Technology, along with many other factors, has levelled job prospects for people all over the world. Career opportunities are more diverse than they used to be, and students today need to be introduced to the growing global competition that they will face. Most important, they need motivation to plan and see the education that is so crucial for their lives. What they need is a confidence imbibed in themselves as they prepare for careers in the global market that is impacting their lives now and in the future.

Now is not the time to let your schoolwork get away from you. Stay on track with it and plan ahead for deadlines. Spend more time studying the subjects that are the hardest for you. How you perform in high school lets colleges gauge what type of student you are and lets employers assess what type of employee you’ll make. Plus, you learn skills in school that will last you a lifetime. A good work ethic in school represents a good work ethic in life. So what you need to know is that Career Planning Starts with Self-Assessment

One of the biggest mistakes that individuals make in their careers is to go aimlessly through school or work in an entry-level position with no clear direction or goals. They wait for long and forgo looking at opportunities that could have mattered. Finding a well-paying job or locating opportunities for advancement shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought, rather one that has been planned and prepared for months or years.

Preparation, preparation, and more preparation! Imagine signing up for a marathon and waiting until the day prior to begin preparing for the race. Obviously, you’re not ready because of lack of training, you didn’t seek the assistance of a coach or mentor, and you didn’t assess the resources you would need on the day of the race. Without proper preparation, what are your chances of completing the race?

Like any serious step you’ll take in life, you must first determine the number of baby steps needed to get from one spot to the next. In other words, where are you headed and how will you get there? Outline every obstacle or challenge that will hinder your progress of taking these steps. Each small step is your short-term goal that will take you closer to satisfying the big steps, known as long-term career goals.

Career self-assessment is an essential aspect of career planning and development. It’s important to recognise key characteristics about yourself so you can make informed career choices that are well suited for you. Just as when you’re shopping for a car you gather as much information as possible to help inform your decision, when you are considering a career you should do the same.

We can get an image of what we look like physically through photographs and mirrors, but we need other ways to capture important information to create a more complete image about ourselves; how we act, what motivates us, and what inspires us. One way to uncover such personal characteristics is to use self-assessment tools and activities. Assessment tools are designed to help you identify your values, interests, skills, and personality type and how they can be best matched with school or career pursuits.

Deciding what type of work, you want to do can be challenging. But when you’re clear about who you are and what you want, it’s much easier to explore possibilities. Doing a realistic appraisal of yourself is called self-assessment. It involves taking a look at your preferences, values, interests, skills, abilities, personality, lifestyle and personal goals. It makes you see the connections between aspects of yourself and those of specific careers. It can also help you ask the right questions to learn how well a career would suit you. By clarifying what you want from a career, self-assessment can help you avoid false starts and disappointments in life. It can increase your confidence that you are on the right path and lead to personal and professional success and satisfaction. That’s why self-assessment is your powerful first step to making career decisions.

The most important use of assessment results is to assist individuals at a given point in time to identify their interests, skills and/or work values in order to identify the next educational or vocational choice in the sequence that makes up career development. Knowledge of these characteristics can be helpful to a student in putting together a self-image that can be matched to a particular environment or implemented in a particular occupation. The “MBTI” assessments can be used to map the summary of the personality traits. Interests can be used to identify occupations, post-secondary majors, and even leisure activities as individuals engage in career planning. The formation of interests begins in the elementary and middle school years and increasingly solidifies during the secondary and post-secondary years. Career interests remain quite stable across one’s life span and continues to be important predictors of job satisfaction and stability. Aptitude Testing of Skills helps identify the Strengths and Weakness in and individual and sets a platform for improvement.

As you begin your career planning, take the time to free yourself from all career barriers. What are career barriers? There are personal barriers, such as lack of motivation, apathy, laziness, or procrastination, family pressure such as expectations to work in the family business, follow a certain career path, or avoidance of careers that are below your status/stature and peer pressure. And while career planning and career decision-making is an important aspect of your life, do not put so much pressure on yourself that it paralyses you from making any real choices, decisions, or plans.

But Do not stand still. Navigate your future by performing a self-assessment that will get you to your desired outcome in your career. Challenge yourself and create a master plan … it’s ONLY your career! Finally, career planning is an ever-changing and evolving process — or journey — so take it slowly and easily. The key step is to develop a picture of yourself and your career over the next few years.

Manu Anand
Director Alpha Mindz, Goa
Email: manu@alphamindz.com