New Career Planning Life Cycle!

Are you having trouble setting career goals?  In searching for the right career, there are so many options and decisions. Hollandcodes.com has the tools that will help you to make the right career decisions

Overview

There are three steps in career planning cycle that will help you achieve your career goals and search for a career. 

Step One: Get a Clear Career Goal

The first step in search for a job is setting a career goal

In order to set a career goal, you have to take inventory of yourself to determine what you can offer an employer. 

You need to –

  • Build awareness, knowledge and understanding of our strengths, interests, abilities, and skills
  • List your ambitions, values, education, and experiences
  • Determine your job preferences –job duties, salary, geographic location, and work conditions

 Step Two: Explore Career Options

In order to identify potential careers, you may use career exploration and social media resources to gather the following occupational information –

  • Labor market
  • Work industries
  • Companies, organizations, or agencies
  • Specific careers

Use online career exploration resources to identify potential careers.

 Step Three: Overcome Career Roadblocks

When you are trying to reach a career goal, there will always be obstacles.  You solve career problems by completing the following steps –

  • Identify educational and career planning obstacles
  • Create solutions or courses of action
  • Set achievable goals
  • Resolve conflicts
  • Commit to reach our goals

 Problem solving should take into consideration personal interests, skills, values, and financial resources. Big problems are broken down into smaller, more manageable steps. Achievable goals result in the production of new competencies, attitudes, and solutions.

As an individual, you:

  • Set, formulate, prioritize, and rank goals
  • Clearly state our vocational interests, abilities, and values
  • Derive plans or strategies to implement the solutions
  • Make a commitment to complete the plans
  • Understand decision-making processes
  • Evaluate the primary choice
  • Consider a secondary occupational choice, if necessary

 Decision-making processes include:

  •  Develop a career plan
  • Identify a potential occupations
  • Selecting appropriate educational programs
  • Figuring the costs of educational training
  • Considering the impact of career decisions.

 Step Four: Execution

 You execute your career plans when you use different strategies –

  • Reality testing
  • Social Media
  • Job Search Strategies – Resume Writing and Interview Preparation

Reality Testing

While implementing and, you translate vocational interests, abilities, and skills into job opportunities. You do reality testing by implementing the following strategies –

  • Informational interviewing
  • Networking
  • Job shadowing
  • Internships
  • Part-time employment
  • Full-time employment
  • Volunteer work

 Social Media and Networking Tools

 Networking can help you complete targeted job searches.  You can use a variety of social media tools to learn and connect with professional associations and potential employers. Three major networking social media tools are –

  •  Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Facebook

 Resume Writing and Interviewing Strategies

 Resume writing and interview preparation are essential skills needed to land a potential job.

Resumes

 Your resume is your sales tool that lets employers know your strengths, interests, experience, and educational background.

 The appearance of your resume is extremely important.  Check the appearance of your resume - your font, spelling, spacing, margins.  In a resume, you will highlight your skills that make you unique and set you apart from others.  Common areas covered in a resume are –

  • Objective (optional)
  • Skills
  • Education
  • Honors/ Awards
  • Experience
  • Volunteer Experience (if relevant to the potential job)

 Types of resumes are –

  • Chronological – listing experiences in reverse chronological order
  • Functional – emphasizing specific skills

 Interviewing

 There are steps to prepare for a successful interview -

  • Review common interview questions
  • Prepare for behavior or STAR interviews
  • Practice - Practice is essential for a successful interview.
  • Dress for success

Interested in more comprehensive career inventories. 

Use the following tools to select the right career assessment.  The selection process includes:

  • Introduction to Career Planning
  • Steps to Self Awareness
  • Tools To Assess Self Awareness
  • Selection of a Career Assessment or Test
  • Career Test Checklist 
  • Features Of Career Self Assessments Tests

The Careerplans4all.com store has the following types of career tests -