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St. Leo University

05 April 5, 2015

Five-Year Career Plan

Career planning is a valuable tool for success in any given field. I consider it to be an indispensable part of my journey to success. I have always believed that through this process, I will be able to identify both my strengths and weaknesses and make the necessary changes to facilitate the desired progress in my career development. More significantly, I believe that this process should be continuous process to enable me to make timely changes in my learning process (Lock, 2004). Through careful planning, I am able to establish the areas of specialization in which I should focus more on developing to boost my competence and understanding. I strongly believe that by following this plan thoroughly, I will be able to achieve and maintain the level of competence required in the workplace. I think of myself as an excellent planner especially because I am able to set challenging and realistic goals for myself as well as to see them through. Below is my five-year career plan.

Personal and Career Self-Reflection

I am currently at a point where I need to establish my career by learning as much as possible about my chosen area of specialization. Having identified the area of study in which to focus on, I have decided to do as much as I possibly can to determine how much effort I need to put in my studies to achieve the desired grades in this area of specialization. In terms of life, I am at a point in which I am really struggling to determine my potential and to learn more about my strengths and abilities. I am also at a point where I need to challenge myself to become more responsible as well as to try as many challenges as possible to facilitate self development. In terms career, I feel that I have reached a defining moment when I finally have to put all my efforts toward the development of my skills by learning relevant information to boost my competence. I got to this point because I have always wanted to pursue a career in business, especially in leadership-related field. In my previous years in education, I ensured to work hard so that I could secure a place in the field of my choice as well as in a reputable university such as this one.

Skills, Abilities, Traits, and Character Audit

At the moment, I consider my skills and abilities in leadership to be satisfactory, but I have the awareness that I need to do more. Having learnt numerous significant concepts in leadership over the previous weeks, I have come to appreciate most concepts in leadership, which has contributed a lot in developing my skills and abilities in the field. Through the various assessment tests on leadership that I have taken over the past few weeks, I have been able to learn a lot about my skills, abilities, traits, and character. These exercises helped me to understand my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Some of the strengths that I identified include ability to communicate clearly, ability to lead others effectively, ability to engage in personal research, promptness with my assignments, attentiveness, and the personal initiative to participate in class discussions. However, I noted some weaknesses such as poor presentation skills, panic, especially when overwhelmed with many tasks, and nervousness during presentations. I also noted that I have several opportunities for improving my situation by requesting for help from lecturers, engaging in practice to improve my presentations, volunteering to engage in more research, undertaking more personal research, as well as engaging a lot more in class discussions.

My SWOT Analysis

Personal and Professional Development Plan

Results from my Personal and Career Self-Reflection indicate that I have a positive attitude towards my goals and that I have the necessary motivation to pursue my goals. However, I need to take more challenging tasks to exploit my potential fully. The Learning Style Inventory Self-Reflection also helped a lot in helping me to appreciate my preferences when it comes to learning. In particular, the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire was quite revealing of both my strengths and weaknesses in learning, as well as in helping me to understand the most effective learning styles for me. I can improve on my learning styles by focusing on my strengths and at the same time making efforts to improve on my weaknesses. Considering the results from the Decision-Making Style Assessment, I am quite satisfied with my decision making skills because they indicate that I appreciate the fundamentals of the decision-making process. However, results of this assessment indicated that I need to become more proactive, more analytical, to focus more on finding more alternatives as well as in taking more challenges and risks. I really liked the results of the communication survey report because they revealed that my communication style and ability to communicate effectively were adequate. I value this report because it helped to expose my weaknesses in communication, including ways in which I could improve on them. I found the results of the Leadership Skills Assessment to be most impressive mainly because they helped me to identify my strengths as well to provide recommendations for making the necessary adjustments to achieve improvement.

To ensure that I make significant improvements on these aspects, I will need to take some actions on the short term (within one year). I need to keep in touch with my lecturers and request for help on the various weaknesses identified in the various assessments. Secondly, I need to join active discussion groups to boost my ability to communicate and contribute positively to those discussions. On a personal level, I need to practice on making presentations or a much regular basis. More significantly, I will ensure to attend the library more often and explore effective ways of doing research. On a long term (between one and five years), I plan to make presentations more often, especially on a voluntary basis as I will have gained sufficient confidence. I also plan to start mentoring young and upcoming leaders and helping them to excel in their leadership and communication skills (Lock, 2004).

Personal Mission Statement

I am dedicated to ensure that I achieve my goal of becoming an excellent leader within the next five years. I am ready to do whatever it takes to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to improve my abilities in my chosen field of study. I will always strive to be creative, industrious, passionate, and positive in my approach toward this course and the people that I interact with. I will also ensure to be of help to any upcoming students in my field of study to ensure that I support in the development of my chosen profession.

Career Objectives

Upon completion of my course, I hope:

· To become a significant leader, with the knowledge, capacity, and passion to work enthusiastically to fulfill the desired goals of my organization

· To seek challenging tasks and responsibilities, with the hope of creating the desired change in my organization

· To become the best performer and perceptive learner, with the ability to develop my career and that of others within my profession

· To excel in my profession through hard work, perseverance, and research, as well as to serve my organization, family, the society, and the nation at large, with zeal and integrity

· To succeed in mentoring, motivating, and inspiring others to discover their potential and their hidden talents (Lock, 2004).

Career and Industry Profile

Currently, there is still need for employees in leadership positions, especially in the key leadership positions. My career falls within the leadership and management industry. Results on this career indicate that it has high prospects of thriving in the coming decade (Portland State University, 2015). It is also predicted that the career is likely to grow at a significantly higher rate than most careers. The jobs needed in leadership and management are available in virtually any industry. Although this career does not heavily rely on technological advancements, modern management applications often help to bring convenience and to minimize chances of errors. Professionals in this field usually have to learn management, which is quite broad. Leaders and managers may work from a wide range of locations depending on the demands of the job.

Career Action Plan

To enter into my profession, I intend to start up as a volunteer or intern in an organization within the first six months. This opportunity will be critical in enabling me to gain the relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the job effectively. Upon gaining those key requirements, I would then start sending applications to organizations seeking for employment. To achieve the desired level of progress in my profession, I would then ensure to participate a lot more in teamwork efforts among other issues (within two years) that facilitate employee development. Besides, I would consider enrolling for more classes to boost my competence and prospects of securing a more lucrative position within the organization. Similarly, I would ensure to participate in various functions such as workshops, conferences, and employee training to improve my abilities. These efforts are likely to help me in rising to my desired position in a much faster way (University of California, n.d).

Career Feedback Plan

To assess my success in my career effectively, I would ensure to use timelines to determine whether I actually achieve the goals that I set for myself. I would also determine or review the level of effectiveness by comparing my actual performance with the set standards of achievement (Lock, 2004). I would also check my grades on a regular basis to determine if they are improving as planned. More importantly, I would rely on the objective views of professional colleagues to determine their views regarding my progress.

References

Lock, R. D. (2004). Taking charge of your career direction: Career planning guide. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Portland State University. (2015). What can I do with a degree in management & leadership? Retrieved from http://www.pdx.edu/careers/what-can-i-do-with-a-degree-in-management-leadership

University of California. (n.d). Career planning: Career development action plan. Retrieved from http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/learning/career-development/career-management/planning/action-plan