What Is Career Planning?

Landing a job in your desired career requires thorough planning. According to research by the Pew Research Center, over 150 million Americans perform some type of paid work. With such stiff competition, you need to plan ahead. But career planning encompasses more than just choosing your desired career. So, what is career planning, and what steps can you take to better prepare yourself for a successful and fulfilling career?

What Is Career Planning?

Career Planning Explained

Career planning refers to the process of exploring your personal interests, assessing your skill and abilities, and creating career goals for the purpose of choosing a specific career. Even if you're still finishing up high school, you probably have a general idea of which career you'd like to pursue after graduating. Maybe you want a career in the hotel management industry, or perhaps you want to open your own restaurant. Regardless, career planning can help you fine-tune your career selection to increase your chance of choosing the perfect career.

Explore Your Personal Interests

To get started with career planning, you should explore your personal interests. Contrary to what some people believe, the highest-paying career isn't necessarily the best career. While salary or wages is important, the level of interest you have in a particular career is even more important. If you don't find a career rewarding or enjoyable, you may suffer from a lack of motivation that hinders your ability to succeed in that career.

Assess Your Skills and Abilities

In addition to exploring personal interests, career planning also requires a self-assessment of your skills and abilities. Everyone has skills and abilities. And in the workplace, these skills and abilities can prove invaluable in helping you succeed. Therefore, you should consider a career in which you can apply some of your existing skills and abilities. When performing a self-assessment during career planning, analyze both your hard skills and soft skills.

Create a Career Goals

Setting goals is an essential step in career planning. Without goals, you won't have quantifiable means of measuring your career success. Create short-term and long-term career goals as part of your career planning process. A short-term career goal may consist of completing a technical course or earning a diploma, whereas a long-term career goal may consist of actually landing a job in your chosen career.

By following these three steps of career planning, you'll have a better understanding of which career is right for you.

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