Many people don't properly plan their careers and then wonder why the fail to secure pay rises and promotions.
Matt Tutty of Resumes To You says, Career planning is not an activity that should be done once, upon leaving school or university and then left behind as we move forward in our careers. When people come to meet with us the majority don't plan their career in any great depth but they expect to be earning a higher salary, and are disappointed they haven't been considered for a recent promotion and often wonder why. Only too often candidates haven't done the preparation for the pay rise, promotion or career change, and will then leave it in the hands of the recruiter to try to achieve their goals for them. Remember that the onus is on you to create your career vision and to market and sell yourself into your next job or next promotion, no one else. Career planning is not a hard activity, not something to be dreaded or put off, but rather an activity that should be liberating and fulfilling, providing goals to achieve in your current career or plans for beginning a transition to a new career. Career planning should be a rewarding and positive experience.
Here are a few tips to help you achieve successful career planning.
Set aside time to career plan – make it an annual event
Become your profession
Assess yourself – reflect on your likes and dislikes, ability and skills
Believe in yourself
Create a winning resume
Research Further Career/Job Advancement Opportunities
In the words of Nike – just do it
Don't wait too long between career planning sessions. Career planning can have multiple benefits, from goal-setting to career plan / change to a more successful life. Once you begin regularly reviewing and planning your career using the tips provided in this article, you'll find yourself better prepared for whatever lies ahead in your career and in your life
Final thoughts:
People who have fulfilling careers have made it that way. They have invested in themselves and they have used this investment to fulfil their dreams and expectations. In short, they have made their own luck.
Focus your energy on building skills, learning from the people around you and creating a vision for the future. Become a real expert at your job and remember to sell yourself. Whatever you want, go and get it.
As you move into 2015, give yourself that chance you desire, the opportunity to advance your career goals through that dream job. And remember, your chance of getting that interview that can land you that highly coveted job hangs heavily on your having that winning resume. Resumes To You encourages you to pay attention to and act on these tips for the new year. Get in contact with us today to get ahead of your competition and ready for 2015.
Resumes To You is a National online Professional Resume Writing Service based in Sydney. The service boasts a range of HR professionals who specialise in tailoring each resume into one that fits the career profile and job aspiration of the job seeker. The web-based service has also highlighted the team's expertise in creating 'customised cover letters, key selection criteria responses and keyword optimised LinkedIn profiles," to meet the requirements of a wide range of career industries.
With their experience in writing resumes for over 40 career industries, the team at Resumes To You may be a life line for many job seekers in 2015.
Ph: 1300 761 626
Matthew Tutty, Founder of Resumes To You, is a qualified Career Development Practitioner with 10 years of experience in assisting clients to plan their future and transition successfully. Matthew is an Associate Member of the Career Development Association of Australia (CDAA), The Australian Human Resources Institute, and The association of Online Resume and Career Professionals along with other organisational memberships and regularly attends workshops and seminars to keep his skills fresh, competitive and current. With formalised qualifications as a Career Development Practitioner, Matthew is further focused on completing additional HR qualifications in order to offer further recruitment and career-matching & development services of the highest nationally & internationally recognised standard.
Question: Why do we need to prepare, yearly, for our next career move?
Matthew Tutty: When moving to a new job it is important to have foresight to ensure that you start with your best foot forward. By looking ahead and clarifying what you want, and where you want to be, you will set yourself up for a prosperous and enjoyable new job. Create a -Career Plan' and make modification along the way. The Plan should grow and change with you and your environment. Use the Plan to monitor your progress by setting goals with dates and tracking these results regularly. By making career planning an annual event, you will feel more secure in your career choice and direction -- and you'll be better prepared for the many uncertainties and difficulties that lie ahead in all of our jobs and career.
Question: If we do not plan our career moves successfully what happens?
Matthew Tutty: Professional opportunities should be approached carefully and from a strategic perspective. Not every opportunity for advancement represents a wise move, even if it offers more money, broader responsibility, or a fancier title. If you've been managing your career, you already should have a list of important questions to use in evaluating opportunities that arise. You'll develop your own set of questions, but these come immediately to mind:
Are you ready for the opportunity? In other words, do your skill set and experience ensure a reasonable chance of success in the position?
Does the position contribute substantially to additional professional development, particularly in priority areas you have already identified?
Would the position lead to other opportunities later, either directly or indirectly?
Question: Why is it important to plan our career moves, each year?
Matthew Tutty: If you don't think strategically about your career, chances are that you will get lost, distracted and perhaps even stuck at a certain point and not be able to move your career forward. The current business environment is frenetic. It's easy to get distracted and lost. It's easy to become externally focused and look at what everyone else is doing and lose your way; even lose touch with what you want for your own career and how to get there. It takes a strategic and intentional focus in today's business environment to move your career forward. It takes a plan.
Question: What are your tips to securing a promotion?
MORE