Are you feeling the urge to move forward in your career, but you’re not sure exactly where to start? There are three things that you can do to make it easier to get started on your plan.
1. Do a Gap Analysis – A gap analysis is basically a way for you to compare where you are with where you want to end up. The gap between will show you the way forward.
First, you’ll begin with the end in mind. Looking at the role you want, what skills and/or experience are required to reach that career goal? You can gather this data through job ads, by studying the backgrounds of role models in your industry, and through actual conversations with people who are already where you aspire to be in your career.
Next, you’ll create an inventory list of your current skills and abilities so you can see what you have already. It might be easier if you sort them into functional categories for the role you’re targeting. For example, management, administrative, technical, financial, human resources, business development, etc. It’s important to note that your inventory list is not meant to include all of your skills and abilities – it’s really about what you have that you can and need to carry forward with you because it will be required in your target role.
2. Decide Your Next Steps – Once you’ve determined what skills and/or experience you’re missing and need to acquire in order to get where you want to go, you can decide your next steps.
Do you need further training? Perhaps, you can take a class or get a certification in your field. If you need experience, maybe you can volunteer for projects that allow you to acquire that experience. These projects might be within your current organization, or you might find something you can do on the side or as a volunteer in the community or for a professional association.
3. Get Support – After you’ve decided your next steps, talk with someone who can help you move forward.
If you think the way forward could be a future promotion within your current organization, sit down with your manager and explain where you want to go. If you can get buy-in, see if your manager and the organization will support you. Support can come in different forms, including moral support, a career promotion plan you make together, funding for a degree, class, or certification, etc.
If the leaders were you work aren’t supportive, then look for people outside your organization who are doing what you want to be doing. Ask them questions about what it will take for you to do what you want to accomplish in your career path. If appropriate, ask them to mentor you. Maybe they will even let you shadow them in some way.
Bonus Suggestion
Once you’ve identified what you want and a way forward toward it, keep your momentum going by periodically scheduling time in your calendar to review your progress and reset or adjust your action plan. (Read: Personal Planning Retreat for some tips.) To ensure that you will take the time to do this, make an appointment with yourself just like you would make an appointment for a haircut or a dental checkup. You can have this appointment with yourself once a year, twice a year, quarterly — it’s up to you how often you’ll want to pause to check on and tweak your plan.
Now that you know how to get started, don’t delay because until you have a plan, you’re completely at the mercy of outside forces. When you have a plan, you can have more control of your career. Jim Rohn once said it well: “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”