Developing a career plan

The first step/strategy in developing a career plan is to conduct your research before you start , such as information interviews , researching journals, trade magazines, and occupational websites, then integrating this research with an outline of your vision, ethics, beliefs, values, and interests. After this, comes fitting the research in with the market research ( labour market research ) that targets the area(s) that you wish to pursue in your career.

Other strategies could include the following:

1. Develop your vital network ( alumnae, colleagues, previous coworkers, professional associations members, the Rotary Club, cultural and religious organizations, etc..) and expand it to include persons outside your field . These people will in time become a critical part of your career plan.

2. Design a tentative career action plan after a review of your SWOT- Strengths; Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats as they do in business. Get feedback from friends, family, colleagues, people in your field ( those you can trust and who you hold in high esteem) so you have a balanced, realistic viewpoint .

The career plan that evolves from these steps becomes in actuality part of your career operations manual. A Career Plan Operations Manual is defined as a logical and systematic method of following up on your ideas and directs you to fulfill your vision.


The manual -essentially the breakdown of this career plan- is created with the help of a Career Coach. For example, you can use a software program, i.e. MS Access, MS Outlook, and contact management software to develop forms and checklists that will become the core ingredients for attaining and evaluating your goals. These software programs can help you streamline your plan that is based on your original vision.


I will provide more structure for this career operations manual in the coming weeks.