Do you need a career plan?
These days,
people stay in a job an average of about four years. This means most people
will have about seven to ten jobs during our working life. Many people will change the company
we work for, our location, and our career, as well as changing jobs. And planned change is much more
likely to get us what we want than haphazard change.
I was
talking to a friend yesterday who is staying at her job and waiting for the
other shoe to drop. She's been told that the company is reorganizing and she
may be out of a job. And many of us are in this situation. Do we want to wait
until we are unemployed? I think it is better to plan the
career we want and go for it, rather than waiting until we are just job-hunting
to survive.
Also, some
of us fall into a career by accident, and it works. But often it doesn't. Some
people invest in a lot of schooling and end up with a career they chose in
childhood, then discover it does not give them the happiness, the fulfillment,
or the income we want.
There is
another way. We can discover and choose a truly fulfilling and financially
rewarding career, and develop a plan over several years - perhaps five years -
to achieve our goal. Then we put that plan into action, and create a
fulfilling, rewarding, financially successful professional life.
It's up to
you, but I would say that we're much more likely to have a great life and
achieve financial success with a career plan than without one. A chosen career
is much more than a happy accident or a job that pays the bills. For many, it
is the center of a fulfilling life!
Being a
career coach is a fulfilling part of my life. Over the last 20 years, I've
helped many people leave dead-end jobs, discover their dreams, and create
prosperous lives. The process of choosing a calling or career is creative and
empowering, as well. People discover skills they never knew they had. Helping
other people create new careers and new lives is a rewarding career for me, for
sure!
Career plans
are good for any career. I've helped people in many professions with
their career plans. I've helped a waiter get a job at the best new restaurant
in the city. I've helped a manager of city planning plan on how to move up from
a small city to one of the biggest cities in the US. I've helped a professor
decide between a career of scholarship or becoming an administrator. I've
helped a minister re-launch his career. I've helped a child-care specialist
find a better job when she was laid off. And I've helped a librarian choose
among new careers including law, entrepreneurial management, writing, and
not-for-profit leadership.
A career
plan for a waiter may seem like a crazy idea - until you learn that a waiter at
a good restaurant can make over $100,000 a year! And you may think you are
stuck in one career or industry, until you learn the secret of transferable
skills. With a dream, a plan, and the willingness to make it happen, your
new career is coming right
