{"id":2409,"date":"2020-12-11T16:22:51","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T16:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/plan-de-carrera\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T06:15:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T06:15:52","slug":"career-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iese.edu\/standout\/career-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The career plan: How you can keep growing professionally"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css_animation=”bottom-to-top”]The pandemic has shown us the importance and urgency of having a career plan. Actually, that’s not quite true. For decades, career plans have been essential in order to grow professionally, make good decisions and find the difficult balance between our personal and work lives. Here are three strategies for designing your own path, updating it and getting closer to reaching your goals.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why do you need a career plan<\/span>?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You need a plan for the same reason you need a map, a compass or fog lights<\/strong>. Because it allows you to orient yourself as you move forward along paths and in areas that you’re not familiar with or when there’s low visibility at close range.<\/p>\n

The plan is an instrument that helps you know if you are prepared to take on a new challenge such as a promotion<\/strong><\/a>, what type of goal is best for taking the next step in your career and what training and experience are most advisable and efficient for achieving your objectives. That’s quite a bit.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more. The career plan is also an excellent tool to detect whether your company is not offering you what you need<\/strong>\u2026 and whether it\u2019s the moment — or not — to take advantage of a lateral promotion or jump directly to another company to keep growing. The plan, as you can see, is a very powerful instrument for developing your career, reinventing yourself and regaining autonomy in uncertain and turbulent times. It ensures that everything (almost) depends, once again, on you.<\/p>\n

1.<\/span> Try to ask yourself: Who do you think you are?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u00f1aki Saltor, managing partner of Saltor Talent, believes that you can\u2019t create a successful career plan if you don\u2019t know yourself<\/strong>. And that means you need to accurately evaluate your education, competencies and what you have learned from previous experiences. It\u2019s also critical that you consider what job you want, what you like to do and who might be able to offer this to you, he says.<\/p>\n

Self-knowledge is more than looking in the mirror. You should ask others how they see you, open a couple of windows to constructive criticism<\/strong> and look for advice from a coach or mentor who can guide you in the process.<\/p>\n

The next step, of course, is to design a good plan that not only allows you to put a value on your knowledge and competencies, but also to design possible professional paths and identify what abilities and experience are required for the jobs you love<\/strong>; how you should obtain these; and what is the best way to weave a network of relationships that will help you move forward.<\/p>\n

2.<\/span> Your plan is alive, and you have to change it <\/strong><\/h3>\n

In yesterday\u2019s world, a career plan was given to you by the company you worked for throughout life. Changes and shifts were much less frequent than now. Consequently, millions of employees felt fine leaving their careers on automatic pilot for years.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s world, however, we navigate a volatile scenario and are obligated to continually weave and jump, while evaluating our own performance. It\u2019s not enough anymore to be evaluated by others because we have our own objectives. Companies no longer offer lifetime jobs, nor do younger generations want them. <\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why, points out Mar\u00eda \u00c1ngeles Losa, IESE\u2019s Head Career Management, career plans should always be as alive, as we and our professional paths are<\/strong>. At critical stages, you will sometimes want to take more or less risk. You might be offered a promotion or an opportunity that you didn\u2019t expect; sometimes a crisis will emerge that no one saw coming; and you might even discover better ways for reaching your destination in the end.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s when you accept that circumstances have changed. \u00a0You evaluate the scenario and the role that you play in it again. And then you do everything you can to renew your plan to keep growing. A living plan, a living path!<\/strong><\/p>\n

3.<\/span> Cultivate your brand for the long term <\/strong><\/h3>\n

For Joanna Moss, executive coach, it\u2019s critical that career plans maintain some stable values in the long term. It’s one thing to update them by changing important elements, but it\u2019s another thing to zigzag.<\/p>\n

A career plan is similar to a company\u2019s business plan. Similarly, your personal brand values, culture and identity should remain constant. You must be constant in the excellence that you offer and the continuous improvement of services and quality of work<\/strong> that you are known for. You also want to be known in the marketplace.[\/vc_column_text]

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