Most of the time, we let ourselves be carried along by the wind of opportunities that arise during our career. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in itself.
During my missions as a recruiter, I met a certain type of candidate who, for a few extra pennies, regularly changed jobs; as a result, they never stayed in one position for too long. People who are always on the lookout for the company that will provide them with a more substantial income. The plan for these people is to look for a job where they will earn more.
Why do they do this?
There are a number of reasons for this: a person’s experience of work can be shaped by economic, social and structural circumstances, as well as by circumstances specific to them.
When workers are confined to jobs that do not make full use of their abilities, people end up leaving.
In addition, structural and personal circumstances can have an impact on career paths.
We can go even further by talking about education systems with their guidance systems that do not prepare people to reflect on their career paths.
What solutions?
A career plan is certainly something that every employee needs to think about: it’s about envisaging a path marked out by stages with the aim of acquiring skills and achieving short- and medium-term objectives with the wider objective of occupying positions of great responsibility. Without this kind of thinking, it’s easy to have a sudden career path, punctuated by failure and frustration without being aware of the causes.
In this article, we’re simply going to offer you a practical 3-step guide to help you think about your career and achieve your goals.
- Self-evaluation and asking the right questions
Generally speaking, carrying out a self-assessment exercise is always a good idea, whatever the circumstances. Self-evaluation involves taking stock of yourself:
- What do I like doing/what motivates me?
- What are my strengths and weaknesses?
- What am I looking for in a job?
- What am I prepared to accept/not accept?
This self-assessment will help you determine your technical skills, personality and soft skills. Help yourself by using personality tests, behavioural dynamics tests, etc. Anything that will help you project yourself onto a career path.
- Where do you want to go?
At this stage of your self-analysis, it’s important to brainstorm your ideas about the types of projects, companies and assignments that suit you.
Have an idea of the opportunities available to you in a market. You’ll be able to identify the companies with which you share values and with which you plan to make a long-term commitment to development. For some people, social and economic pressure forces them to choose a company. You can make a conscious choice of the company that shares your values, etc.
The main idea you should be thinking about at this stage is how to get to a position that will guarantee you the acquisition and consolidation of the skills you need to achieve your objectives over the long term.
A skills assessment is a good way of finding out where you want to go. At Digital.in, we’ve worked with experienced employees, using our tools and approach to help them redefine their goals, give their careers a boost and refine their thinking with our career match tool.
- How do you get there?
Thinking about a strategy for achieving your goals is nothing more than choosing jobs and companies that will help equip you with all the skills and experience you need to achieve your objectives. What resources are you going to use? What training will you need?
Set yourself short-term objectives, for example: “you’re taking on a job to acquire certain skills and experience that you’ll need for the next stage”.
Just like a hiker who sets out on a route, preparing your equipment, planning and organising in advance will ensure that you get the most out of your outing and reach your destination safely.
Once your objectives and their means have been defined, it’s important to know how to adapt according to personal circumstances, opportunities and setbacks, while staying focused on your long-term goal.
Unless you were born under a lucky star, it’s rare to have a smooth, linear career path with no unforeseen events. That’s why your career plan needs to be flexible.
Now to the question of pay.
It’s important to bear in mind that while you’re thinking about your career plan, you should also be thinking about your salary objectives, which should be precise, acceptable and realistic. All employers have the option of setting salaries unilaterally.
It’s perfectly normal to want to improve your pay at every stage of your career. It is therefore possible to earn more each time you change jobs.
