Job seekers often believe self-assessment is a luxury they can not afford. But in order to find a job you must be able to articulate your skills and abilities to potential employers. You must create your narrative to explain why you are applying for this job.
Managing your career development is an on-going process that includes planning and strategizing based on information about yourself and the world of work, the match between them and the actions you take. You must make a lifelong commitment to actively manage your career/life and learn to adapt to the inevitable transitions you are destined to encounter.
Finding the courage to forge your own path and construct a personal definition of success in the face of external obligations and pressures isn’t easy. In fact, it is downright scary. Do it anyway. I promise, once you get started you will find the process is more affirming than it is scary.
The five-step career planning process outline described below provides a frame for designing an individualized career path that will enable you to design a professional life that enhances your personal life. Take a deep breath and take the first step. The rewards will be monumental.
Abilities
Step 1 Focus on your skills, strengths, assets and talents, not your shortcomings.
The best strategy to direct the course of your career is to identify your skills and talents. You must be able to articulate what you can do and what you know. While you want to be aware of any shortcomings you may possess, you do not want them to dictate your path and prevent you from following your dreams.
Abilities can be measured objectively through a series of timed work samples knows as the Highlands Ability Battery. Knowing your abilities can help steer you toward tasks and roles that use your best talents and steer you away from tasks that you can learn to do, but would be difficult and unfulfilling. Similarly, if you do not have an outlet for your natural abilities, you may become frustrated in your work. Jobs are joint ventures in problem solving. The basic questions in every career are:
- What needs to be done?
- What can you do?
The idea is to find a match between an employer's needs and your skill sets.
( EXERCISE 1: Skills Assessment)
Beliefs
Step 2 Know what you TRULY want.
Take some time to think about what you really want to do. Do not underestimate the power of passion. The world is filled with examples of people who achieved their goals—against all odds—because of their passion. Consider Neil Perry, the San Jose football player whose right leg was amputated below the knee after a horrific injury in a game during the 2000 season. Hours after his leg was removed, Parry vowed he’d play football again, an unlikely proposition under the circumstances. Yet, in September 2003, Parry was back on the field and fans were hard pressed to notice a difference between his abilities and those of his two-legged teammates. He had the drive and passion to withstand 25 operations and countless hours of rehabilitation and physical therapy to achieve his goal. If you allow yourself to be fueled by your internal drive instead of any external pressures, your shortcomings will have little or no impact on your ability to succeed. They may present hurdles, but your passion will galvanize your skills, strengths and talents so you can easily clear the bar. (EXERCISE 2: Beliefs/Values)
Step 3 Do not accept conventional wisdom unconditionally.
There will always be some perfectly logical reason why your qualifications are insufficient for a specific position. Anticipate what those reasons might be and decide for yourself if they are, indeed, insurmountable, or merely a hurdle to clear. Remember, conventional wisdom would suggest that amputees can not play football. Passion is stronger than conventional wisdom. Excellence always trumps stereotypes and perceptions. Always strive to be the exception to the rule. Do your homework so that you know what the conventional wisdom is and then plan a strategy to deal with it.
Conduct
Step 4 Develop an action plan (SET GOALS).
Think about the direction you’d like your life to take. What do you want to accomplish during your lifetime? During the next five years? The next year? Think about what you need to do to make it happen. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish when you are clear about what you want and have an action plan in place to guide you. (EXERCISE 4: Goals)
Step 5 Make course corrections.
Keep in mind that goals and motives may shift as you mature and grow. What moves you to action today may bore you and disillusion you tomorrow. Change should not be seen as a sign of weakness or as a lack of commitment. Change is a strength that allows people to adapt to ever changing circumstances.
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