Now that the new year is underway, it’s time to start taking charge of our careers. What do we want this new year to look like? What do we want to accomplish? What skills do we want to learn/perfect? Where do we want to be at the end of next year?
While these are all great questions to have, it would be even better to have answers!
What is it?
A few year ago a colleague of mine introduced me to what a formal professional development plan looked like. At the time I thought it was a great idea to have such a written plan, but knew the template would be hard to fill out, so I figured I’d just think about these things. As I was leaving his office he said to me, “so let’s meet back in a week to review what you’ve filled out.” And then I knew that I had to write it all down. I came to this colleague for help, he offered it, and now I couldn’t let him down.
So, I went back to my desk and got started. I first filled out what was easiest for me and didn’t worry about the words I used. I focused on the ideas I had. Then every day I came back to it and worked on it. Until I had something to show him. After a week my plan was still in draft, but I had ideas and for the first time in a while I gave my career some much needed thought.
What’s in it?
What does a professional development plan look like? It can be different for everyone, but some of the things you’d want to include are:
- Career Goals and Aspirations: What are your 1-3 year goals? What role do you see yourself being in?
- Strengths – what are you good at?
- Development Opportunities
- Action Plan – 1-3 Skill / Knowledge / Behavior to be enhanced or acquired, What experience, exposure, and/or education do you need in order to get there? And lastly, how will you measure success against each goal?
- Past Accomplishments (optional, but helpful if showcasing to those who don’t know you)
- 3+ Year Goals (optional)
What do you do with it?
Once I had my draft, my colleague proceeded to help me perfect it. He suggested key words to add, skills to work on, and projects to become involved in.
The next step was to showcase my plan. I showed it to my manager to get his feedback. I needed him to know my plan, because he would be the one helping me get on the projects I needed. I wanted to show him that I was taking charge of my career and that I really put thought into the opportunities I was asking him for.
My boss loved it so much that he encouraged me to show it to his boss! So, off I went to meet with the head of the entire department and she was blown away with my written development plan. After we met she introduced me to a bunch of people (yay networking!) and sent quite a few mentees my way – all people who could benefit from writing down their development plans. Some wanted a promotion and others just wanted to find their way. I got to meet a lot of great people through my development plan!
Now that I have this plan in writing I update every few months to make sure I’m on track with my goals. I update my goals when my focus changes, I have a new manager, or want to seek out new opportunities.
Want to learn more?
Here are two great podcasts to help you create your professional development plan:
- The Modern Manager: Create an Actionable Individual Development Plan
- You Turn Podcast with Ashley Stahl: Career Planning in 2022: Trends + Tips with Mark Herschberg
If you are feeling a bit lost in your career and don’t know what’s next for you or if you know what you want to do but don’t know how to get there, then I strongly encourage you to create your own written career development plan.
Until next time,
Shaindy
