While most people understand that that a proactive and engaged approach to career development is important, it’s not something that people intuitively come to understand or grasp, especially without training or guidance. The topic of career development can also be overwhelming, especially if you aren’t quite sure of what you want to do, or where you want to go.
Ideally, organizations would do more to foster career development — teach their employees how to build career development plans, develop clear performance criteria, provide resources for learning and development, etc. The reality is that the bigger burden is on employees.
The Reality: You Own Your Career
What this means is that at the end of the day, you and only you are responsible for managing your career, and ensuring that you are getting what you want out of your career. This does not mean that you are the only one who can control your career, you’ll certainly need to rely on the help of others to achieve success, but what it does mean is that you are solely responsible for articulating what you are looking for.
Knowing where to start with career development is not always easy. In fact, trying to answer the question “what are your career goals?” can be fairly paralyzing, but over the years, I’ve refined my own method for doing career…
