Building Career Pathways that Gives You Confidence
Whether you are currently employed or otherwise, building career pathways is a good habit to get a clear direction of our career direction. It helps to answer questions such as “ Where we want to be?”, “How to get there?”, “Which career path is more suitable for me?”. Having a pre-planned career pathway gives us motivation to achieve our career goals.
But what about if there are changes, can we build a new pathway? Of course you can! Similar to life goals, sometimes new opportunities and exposures lead us to a different route that we have pre planned before, and that is totally normal and okay! Your career pathway could be as flexible as you know life is full of surprises.
Tips to Build Career Pathways
- Set your career goals
Where are you now in terms of career wise?
Where do you want to be?
How to get from where you are now to where you want to be?
Do not get too stressed when building career pathways. Create a calm and fun environment before you start planning. Perhaps play your favorite music in the background, open the curtain and let the sun brighten your day!
Click here to learn How to Write Smart Goals.
- Actively join company program/ classes or online classes
Leverage the programs or classes offered by your company. Some companies will hold monthly programs that focus on employee’s career development. Take advantage of this to learn and build your network too.
If you are currently waiting for the opportunity to be hired, you can take some online classes to prepare yourself before landing a job. Some of the online classes are:
a) futurelearn.com
b) linkedin.com
c) learncourseonline.com
d) ude.my
e) youtube.com
- Listen to someone who has ‘made it’
Reach out to real life examples! The person could be working in the company, mentor, mutual friends, or anyone who is where you want to be in your career goal. Talk to them to get inspiration to move closer to your goal.
- Find more information about your goals
There are usually alternatives available for you to reach your goals. If one way is not working, there are high chances other strategies might work. So, keep trying. By reaching out to people or doing your own research it helps you to know more about the job and whether you really want to pursue it as your career.
Sometimes, the career goal that we wanted could be way different than we expected. It is better for you to get the information early before you start working and be welcomed with not so pleasant surprises. Yikes!
You could also use this advantage on other career pathways that are available in your industry. You know what they say, if plan A is not working, there are 25 other alphabets available.
- Check on yourselves
While building your career pathway, ask yourself if this is the path that I want. Reflect on your choices. Do you want to reach the goal to challenge your expertise or do you aim for that position or job title because everyone is doing it?
Assess and attend to your emotions. It’s okay for you to feel anxious at times and contemplate on your decisions. Keep reminding yourself of your worth and circle yourself with positive vibes and positive people.
Why do we need to have a clear career pathway?
A clear career pathway allows us to:
- Mastering the next challenge
- Monitor our career growth
- Keep in track of our career progress
- Stay motivated in the current job or make a reflection whether it is time to make a career change
- Work on our strengths and weaknesses
What are the challenges of having no clear goals of career pathways?
- Unaware of own potential
A planned career pathway could highlight your potential and provide the possible career routes that are available for you that align with your potential.
- Zero motivation to take challenges or lack of excitement
If we do not have a clear career plan, it is difficult to stay motivated and give up halfway because we can not see what we can achieve.
When we make our career plan visible, it boosts our motivation to reach our career goal. Draw on a piece of paper, create a digital sketch or any methods that you prefer to make your career pathway visible. Always in sight, always in mind.
- Clueless on career identity
A career plan could include your current responsibilities in your role and what learning opportunities you can have if you decided to move on to the next target role.
- Rely on others to develop your career
Taking charge on your career goal could move you closer to your goal quicker as you know what you want and could get help based on your career goals’ needs. Your boss could assist you but it might lead to something that you are not into. It is your responsibility to decide and plan which career pathways suit you well.
How to build the confidence to go to the next chapter of your career?
“A career is about legacy, not about a cool job title. As long as you are looking for that in your own authentic way, that’s how you know you are walking in your own path to build YOUR career. Just remember that as you walk your path and trust your guts.”- Hellem Pedroso
Editor and Writer:
Farah Radzi
Content Marketer and Writer at ADPList
LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/in/famr/
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