University Advancement Office Alumni and Friends

Future directions - your career plan

At many stages during your career you will want to pause and reassess your directions. You may be moving location, seeking a new position in your own organisation or wanting to try a new industry or occupation. Perhaps you have been headhunted or you may want to take up a position with more responsibility to extend your skills. You may be seeking career change as you discover new interests. Maybe you will decide to start your own business or become self employed, or perhaps you are contemplating a scenario where you couple together a number of jobs and undertake some volunteer work. It could be that you wish to change your work/life balance by adjusting the amount of time you spend in the workforce to cater for family needs or perhaps you want to contribute more to your community.

Whatever the impetus, you will be better placed if you have adopted a systematic approach to career planning and decision making to help you:

In the preceding articles in this series we have covered many of these elements in depth.

Take the time to reread these articles and as you do, complete and print out the following Career Planning Checklist. Reflect carefully on your answers as you progress, and empower yourself to set some realistic goals and strategies (note them down in the right hand column) to ensure that in the areas where you need to take action, you have committed yourself to do so.

Keep a copy of your Career Planning Checklist, review it frequently, and update it every six months so that you are regularly giving your career plan a good health check.

Career Planning Checklist
My health check!
 My next steps

Self assessment

Have I reflected on and identified my interests?
Yes No
Do my interests (still?) match my career type?
Yes No
Is my daily work and my organisation's philosophy congruent with my values?
Yes No
Am I able to use my skills and knowledge to the full in my position?
Yes No
Do I regularly receive honest feedback about my level of skill and performance at work?
Yes No
Am I happy with my work satisfiers? Salary, hours, culture, location, colleagues, level of independence, support, progression opportunities etc.?
Yes No
Does my work life balance satisfy me now and will it be viable for the next ? years?
Yes No
Understanding the labour market
Do I know the key influences on my industry, eg. global competitiveness, new technology?
Yes No
Is my industry in decline or growth, eg. demand and supply changes/skill changes?
Yes No
Am I up to date with the common destinations and career paths for graduates with my experience?
Yes No
Is there a change in the pattern or location of work opportunities in this industry, eg. full time/part time - move offshore- vulnerable to government policy change etc.?
Yes No
Am I familiar with the salary levels appropriate for someone with my career potential?
Yes No
Am I clear about what employers are particularly looking for, apart from my qualifications - eg. generic skills?
Yes No
Extending skills and knowledge and exploring options
Do I need to undertake professional development, and what opportunities exist at work or externally?
Yes No
Do I need to undertake accredited further study or training and have researched all the possible options, eg. on/off campus?
Yes No
Have I identified and sought out a career mentor to provide me with information and guidance?
Yes No
Have I asked for a secondment, exchange or work shadow opportunity to extend my understanding of other career roles related to mine?
Yes No
Getting my employment tools together
Is my Career Portfolio always up to date?
(A good test is to be able to answer "yes" to the following question: If someone asked you to put in a late application for a job by email tonight, would your material be ready?)
Yes No
I have a well ordered filing system (and backup) which includes...

ï My Master resumé - functional, which can be adapted to skills based if needed?
Yes No

ï Prior applications, cover letters and adapted resumés?
Yes No

ï Responses to previous selection criteria, cross-filed by skill (eg. generic skills requested by many employers: problem solving, research, project management, organisational skills, managerial skills, innovation)?
Yes No

ï Artifacts of achievements, regularly updated and cross-filed by skill, eg. images of reports completed, Powerpoint presentations, descriptions of projects?
Yes No

ï Referees - regularly contacted and updated?
Yes No

ï Transcripts of qualifications and lists of training completed - kept updated?
Yes No

ï Testimonials about my study, work or community performance?
Yes No
Have I updated myself on the latest approaches to interviews, assessment centres and psychometric testing?
Yes No
Have I practiced behavioural interview (pdf) techniques and am I familiar with case study interviews?
Yes No
Finding and securing work
Do I regularly check the following for published positions...

ï Newspapers and the internet?
Yes No

ï Professional newsletters, business publications and government gazettes?
Yes No

ï Employment agencies and personnel/recruitment consultants?
Yes No
Am I member of relevant professional associations which can provide me with credibility and links to new opportunities?
Yes No
Have I tried informational interviewing (pdf) to discover more about career roles and possible job openings coming up?
Yes No
When I am offered a new position, will I be ready to discuss/negotiate the contract, salary level and working conditions - ie. do I understand awards, market rates, superannuation, probation, termination etc.?
Yes No
Leading and contributing - active citizenship
Have I considered what I can put back -as a leader and active citizen- in the areas that I feel strongly about...

ï Locally, to build community capacity?
Yes No

ï Globally, to build cultural harmony?
Yes No
Have I identified opportunities for me to contribute by taking a leadership role and encouraging social or global responsibility at work, eg. loaned executives?
Yes No
Have I explored possibilities for taking a leadership role as an individual in my community by drawing on and sharing my work skills and experience, eg. volunteering with existing groups or initiating new services or activities?
Yes No

Barbara Hammond, General Manager
Careers & Employment

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