working week writing down on a separate piece of paper or sticky note each skill, strength, or knowledge area that you have used. Do this for each job you've held. You can then cluster your notes, grouping those that fit together and giving each group a title, such as “Organizing,” “Communicating,” or “People skills.” Doing this will identify and organize your transferable skills and help you to be clearer about what you're offering other employers.

Finally, draw other elements into the mix. What does your career need to do for you (and your family)? What do you value in work? What makes a job satisfying? What would you or do you hate in a job? Thinking about these questions will help you to identify your needs and constraints, such as financial obligations or geographical preferences.

Conduct a Market and Trend Analysis

Next you need to think about the market you're working in and which way that seems to be moving. What do you like about the market you're currently in? What are the trends within the industry? How might these affect your prospects going forward? Think in broad terms about who might have a need for your skills. What goals or problems could you help them with and what else can you offer them?

These are big and wide-ranging questions; so, to help you focus on them, do some research. Use the Internet and your network of friends and colleagues to expand your knowledge of companies and organizations, and of their internal trends and needs. Read all you can in journals and newspapers about the markets you are most interested in and identify relevant professional bodies for information on trends and the market for relevant skills. Libraries can be good sources of local information. The more questions you ask, the more you will know what other information you need, and research often gets easier as you go along.

Plan Ahead

Be clear about how you want your research and planning to fit together. Ask yourself what you'd like your life to be like in three years’ time and write down what comes to mind in as much detail as you can. Write in the present tense, as if it has already happened. Then repeat this for one year's time, six months’ time, and one month's time. This “3161” plan gives clarity and motivation for the long-term future. It breaks down the bigger picture of your life into an actionable plan that you can start on right now.

“Nothing arouses ambition so much in the hearer as the trumpet clang of another's fame.”

Baltasar Gracián

A “reality check” will help you recognize the right opportunity when it arises. Spend time on this when you are job hunting. Divide a page into four quadrants, headed “Role,” “Organization,” “Benefits package,” and “Boss.” Now ask yourself what you want from your next career move. Think about the “ingredients” that make up your ideal role, putting these into the quadrants on your page. Once your criteria are mapped out in this way, you'll have visual aid that will help you to weigh the opportunities that come your way. When you're invited to interview for a new job, you can use the sheet to come up with strong, targeted questions about the job.

Develop Yourself

You have identified your own skills and your immediate and longer-term goals. Is there a direct match already or will employers see gaps? If they might, specify what those gaps are and prioritize them, working out what you need to learn. Divide each missing skill into bite-sized chunks of learning or experience required.

Next, think about how you learn best. Do you prefer to read books, listen to an expert, try things out yourself, or practice with supervision? Knowing your preferred learning style is important to your planning.

Finally, you have to be sure that you're motivated to do this learning. If you are, go back to your “3161” plan and write in what it will be like to have filled these gaps at the relevant stages. If, on the other hand, you have more to do than you think you'll realistically be motivated to do, your plan is unrealistic and needs to be changed. Don't think, though, that all changes need to be drastic—sometimes a realistic timeframe is the only tweak needed to your plan to allow your dream to happen.

Market Yourself

Identify the stage you are at and your objectives. Let's look at three examples.

· During the honeymoon period in a new job, your objective is to establish good communication channels with your new colleagues and contacts and build a practical network. Here, then, marketing yourself will focus on attracting the interest of people who will make your work easier.

· Once you feel established in your new role, your objective is to make sure that interesting work is offered to you, so self-marketing in this context will focus more on bringing your successes and achievements to light.

· When looking for new roles, your objective is to attract offers that meet your criteria. Your self-marketing now will focus on getting noticed by the right employers.

As we can see, self-marketing is continuous, but it will change in nature depending on where you are in your career and what your ideal next step is. Whatever you're doing, though, think about your “audience” and what is important to them. You may be offering to solve problems, deliver a product or service, improve quality or develop something new. To grab and maintain their attention, you need to focus on the relevant outcomes of your activities: increased profits, customer satisfaction and retention, or improvements in efficiency.

Develop Your Personal Profile

· Priorities. What values really matter to you personally? Do you know what sort of leader you want to be? It can also help to reflect back over your career and recollect leaders that you feel were particularly good or especially poor. Why did they succeed or fail?

· Work experience. What positions have you held? When did you succeed and why? How could your performance have been better?

· Achievements. What have been your greatest achievements? What gave you greatest pleasure and what impressed others?

· Personal attitudes. Assessing how you behave in different situations can help to understand the way you feel and behave: where you are likely to be strong and when you might feel less certain. For example: Are you energized around people or do you prefer to spend time alone?

· Do you think quickly or do you tend to take time to reflect before speaking?

· Do you prefer to do a few things well or pursue many things superficially?

· Are you an open person or more private?

· Do you prefer order and structure or do you tend to live spontaneously, remaining open to possibilities?

Assess Your Future Options and Plans

The value of a personal profile lies in helping to understand yourself: what you like and dislike, where you succeed and fail, and when you are strong and weak. It is a valuable tool when starting to think about self-development, or when assessing your achievements, preferences, skills, strengths, and weaknesses.

There are several key questions that can help support an individual's career planning and development:

· What are your goals and aspirations? Why are these important?

· What is your timescale for achieving these goals, and what are the key milestones that will need to be achieved?

· Are your development plans in line with the goals you want to pursue?

· What opportunities are available—now and in the foreseeable future?

· How do your skills match with the business strategy?

· What further support do you need?

· How will you ensure success?

COMMON MISTAKES

You Forget to Market Yourself

Don't assume that your work alone will get you noticed. Self-marketing is what makes the difference between a good job well done and a good job resulting in a promotion (if that's what you want). If you are looking for a move up the ladder, keep up the momentum and don't wait to market yourself until you need your next role urgently—try to get into the habit of doing it and of raising your profile gradually but consistently.

“The world continues to offer glittering prizes to those who have stout hearts and sharp swords.”

Frederick E. Smith

You Have Unrealistic Ambitions

If you can't be bothered to identify trends and their impact on your market, you'll end up with a career plan that's completely unrealistic. The wealth of information on the Internet in particular means that there's little excuse for remaining ignorant about issues that may affect your future success. Even if you're not online at home, you can use an Internet café or just visit your local library to find out what you need to know. Make it your business to be informed and don't be afraid to ask “difficult” questions of people in the know.

You Don't Do Anything

A plan works by provoking specific and related actions which together create the desired effect. There's absolutely no point in writing a plan, performing the first action, then leaving it to gather dust.

You're Not Flexible

A plan is there to make your objectives happen, and so is tied in to real life. Just as life shifts and changes all the time, so must you and your objectives. Take time to review your plans regularly so that you can take into account unexpected twists and turns at work or other areas of your life.

“I have worked without thinking of myself. This is the largest factor in whatever success I have attained.”

Amadeo Giannini

FOR MORE INFORMATION Books:

 Green, Graham. The Career Change Handbook: How to Find Out What You're Good at and Enjoy—Then Get Someone to Pay You for It. 4th ed. How To Books Oxford, 2008.

 Bolles, Richard. What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers. Rev. ed. Ten Speed Press Berkeley CA, 2010.

 Levit, Alexandra. New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career. Ballantine Books New York, 2009.

 Miedaner, Talane. Coach Yourself to a New Career: 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life. McGraw-Hill New York, 2010. Web Sites:

 TotalJobs.com: www.totaljobs.com.