Career Planning Lifecycle

A few of my friends and colleagues have inspired me to document career planning techniques I have used over the years.  I will plan to share examples over the next few weeks as I too update my 2010 career plan.  My hope is that the lifecycle and sample artifacts will enhance your career planning activities.

Step 1 – Know Yourself.  Knowing who you are including personal values, interests, motivators, and brand attributes is the first step to defining your career plan.  A successful career plan is one that is in concert with the other parts of your life so understanding who you are and what makes you tick is critical. The deliverable from this step is a Personal Brand Profile.

Step 2 - Target Market. Career planning is very similar to strategic analysis and product management where you need to understand the target market to position your product or service successfully.  The deliverable from this step is a market assessment and a clear target for your offering.

Step 3 – Roadmap Yourself. Similar to a product lifecycle, the market will change through time and the roadmap will define the steps we take to advance our capability and value we deliver.  The deliverable from this step is a roadmap of roles that includes the experiences to be gained, competencies developed and the relationships required to be successful in the role.

Step 4 – Develop Yourself. Refining and adding capabilities will support the advancement toward achieving your short-term and long-term career aspirations.  Understanding feedback and expectations from stakeholders is also an important input into your development plan.  The deliverable from this step is a list of personal development activities including on the job training, formal education, and learning from others.

Step 5 – Sell Yourself. We all need stakeholders who can help us achieve our dreams and career aspirations.  Positioning and selling your product each day is an essential part of career planning.  The deliverable from this step is marketing plan to communicate and sell your services.

While these five steps are very basic I rarely see people practice these with the required rigor to guide a targeted career plan.  I know from experience that a guided career plan that is aligned with your life's most important treasures can give you the energy to make the most of every day.