As a professional recruiter, I would like to emphasize that, “ Career Planning” is a fundamental process that helps anyone to enhance their professional journey and achieve their career goals. As the job market becomes increasingly competitive and dynamic, having a well-defined career plan is crucial for success.
In your quest to plan and map out your career, exploring career options, understanding the path you would like to take, setting goals and developing skills could be considered basic disciplines that need to be thoroughly researched and considered.
Skills are the building blocks of a successful career. Understanding relevant skills and their importance and how to develop them, can be helpful. We often hear of the importance of developing soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills are interpersonal skills that characterize a person’s ability to interact effectively with others, like adaptability, communication, conflict resolution, decision making and teamwork. Meanwhile, hard skills are learned abilities acquired and enhanced through education and experience, such as software knowledge, analytical skills, forecasting and language skills. Any skill development, whether soft skills or technical or hard skills, would undoubtedly contribute for your success at your workplace. It is important to develop transferable skills and abilities that can make you competitive anywhere. Employees can gain and improve skills with continuous learning and up-skilling.
It’s hard to mention which time or when you need relevant skills. But having a bunch of different kinds of skills would come in handy at any moment in your professional life. Hence, developing relevant skills will contribute significantly when going up your career ladder. A most basic yet vital instance of the significance and impact of being skillful will be an instance when you are facing an interview at which you become the preferred choice simply because you possess certain skills/abilities which others do not have.
Here are few ways in which you could plan your skill development:
★ Set goals for yourself
★ Find a mentor & seek feedback about your strengths and weaknesses
★ Review job descriptions for positions you would desire
★ Enroll and continue education through courses in career-related fields
★ Take advantage of company trainings, job shadowing & workshops
★ Join a professional association in your relevant field
★ Continuous practice
Even if you don’t know what to study or which learning opportunities are at your disposal, be curious and look out for opportunities. Ask yourself, “What have I been interested in or passionate about since my undergraduate level/beginning of my career life?” Answer that and you’ll discover the learning journey you should pursue. You’ll also discover immeasurable satisfaction in learning.
