Career planning in the process
MD Concepts and Careers
Har Simran Kaur
Today there are way too many factors beyond our control that shape our job options – global economic trends, political elections, and technological changes, just to name a few. So don’t commit the hubris of thinking that you can determine your professional glide path.
But if you want to increase the probability of your success you need to have a right mind-set. Having said that you need to realize career planning is a continuous process that needs to be actively managed. Keep determining the steps that will maximise the options in future.
Gain transferable knowledge
For this you need to make smart choices regarding the courses you follow. As this will provide you with the necessary skills and expertise to succeed in wide variety of jobs. Let’s say you take a job putting together airplane leases. Within a few years, you could become the world’s expert on the subject; however, this narrow expertise probably won’t help you in any other line of work. By contrast, if you take a job that will expand your computer programming skills, you can greatly boost your options for later steps in your career.
You can always make yourself more attractive to more employers by working in different types of organisations during your career.
Gaining experience outside your home country is yet another way to develop transferable knowledge.
Grow your network
You need to be pretty active in networking. The more people you know the more people will think of you when there is a job opening.
To paraphrase a slogan, “Organizations don’t hire people. People hire people.” Accepting a job in the same firm but in different unit is a good way to get your network growing.
In this tough economy and ever-changing world, it is more important than ever to smartly evaluate each step in your career.