Plan Your Career
A career plan is continuous process of decision making to determine your skills, interests, and career goals to keep focus on reaching your objective
Plan Your Career
A career plan is continuous process of decision making to determine your skills, interests, and career goals to keep focus on reaching your objective.
Career Planning Model
A model called SODI model taken from Law and Watts (1977), it is a four concept of step-by-guide to career planning.
Self-awareness
Having knowledge about and an understanding of your own personal development based on your skills, values, interests, and personality. Your answers should come from your own experiences.
- Skills – Will determine your skills and confidence learning a skill
- Values – Measure how important different values are to you
- Interest – Determine your likes and dislikes regarding various activities
- Personality – Will determine your skills and confidence learning a skill.
Opportunity awareness
An understanding of the general structures of the world of work, including career possibilities and alternative pathways. You can conduct your own research by examining sites that provide information about:
- Occupations – Job descriptions, qualifications required to gain entry to careers and sources of additional and related information
- Industries and professions – Current developments and activities in industries and professions
- Labor market trends – Current and projected labor market demands, recent salaries and skills required for employment
- Training courses – Information on the range of courses available through universities
Decision-making and planning
How to make career decisions and being aware of pressures, influences, styles, consequences, and goal setting.
- Make a decision – Consider your options carefully. You could prioritize or come up with a shortlist. Your decision could be come from listing pro and cons, taking advices, testing ideas, and sometimes heed your intuition.
- Develop an action plan – Develop a set of goals. They need to be specific and manageable. Break them into short and long-term goals.
- Act on the plan – Start now. Do not wait until you finish your course.
- Review your plan over time – Your interests as well as your chosen field may change over time. So, it is wise to review your plan again at some point.
Implementing plans
Having the appropriate skill level in a range of areas to be able to translate job and career planning into reality.
- Job search – Use multiple sources such as online, family, friends, networks, and newspapers to find out the location of the jobs
- Resume and cover letter – Write a targeted resume and cover letter for each job you are applying to, complete application forms, and respond to key selection criteria.
- Job interviews – Be prepared, research the organization and practice different interview questions
- Network – Talk to people in your contact who work in an occupation of interest to you or try cold call
- Mentor/coach – Find a mentor/coach who can use their experience to guide you towards your career goals
- Join a professional association – Keep up to date with what is happening in your industry and develop your skills by attending seminars and conferences to make professional connections to extend your network.
