5 Crucial Steps for Career Development

This an excerpt from the GetSmarter 2021 Career Guide. Have you got your free copy?

The career landscape is transforming. The need to adapt to change by gaining transferable skills is a top priority for professionals in 2022. If you’re ready for a career reset, now is the time to take the plunge.

It’s been two years since COVID-19’s first wave brought with it global lockdowns, mass remote-work migrations, and high levels of uncertainty. The post-pandemic career landscape is forever changed. As a result, professionals are re-evaluating their vocational priorities and manifesting two new concerns, namely upskilling and reskilling. They’re also reassessing what they require from their jobs. This has amplified the move away from long-term planning towards a more fluid career path with incremental, short-term goals that enable people to pivot more gracefully from one job to another.

Short-term career planning strategies versus long-term, fixed goals

GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, surveyed 648 professionals globally to assess the impact of COVID-19 on long-standing career goals. More than 50 percent confirmed that they were strongly considering moving to a new job within the coming year. What’s more compelling to note is that 51 percent of those surveyed claimed this move would be across job functions or business areas.¹

The need for planning hasn’t changed, but rather what needs to be planned. If employees are more inclined to change careers, and within a short period of time, this will require upskilling and reskilling to run in tandem with job-seeking.

Shaking up the status quo means devising a clear, strategic vision for the future of your career, or – as the case may be – your next career, job title, or salary increase.

But where do you begin?

How to improve your career

While you may no longer be mapping out a lifelong career path, you’ll still need to plan your long-term skills development. The year 2020 confirmed that no industry is immune to change. It’s crucial for you to explore alternative career options. You also need to know which of your skills you can transfer and which new skills you need, to either advance in your career, or transition into a new one.

Your first step is to establish your current skill set. This will make it easier to plot the steps in your career planning process. You can do this by reviewing your skills and planning your professional development with the Career Navigator tool.

This exercise will help you create a foundation upon which to build a new professional outlook, which will in turn allow you to create a learning plan tailored to your unique competencies.

Five steps to plan your career process

As you start your journey to career success, there are five key steps you’ll need to take:

1. Goal setting.
2. Searching for a job.
3. Building an effective CV.
4. Acing the interview.
5. Finding a mentor.

How to set attainable goals

The first step you can take right now is to change the way you approach your goals.
The secret, according to David Gleicher et al., lies in a simple but effective formula for change that focuses on the behavior, not the outcome of setting goals.²

In simple terms, the combination of your current discontent, your desired goal and the strategy you need to achieve that goal must be greater than the resistance (or difficulty) you might encounter to make that change. The power of this formula is not in the above-mentioned individual variables, but in the sum of its parts –­ when you combine them in that sequence, they’ll overcome any resistance you may have to making your desired change.

We can unpack this formula into three easy-to-implement steps:

Step 1: Identify the current issue you’re facing in your career. This will give you the motivation you need to make a change.

Step 2: Create a clear vision for the future. When you know the possibilities and opportunities waiting at the outcome, you’re a lot more likely to follow it.

Step 3: Define your quarterly, annual, and five-year goals and priorities, and include the actions you need to take to achieve each milestone. Preparing from the outset will guarantee your best start.

The keys to a successful job search plan

Not only do you require a plan for where to take your career, but you also need a strategy for the job search itself. Developing a strategic plan requires time, discipline, and a methodical approach. Remember to include any or all of the following when planning where you’d like to work:³

1. Determine and list your career goals.
2. Make a list of your experience, skills, and strengths.
3. List all the companies you’d like to work for.
4. Plot your to-do list for all your job search items.
5. Research your ideal company and the job title you’re interested in pursuing.
6. Build a job application strategy and draft cover letter templates.
7. Create your personal brand (how you want to ‘market’ yourself to companies).
8. Remember to record the companies you’ve applied to and the status of your applications (if any).

How to make your CV stand out

Your CV is your first impression. It’s the first time an employer will hear about you and find out what you bring to the table. If your full set of skills and accomplishments aren’t on your CV, what you omit won’t exist in the eyes of a future employer. You need to create a compelling document that convinces them to put you on the shortlist.

To present a compelling CV to your future employers, here are six ways you can set your CV apart from the rest.⁴

1. Focus on your leading statement: This is the first thing a potential employer sees when they open your CV, so it’s the ideal place to cover why you’re a good fit for the position.
2. Identify and market your unique selling point: This could be anything from charity work, a passion project, or even a creative hobby – what is it that will help you stand out?
3. Use keywords to your advantage: Check the job description and company website you’re applying to for specific words and phrases the employer is looking for. Then align your cover letter and CV to echo those words and phrases.
4. Use proactive descriptions: If you say you’re good at something, you’ll need to justify the assertion. When highlighting achievements, include how you achieved results and how your actions addressed the initial situation and task.
5. Adapt your CV to the jobs you’re targeting: Don’t send the same CV to all the positions that interest you. Use the job description, the company’s information, and information you discover about the industry you’re interested in entering to guide your CV creation.
6. Edit your CV: Ensure it’s concise (no more than two pages) and is free of any typos or grammatical errors. If necessary, enlist the help of a friend or peer with the appropriate proofreading ability to edit your CV.

Interview tips for success

You’ve made it onto the shortlist and through the door of your first interview – now it’s time to overcome the anxiety. The combination of nerves and open-ended questions might leave you feeling uncertain, but you can master the interview process by learning about the questions that interviewers use, and how they rely on your answers to learn more about you. If you want a peek inside the interviewer’s playbook, read about these common interview questions.

How to find a mentor

Where would Oprah be without Maya Angelou? Ray Charles without Quincy Jones? Luke Skywalker without Obi-Wan Kenobi? Mentors are there to help you maximize your leadership skills by imparting the advice and wisdom they’ve gained throughout their own careers. Are you ready to find a mentor?

With so many opportunities at your fingertips, let 2022 be the year that you make your career goals a reality.

Looking for more career advice?
Download The New Professional’s Career Guide here: