Whether you’re going through school or you’re already out in the working world, you may be at the point where you’re starting to think about what you want to do with your life. Maybe you started out on a job path because you weren’t overly sure what you wanted to do. Or you’re in school and you’re already getting questions about what you should do about your future? Then it’s time to work out what you want to do, and how you’re going to get there. But you need to be practical about it. Trying to work out what you want to do with your career can sometimes be really hard. But the best way to work everything out, is to make sure that you’re thinking as logically as possible, and leaving some of your emotions out. And to do that, you need to have a plan.
Now, the good news is, whether you are starting out fresh or you’re looking to do a career change, you can largely follow the same path. Because when it comes to career planning, a plan is a plan. As long as you know what you want, or where you’re heading, most of the steps that you take can be quite similar. Just make sure that you have your head in the right mindset and you’ll be able to make this happen. Let’s get started on your practical path to finally creating the career of your dreams.
- Think About The Life You Want
So the very first thing you need to do here, is to really think about what you want out of life. A lot of the time, when you envision your ideal life and how you want your future to look, you can see the kind of job that you want. Maybe it won’t be the exact one, but you can picture whether it’s in a city office or working outside. And this can then help you to start to narrow things down.
- Contemplate Your Strengths & Passions
The next thing, is to think about two kinds of things. The first, is the things that you’re good at in life or in school, and then you have the things that you love to do and your passions in life. By considering the things that you know you can do well or that you love, again you can start to pinpoint careers that either cover those topics or where you can utilize those skills.
- Research Into Different Options
Now that you’ve got a couple of things going around in your mind, it’s time to do some research. Because you have a couple of different avenues that you might like to explore, but now you need to know exactly what kinds of career paths are available. By looking at your different options, you can come up with a shortlist of careers, and then hopefully one that stands out to you as exactly what you want.
- Pick The Right Courses
Now that you have chosen your career path or you roughly know what area or industry you want to be in, it’s time to pick your college courses. Again, do your research here. You may be able to find specific programs or scholarships, like the Nursing School Gift Program, that will get you closer to your goal. But, you can still take general courses if you are in college, that will help you to get towards the career path you want.
- Consider Grad School
And you may want to ask yourself whether grad school is for you? This can be a great option if you already have your bachelor’s and you know you can take a master’s that is either related or that can help you to get the career path you want.
- Network
The next thing you’re going to want to do, is to start networking in college and with professionals in your field. Because if you want to start getting some experience, enquire about job openings, or just get to know people in your future industry, this is so essential. You never know what can come of the connections you start to make.
- Start A Blog
It can also be a great idea to start a blog. If you really want to be able to demonstrate your experience and showcase your skills, a blog can do that – especially if you want to go into media. However, you can write about anything, and this may still be a really strong platform to support your job application process.
- Get An Internship
Now, you may want to get yourself an internship, if you can. This is often important for you to break your way into competitive industries. So much so that the internship can be competitive to get too! But, this may give you some experience and help you to make contacts so that you can walk into a permanent job when you want to.
- Prepare Yourself
Then, as it comes to the point where you want to be able to start applying for jobs, you need to prepare yourself. This can be somewhat similar to the process of getting yourself an internship – but it can also feel more intense. You need to get a portfolio of work together, if it applies, you need to demonstrate your skills in your resume, and feel ready for interviews. Here, maybe even an interview prep tutor could be beneficial to you here.
- Follow A Plan
Finally, you need to draw yourself up a career development plan. You can either do this before you get your first job in the career you want, or when you have it. Either way, this is a very detailed and practical plan that allows you to work out what roles you want to progress through, how you’re going to get promoted, and what you need to do to climb the ladder. This can often be the key to helping you ensure you get to where you want to be.
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