Staying on Top by Planning

As technology changes and industries gain or lose popularity, it becomes even more important that as a professional you stay up to date in your career field. It’s through these efforts that you will continue to climb the job ladder. Your education doesn’t stop when you graduate from college. It’s a never-ending endeavor.

In case you are unsure what steps to take, here are some tips. Keep your résumé up to date. You are constantly learning new skills. Whether it’s mastering a new computer program or receiving new responsibilities and possibly a new job title, you need to make sure that these updates are included in your résumé. While some of them may not seem significant to you, you never know what will stick out to an employer. Take the time to review your résumé every few months or so to make sure that you have added your most recent and significant accomplishments and replaced outdated information about yourself.

If you haven’t already, create a professional portfolio. It will provide proof of what you’ve claimed on your résumé. Include awards, certificates, and projects pertaining to your career field, along with job-related items. If you already have a portfolio, keep it up to date.

Attend seminars or conferences related to your career field. These are great opportunities to learn about new ideas in your field as well as to form connections with other people in your profession. If there aren’t many seminars that come to your area, subscribe to appropriate professional journals. If you don’t know where to find such journals try searching online or talking to colleagues to find out about them.

Review your goals. Reevaluate what you need to achieve goals that you aren’t meeting. What new goals do you want to set? Make sure you’re constantly looking to the future.

Finally, remember the basics. You never know who’s watching you while you work. Maintain good relations with co-workers and be a valued employee. Doing so will help with networking as well as when promotion time comes around. As the workplace shifts and adjusts to new technology, it’s important to maintain flexibility, adaptability, and versatility. These skills will help you develop and learn new information that is presented to you. Open-mindedness should not be underestimated. If you want to be at the top of your career, you have to stay on top of changes in your field.

Regardless of what field you’re in or how long you’ve worked there, there will always be changes in your career. In order to stay in the loop, career planning is a necessity. It truly is a lifelong effort. While it doesn’t take much time to continue your career planning, it definitely will make a huge impact on your career outlook.

For more information on lifelong career planning, check out the sites below:

http://www.bsu.edu/careers/students/csp6

http://www.careernet.state.md.us/plan.htm

http://www.canadaprospects.com/products/cp_94/tools/career.html

http://www.businesspotential.com/career_plans.htm

http://careerplanning.about.com/cs/choosingacareer/a/cp_process.htm

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