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311 Bricker Hall
190 N. Oval Mall
Columbus, OH 43210
Phone; (614) 292.1175
Fax: (614) 292.6687
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Devloping a Career Plan
There are 6 key components to developing a solid career plan. These steps include: self-assessment, career exploration, reality-testing, focusing and goal setting, implementation, and evaluation/balancing. Each component is outlined below:
- Self-Assessment - Solid career planning begins with self-reflection and self-assessment. Learn about your interest, abilities and values to help narrow your career goal. Ask yourself, what are my:
- Values
- What is important to me?
- What do I want to accomplish in my life?
- What work values are important to me when considering occupations and looking for a job (i.e. training, work hours, salary, benefits, size and type of company?
- What non-work values are important to me when considering occupations and looking for a job (i.e. cost of living, community, recreational activities, commuting distance, proximity to family)?
- Interests
- What do I like to do?
- What classes have I liked?
- What projects do I enjoy most?
- What kinds of jobs have I had that I enjoyed?
- What aspects of the jobs I have had that were the most enjoyable?
- What is it that I’ve done that I hope never to do again?
- Abilities
- What am I good at?
- What am I not so good at?
- Personality Characteristics
- On projects, do I enjoy working on teams, or do I prefer to work alone?
- Am I detail oriented, or do I look at the big picture?
- Do I make decisions based on logic and reason or values and compassion?
- Do I plan things well in advance, or do I like to do things on the spur of the moment?
- What kinds of people do I like to be around?
- Career Exploration
- Research!
- Gather information about occupational fields and academic areas of study to make realistic, informed decisions.
- What types of preparation, training, and skills do these occupations require?
- Reality-Testing
- Try out a career idea to learn if it fits with what you know about yourself
- Participate in internships, volunteer, and/or career-related part-time activities
- Conduct informational interviews with professionals who work in occupations you are interested in (this will also help with future networking)
- Compare your skills and interest to occupations you have chosen
- Focusing and Goal Setting
- Establish long and short-term goals consistent with your career goal(s)
- What are your strongest skills and abilities
- What skills and abilities do you want to use in your career
- Assess the skills that you don’t have that will need further development.
- Determine what further training (and/or education) you need and how long it will take
- Implementing
- Take action to achieve your career objective (conduct a job search; apply to graduate/professional programs)
- Think strategically about the steps necessary to accomplish your career goal
- Evaluation/Balancing
- Throughout the career planning process you may find it necessary to reassess your goals, as well as your effectiveness in reaching your goals
- Don’t be discouraged!
- Make appropriate changes to achieve your goal(s), set new goals, and
- Make appropriate changes to achieve a balance between work, leisure, and education
Career & Internship Links
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