careernav.

By Anne Parker

What does your future look like?

Unless you win a large lottery you will work for about 45 years or 80,000 hours. What a huge amount of time and effort that is going to be! For such a significant investment in your career it’s worth spending some time figuring out what you would like the future to look like don’t you think?

If you’re thinking that you have no idea what you’ll be doing next year let alone in 45 years time that’s quite understandable. The idea is not to tie yourself down to a concrete plan but to at least have a plan to work to and adapt it along the way to suit your changing circumstances. A career plan should be revisited regularly, about once a year.

Set some goals

Having some goals for yourself gives you a sense of direction and purpose; it’s motivating to have something to aim for as well. It’s useful to set short, medium and long term goals. Here’s an example of how it might work:

All you know is that you love being near water and sailing. At some stage you’d like to travel and work overseas and ultimately own your own home and a big yacht. It’s a plan. It reflects a future you’d love to make happen.

For some the ultimate job is to make their hobby their work. This person would look at careers in the boating industry. Others prefer to keep their hobbies separate from their paid work so if this is you then you need to decide on a career to pursue. The goals in the chart below reflect the future of the yachty but you can substitute your own.

A career portfolio: what’s that?

Put simply it’s a collection of examples of the work that you do and evidence of the qualifications that you accumulate; it’s not your resume. If you become a graphic artist you would develop a folio of your creations to show prospective employers your talents. If you’re a teacher it’s would include curriculum that you’ve helped develop and learning activities. If you have a first aid certificate, food handlers and serving alcohol certificates you would add them to your career portfolio. Not all occupations require a career portfolio but it’s a good idea to have.

Take a risk or die wondering

At some point in your life you could be presented with an opportunity or you may want to create one for yourself. It may mean borrowing a large amount of money, quitting your job and starting something new. It involves risk and that can be scary especially if you are contributing or solely supporting a family.

It’s wise to get the right advice at times like this before you take the plunge. You would normally talk to an accountant, a bank manager and have some market research done to find out if your business venture is financially feasible.

The proverbial “s” happens

As said previously, having plans and setting goals is motivating and gives a sense of meaning and purpose to your life, which is very important. However the best made plans can be wrecked by events and circumstances beyond your control. Economic downturns will be encountered several times over your working life, an illness or an accident might occur preventing you working for a while or force you to change jobs altogether. Starting a family and retirement are also major changes to your life that have to be coped with.

Managing difficult career and life transitions

When you find yourself in a stressful situation there are several coping strategies that can help:

1. Support and understanding from family, friends and your workplace  always helps
2. Getting things in perspective: some self-assessment and an examination of the meaning of life may be useful
3. Take some action to modify or change the situation that’s causing the stress.
4. Take care of yourself. This may mean getting some professional assistance

Pearls of wisdom

• The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself
• Don’t wait for the light at the end of the tunnel go and light the bloody thing yourself
• The key to succeeding in the 21^st century is to be flexible and adaptable, whilst having a plan to give you a direction