What is a career plan?
A career plan is a tool and/or outline of career goals and actions you plan to take to achieve those goals. This tool is unique for each individual person and is based on your unique skills, interests, and values as well as your personal goals around your job, role and industry of interest.
One important thing to keep in mind is that a plan is not written in stone – it is not permanent and will likely change (perhaps several times). It can be tricky, but making a clear plan that is also flexible enough to change as you and the world around you changes can help you greatly.
Why have a career plan?
Career plans can be helpful for a number of reasons. They can:
- Help you visualize the future and see what you need to do and what is possible
- Keep track of what you need to do and when you need to do it (particularly for careers that have time-bound expectations, such as pre-med pathways)
- Connect what you’re learning in the classroom to skills you’re building and experiences you have in part-time jobs, internships, volunteering, practicuums, etc.
- Having a career plan helps guide you on your journey and improves your odds of getting a solid start in the kind of role you want when you graduate. Data from the 2023 National Alumni Career Mobility Survey found that students who create a career plan are over 6x more likely to rate highly in career path preparation, economic mobility, and career satisfaction.
Steps for creating a career plan
1. Start with your career options
In order to know where to go, you need to know where you’re starting. Knowing what career or careers you’re interested in will help you determine concrete goals and steps you can take to get there. Make sure you can answer:
- the job title and/or similar titles of the role you’re interested in
- if the role is entry level (something you could start right after you graduate) or a higher level role that you would need to build up experience to
- common tasks and duties related to the job
- key skills and competencies needed for the role
Not sure where to start? You can use assessments, tools like the Labor Market Tool and O*NET to explore and find answers to all of these questions.
2. Organize & explore
Determine what your priorities are and compare/contrast the career paths you’ve explored. Which might be a good place to start? Are there any that you want to rule out?
Do you need to find more information about these paths? You could consider job shadowing or doing informational interviews to meet people working in these roles to learn firsthand what working in these areas is like.
3. Determine your target
After you’ve looked at your options and done research, it’s time to make a choice of where to start. Remember, this isn’t a final path you’re locked into – it’s what you’re most interested in getting experience in and trying out. Most people change careers 5-7 times in their lives, so you’re focusing on what makes sense for you and what you’re drawn to most right now.
Your target is the specific industry and position you choose to pursue. As we mentioned before, it can be an entry level career you can start right after you graduate or it can be something that will take time and experience to build up to. Whichever it may be, it’s time to set some goals around your target. Goal setting is a great way to visualize and clarify what you want to do – and hold yourself accountable for doing those things. SMART goals are a very common method for thinking about and structuring goals, but they can be also very overwhelming as they are large and long-term. NICE goals start with smaller things you can do each day or week, and can build towards a larger goal over time. You can read more about goal setting in this resource. It’s important that regardless of what goal setting strategy you use that your goals are clear, measurable, and attainable.
Once you’ve set 2-3 goals for yourself, it’s time to start working on them – and keeping yourself accountable through tracking your goals and bringing in friends, family, coaches, faculty, and other mentors to help you stay on track.
4. Build your experience
Whether it’s one of your goals or not, getting experience in your field of interest is essential. Most employers expect students to have some kind of career experience while they’re in college. These experiences can include:
- internships and part-time jobs
- leadership opportunities (in student organizations, campus groups, athletics, outside organizations, etc.)
- research
- specific experiences such as field work, practicums, clinicals
- civic and global experiences such as volunteering, studying abroad, and community engagement
- volunteering and service
- joining professional associations
- taking classes and attending learning opportunities (such as visiting lectures, symposiums, etc.) connected to your job target
- personal and professional development such as certifications, additional training, personal projects and reading
Chose a couple of these that best fit your job target. Not sure what makes the most sense? If you did informational interviews or job shadowing, return to the folks you met with to see what they recommend. Utilizing the Strommen Center, employer connections at job fairs, and faculty connections can also help you navigate what experiences might be best for you.
5. Prepare for your job search
Whether you’re preparing to apply for an internship or full-time job, you’ll want to be ready to find those opportunities through job boards and networking, submit resumes and cover letters, and attend interviews. The Strommen Center’s job and internship search toolkit is a great place to start. We also host workshops and job fair prep sessions that can help you prepare in many of those areas – keep an eye out for our events through our website and on Handshake.
What if I change my career plan?
That’s totally normal and likely to happen! If you change your career plan, pause and reflect. What step has changed for you – your career option, the organizations you’re interested in, your goals and target, or the type of experience you want to get? Wherever the change might be, go back to that step. Evaluate what didn’t work for you and what you want to try differently. Use the resources on our website, friends and family, mentors, and our career coaches to help navigate what your new plan will look like.
People tend to change their career 5-7 times in their lives, so it’s expected that things might look different than you originally planned. That’s okay! This strategy is built to allow you go back and forward between different steps, depending on what kind of change you’re working though. It helps to keep you plans clear and achievable while also being flexible to adapt and change with your life and the world around you.
Have further questions about career planning and what’s right for you? Our coaches are happy to meet with you and discuss what your specific pathway looks like. Find a time that works for you in Navigate and be ready to share all about where you’re hoping to go!