The Best Career Planning Advice

We cannot simply rely on luck to become successful in the future because we all need to start somewhere. We need to be skilled, smart, and be able to keep a positive attitude while working hard in the process, and if luck is on our side, then we will definitely be heading uphill. One of the best things that we need to practice is the art of career planning wherein we are given the opportunity to choose a career that we want to pursue by managing our working and learning skills and taking them to the wider working conditions available to us.

Whether you are young, a fresh graduate, a career shifter or just unemployed, there is no reason for you to take career planning for granted. However, if you are clueless on where and how to start, worry no more because we will give you the different steps in planning and managing your career. These steps will help you discover more about yourself as you go along and help you make an informed decision based these discoveries. You also need to understand that career planning is a continuous process and should be taken lightly so that you can give yourself more time to explore and find out what you really want in life.

Remember that you can use this process all the way through your entire professional life. Here are the following steps in planning your career:

1.  Know thyself better - if there are some things that you don't know yet about yourself, explore your talents, interests and skills. Find out what motivates you and inspires you in order to realize what you want to become when you are given the option to choose a career.

2. Explore your options - after discovering your skills, think of the different careers that could help you achieve all your goals. Think about where you want to be and how you want your life to turn out 5 to 10 years from now.

3. Make an informed decision - after your research, choose a career that matches all of your discoveries and think of a job that you want to do for as long as you want to go to work.

4. Create a plan - start thinking about the step by step process for you to land that job, your strategy, trainings, finances, or even sponsors.

Career planning is not easy and cannot be done overnight. You don't wake up in the morning with a decision that you may have carelessly thought of. Instead, it needs a considerable amount of time to plan to be a success. These 4 basic steps will serve as your guidelines in making sure that you are doing the right thing.

Perform and Evaluate

If you are going to have your annual performance review today, will you be confident enough to say that you did a great job this year or are you going to shudder because you feel like you haven't given your best shot? Yes, this once a year evaluation proves to be time consuming, stressful and nerve wrecking because you don't really have an idea on whether you and your boss see eye to eye and it is far too late to prove your worth once again because the year has already passed. Just pray that no matter what the outcome will be, you will still be given a chance to show your employer that you are worthy to be on that payroll.

It is time to do some thinking and realize that you have more control over your performance than you think. Nobody will be able to make it better than yourself and once you realize this, you will have more motivation to make some changes; positive changes if possible. If you are still clueless on how to deliver an amazing performance and evaluate yourself after, don't worry because we have identified different ways on how you can take control over your career and make your boss realize that you are indeed a great asset to the company.

1.  Less words, more deeds - if you want to be successful, you need to make informed decisions and act on them. You can spend the day thinking or you can start doing things that will bring success closer to your professional life. Talk to your boss about your plans and ask for his expert advice on how else you can improve tour performance. This will show him that you are dedicated to your job and you are serious about climbing the ladder of success.

2. Plan your performance - you do not simply finish a task, you must deliver an excellent performance at all times. No excuses.

3. Evaluate your performance on a daily basis -it may be too much to consider but a daily evaluation would certainly help. Make a checklist or write your goals and be able to achieve them by the end of the day.

4.  Ask your colleagues - talk to your trusted colleagues and ask them to give you an honest opinion about your performance. Strive to make positive changes after.

5. Keep a positive attitude - stay happy and positive despite all the challenges you encounter in the office. Be courteous and respectful to everyone around you.

Evaluating you performance will make you understand where you are at the moment and where you are headed as well as know the things you need to improve about yourself in order to achieve career success. These career assessment steps will help you live a stress free life and stay professional at all times.

Steps to a Midlife Career Job Change

You don't have to feel guilty about quitting your current job and moving on to the next one because you are entitled to make your own decisions in life. The only thing that you need to make sure is that you are choosing the right job this time because job hopping is not ideal for midlife employees as it will not be good to look at in your resume. Make sure that your next job is the one you that want; something that is meaningful and has the capacity to keep you and make you grow as a person.

There could be a whole lot of reasons why you need to quit your job despite of your age, however if your reason is valid and solid, then you really have to make the change.  Apart from making the change itself, there are many other considerations that you need to acknowledge such as competing with fresh graduates over a certain position. Since you were stuck in a job you dreaded for years, you may lack some of the new and modern skills that the younger generation has, which makes applying for another job challenging but not necessarily impossible.

Worried about making that change? Don't be, because we will give you a step by step plan on making an exit from your current job and landing the job that you love.

1. Decide if you want to make a job change - if you are quitting because you are bored, chances are you will eventually get bored in your next job. If you are angry at someone, making an impulsive decision about quitting won't help in you either. Face the facts, if the environment is threatening in your current job and there is nothing you can do about it, hand in your 2 weeks’ notice.

2. Self-assessment- start from the basics by identifying your skills and interests and pursuing a job that requires most of your qualifications.

3. Do your homework - research about the job you are planning to apply by conducting informal interviews and internet searches to find out if you are a perfect match.

4. Invest in yourself - once you are positive, be ready to learn and develop new skills. Think about any transferable skills that you could enhance that could bring to your next job.

5. Create a knock out resume - make sure that your resume will stand out from the rest with details such as your previous work experiences, accomplishments and further studies.

Changing jobs is for everyone and does not require an age limit. These 5 basic steps will make the entire process easy and convenient for you while you pursue your other goals in life. You have every right to live the life you have always dreamed of, make that change if it is what you really need.