Career Planning is very important in helping you focus on the profession that you have chosen. Do not leave it until you are about to pursue tertiary education. Set the goal or goals.
Consult your school's career counselor, if there is one. Otherwise, seek advice from a human resource consultant.
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You can also inquire from working professionals in the field of work that you are interested in.
Choosing a Profession You may have some idea what role career planning can play in your career.
You may have decided on the profession you want at the verge of entering high school.
Before you commence high school education, carefully choose the subjects that are required for entry into a degree course leading to your chosen profession.
Perhaps, you want to be an entrepreneur, or businessman. Proper career planning requires that you choose the subjects that are relevant to your chosen profession.
Career Planning Helps You in Making the Right Decision Is there a shortage of qualified people in the profession you are pursuing or will pursue?
What is the future demand and supply for qualified people in the profession and industry that you have chosen?
Ask all the relevant questions you can think of. This will ensure that you can obtain employment once you are academically or professionally qualified.
In you career planning you need to conduct a research on education, business trends. and where the vacant jobs frequently occur. Read the advertisement section of local newspapers. Obtain job statistics.
It is not productive to obtain a diploma or degree when you find after years of study, that there is no job demand for it. Such knowledge will go to waste when you are forced to take a lowly-paid job requiring lesser qualification and competence.
A person may have a qualification in town planning but is employed as an executive in a plantation. Someone with a degree in political science but is working in a factory.
Choosing a career is one of the most important decisions in your life. You may have just finished high school or college.
After working for a while, you may want to change your career plan. The question is whether you like your new job. You may dislike it just as the previous job or you may dislike both.
You can have a choice between working for the government or in the private sector. You may have decided to become an entrepreneur or self-employed.
Ask yourself whether you have the right personality and the required qualification and skills for the profession that you aspire.
Do you like to work alone? You can look for a job such as a researcher, laboratory technician and the like.
Are you outgoing? Do you find it invigorating meeting people? You could go for a profession like marketing. Public relations professionals or corporate affairs may interest you.
Do you like working with people. Are you concerned about people's development? You can explore possibilities in working in human resource management or coaching.
You may not like being tied down. Be an entrepreneur.
You are articulate, innovative, creative, and like to work with ideas. Check out jobs in the fine arts, the film industry, fashions and similar professions. What about photo journalism?
Do you have a "Generation X" personality? A challenging and dynamic job with a degree of independence may hold you down.
Mistakes in choosing a profession can occur. After a couple of years in a job, you find out that this is not the type of job you want. What do you do then?
Are you already in gainful employment? You have tertiary education but are employed in a job that does not reflect your qualification. It is not your chosen profession. And you have skills you are eager to use.
Everything is not lost. You can take certain steps to rectify the situation so that your career reflects your qualification and abilities.
Make yourself visible by demonstrating your knowledge and skills while performing your job.
Apply for a vacant senior position that requires qualification like yours.
Find out whether you can contribute more at a different location such as in a subsidiary.
When it is fairly clear that your qualification will become redundant due to lack of opportunities, move out. You can take this drastic step if you still want to pursue your chosen profession. Otherwise bide your time in your present organization.
Choosing an Organization with Employee Development Plans An organization with strong emphasis on on-going employee development is good for your career development and profession.
Training programs are important to enhance skills. You can also learn new skills.
It is critical that you prepare a strategic plan to realize your aspiration.
This will reduce the possibility of ending up in the wrong profession.
Types of Profession Whether you decide to take up a government job or a private sector job, make sure that you choose the right job.
Pursuance of the wrong career is wasteful and burdensome, and does not make you a productive employee. Certain books can provide help in finding the job that you like.
Having the right people in the right job is good for the organization. This is your position if you have devised the plan to achieve your aspiration. This is the making of a productive human resource.
Being Employed or Self-Employed Career planning plays an important part if you decide quite early that you want to start your own business. Being qualified for your chosen business undertaking has its advantages.
Whether you want to take up gainful employment or want to become an entrepreneur, careful career planning offers great help.
You are maximizing the use of your knowledge, skills and talents.
Important Things to Consider in Career Planning Learn the important details of the profession for which the entry qualification is the same as your qualification.
Career guidance literature normally explains the profession in terms of duties and responsibilities, the qualifications required, and what industries offer employment opportunities to people having such qualification or a set of qualifications.
Without adequate preparation, even graduates can get overwhelmed by the decision required to choose the right career.
However, if you have a good qualification, you have the flexibility in choosing between different careers.
Good Pay Verses Wrong Profession You may decide to pursue the best profession which is not the right profession for you. The good pay may not make up for the feeling of burden and non-fulfillment.
You choose the right job in order to have a successful and satisfying career.
Taking Responsibility for Your Career Planning Career planning is the responsibility of the person or employee concerned. It is seldom that employers will do it for them.
As an employee or prospective employee you need to take care of preparing for your chosen career.
Sometimes organizations may collaborate with educational institutions in the further education of identified members of of its workforce. This happens when there is a shortage of potential employees who have specialized qualifications and / or skills.
In this way, the organizations indirectly advance the career of the employee. All parties concerned benefit from the collaboration, including the educational institution.
It can happen that large organizations have their own technical college where their employees are trained and sometimes undergo a course of study leading to certification.
In most cases, these knowledge and skills are technical in nature. And the organizations are usually using modern technology in carrying out its activities. An example is a manufacturing company using computerized robots to perform very sophisticated technical tasks.
If you manage to get employed in such an organization then you do not have to worry too much about your career advancement. One way of pursuing your profession is by online learning.
Searching for a Job There are so many types of jobs to choose from. It all depends on your interest, your qualification, skills, personality, and so on.
HR Career Search If HR is your preference for a profession, there are many institutions of higher learning offering degrees in Human Resource Management. Click here for "HR Career Information"
Get the right qualification right from the beginning. Thereafter, you may want to obtain more specialized skills.This puts you at the front in the search for jobs in Human Resources.
Whatever your chosen profession is, putting in adequate information in your career planning will ensure that you do not miss important matters.
Choosing To Telecommute One of the modern employment phenomenon in modern career planning is that workers can choose to telecommute.
This is a strategy you can use if you want to work and at the same time look after your family. Alternatively, conditions may allow you to work from home whatever your other activities are.
Should You Change Job Constantly changing jobs is not good for you.
However, where it is practically impossible to hold onto your job, then it is time to move on.
If you wish to know whether change of job is a better option, then this is the book to read. On the other hand you will find it helpful if you are looking for a job.
To give a brief summary:
Carry out your career planning as early as possible, beginning with the selection of the right subjects before entering high school or at Secondary School Level.
Find out what profession you want to pursue. Make a list of the potential careers, and rank them in terms of your preference and interest.
Choose the right course of study at tertiary level.
Decide in which industry you want to work, and the prospective employer.
Apply for the right job or choose to be self-employed.
Hold onto your job or move on if this is the only option.
Availability of Quality Information Quality information is crucial to personal development that can help you prepare or review your career plan.
You have so many options in life. You can work for others. You can work for yourself. You have the right to live the type of life you like. In all of these, you can choose to do what is right for you.
Click on the following links for additional information relating to career.
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