The Ultimate 4-Step Career Planning Guide to Achieve Your Goals

Most of us have goals and ambitions we want to achieve in our professional lives. This applies whether you’re fresh out of your graduation gown and just starting your journey, or if you’re a more experienced professional seeking a career shift.

Creating a solid career plan is essential to building the career and life you desire. Effective career planning can help you navigate changes in your professional situation, prepare you to move up in your role, or give you the tools to pivot to a new sector or function.

In four steps, this Career Planning Guide will lead you through the key personal and professional components that, when connected, can help you decide which career is the right fit for you, and figure out how to achieve your career goals.

Career Planning Step 1: Learn About Yourself

This first step is all about reflection. You need to dig deep to identify your key personality traits, identify which skills you possess, and consider the experience that has shaped you so far. These elements will make it easier to look ahead to possible future career paths. This step is particularly important for those who are just beginning their careers, and for those considering making a career shift. 

Personality

No one knows you better than you do, but now is a good time to become even more self-aware. Ask close friends, family members, and colleagues what they think your top skills and personality traits are. Ask them what job roles they see you excelling in now and in the near future. Write down a numbered list of skills that best describe you and the roles that you think are the best fit for you. Once you get feedback from others, add those to your list. 

Once you have a list, order your skills by importance and your roles by interest level.

Your Experience

The best way to think about what you have done and what has shaped you so far is to think about important activities and memories from your past. 

Here’s a list of some key questions that will help you identify who you are, what you’re passionate about, and what you’re capable of.

Childhood and high school: 

• What memorable stories do you have from your childhood?
• Who were your major influences?
• What were your strengths as a child and how did they have an impact on you?
• Were there any major changes or transitions that you went through that changed your perspective? 

College: 

• How did you decide where to go to college? 
• What did you major in and why? 
• Which classes did you love the most and why? 
• Which student activities did you lead, and how did that help you grow? 
• What did you learn from non-academic experiences, such as an on-campus job or volunteering?

Professional experience: 

• What jobs have you had since graduating from college? 
• Why did you select these jobs? 
• What are some challenging professional experiences you have had? 
• Rewarding ones? 
• How have you been a leader in your professional environment? 
• What have you learned that’s made you better at your job?
• Is there someone from past or current work that inspires you, and why?

Community involvement: 

• Have you done any volunteer activities since college? 
• Have you been a leader or had a measurable impact on any of those activities? 
• Why did you choose to do those activities?

Career Planning Step 2: Understand Your Responsibilities 

Your responsibilities are vitally important when considering any future career moves. You need to know any steps you take will allow you to continue to stay on top of things, whether that’s finances or family. 

Here are some questions to ask yourself that can help you assess what you should consider when creating your career plan.

What is Your Monthly Budget? 

Finances aren’t everything, but money is an important topic, and you need to clarify the minimum salary amount you should be targeting in any future career plans. 

Think about what you spend every month: rent, food, utilities, insurance, entertainment, and so on. Look at your bank account statements to get a sense of your expenses. If you want to be able to afford a different lifestyle, you need to first start by covering your basics and then make it your goal to earn a higher salary.

Are You Still in School?

If you’re still in school, career planning is vital. Ask yourself how many more credits you need to graduate? And what about graduate degrees—are you thinking about pursuing an MBA or master’s degree? Once you have answers to these questions, this will provide you with a timeline and a schedule. 

A graduate degree is a clear path to career success and a higher salary, and it’s one of the best investments you can make for your career, but it requires time and dedication.

Do You Have Family or Dependents to Consider?

Your family or loved ones should be considered in your career development plans as they could be affected by any career decisions you make. 

For example, if you are the only source of income for your family or you support someone else, your salary will most likely be a top priority when making career decisions. 

Do You Have Any Loans or Plans to Apply for Them?

Whether it’s student loans or other financial debt, this is a key item in your budget that will feed into your minimum salary requirement.

Other Responsibilities 

Don’t stop here. If you know you have other responsibilities, add them to your list. 

Career Planning Step 3: Identify What You Want

While thinking about your responsibilities is important, the career planning process is aspirational, too. Your career plan should also identify the things you want in future. There are three ways to think about this—what you value, what excites you, and what you need. Make a list of all the things you want in each category. Here are some examples:

What do you value?

• Prestige
• Flexibility and the possibility to work from home 
• The chance to travel 
• Making a positive impact in the world 

What excites and motivates you? 

• Collaboration with others 
• New projects
• Challenging tasks and working under pressure 
• A particular lifestyle 

What do you need? 

• Higher salary
• Better benefits
• Supportive culture

Those are just some examples of factors that may come into your values, motivations, and needs. If you need some more inspiration, ask yourself the following eight questions: 

What do I want to be responsible for? 

What type of boss/co-workers/team do I want? 

What hours would I like to work? 

What type of company would I like to work for? 

What sort of culture would I like the company to have? 

What city would I like to live in? 

What salary would I like to earn? 

What would I want my approach to stress, workload, and deadlines to be?

If you can answer those questions then you’re well on your way to having a career plan that fits with your specific wants. However, another thing to consider is what you don’t want in your future career.

Knowing what you don’t want is crucial. Make a list of things you don’t want in your next role; then, turn what you dislike around to create a list of needs. Are they the same as the ones you listed above? Did you find any new ones?

Career Planning Step 4: Create Your Career Vision

You’ve spent time looking into yourself, your values, your motivators, your responsibilities, your needs, and your wants. There is one more step before you can start building a career action plan: your career vision. 

Find a quiet place, close your eyes, and envision yourself in your dream role five years from now. Think about every detail. What are you wearing, where are you, what are you doing, who are you working with, how are people interacting with you? Live that moment. Then come back and write it down.

Not sure if it's time for a career change? Take our quick quiz to find out if now is the right moment to make your next move.