Why Is It Important To Have A Career Development Plan?

There are few things as important as having a career development plan when it comes to excelling in life and accelerating in your chosen field.  It is vital that you have a clear sense of the direction you would like to head with your career. Career planning is a critical step and is essential to your success not something you want to skip over.

The purpose of a career development plan is to help you reach your goals.  Everyone has aspirations in life and specific levels they would like to reach.
Part of the planning process actually entails you developing specific career goals and mapping out a course on how to best reach them.

To do that, you must determine what is important to you. You may or may not have an idea of what you are looking for in terms of a career – a career coach will ask powerful questions that enable you to determine exactly what you are looking for in your career. Starting out with comprehensive career assessment tools will allow you to uncover your key strengths and determine how those best relate to building a successful career. Once you have your strengths mapped out, you can determine next steps. And, next steps begin with goals.

When setting goals, it is critical that you consider all aspects. Which do you have, a job or a career? What is it about your job that you absolutely cannot stand? If you have a career, what is it that you absolutely love about it? Knowing this is just part of the puzzle – there is much more to uncover and many decisions to make to ensure you find balance, passion, and purpose as well as continued growth.

Part of identifying your career paths includes defining your purpose and passions. Why? Because everyone dreams of getting into a career field they enjoy and have fun with, but most people wander off course. They select a different career aspiration simply because they react rather than plan. They apply for an opening and take a job even though they know it is not the right fit. By having a plan and clear ideas about what it is you really want, you will avoid the pitfalls of career mismatch. You will identify find the right field to get into based on your interests, strengths, and personal passions.

So you see the importance of getting career guidance advice and creation of a career development plan. It is geared toward you and what you’re made of – you deserve to find the proper balance between your personal life and career.  It can be easy to get caught up in work mode and constantly have the job on your mind. However, this can lead to a troubling lifestyle if you do not intertwine passion, purpose, and personal fulfillment into your career.

By setting goals, understanding how you will reach them, finding something you love, and finding a balance between work and play will allow you to reach a level of happiness people only dream about. Manage your career – set your course for success with a career development plan. Dreams do come true.

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