Are you getting ready to jump into the workforce for the first time? Are you sick of your current dead end job and planning to make a change? Either way, we have something that we think will help you make your next move: 6 Career Planning Tips.
- Reflect on your likes and dislikes, wants and desires.
- Begin by reflecting on your likes and your dislikes. Take a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle to create two columns. List your likes on the left side and your dislikes on the right side. Keep your current job in mind while doing this exercise, but do not limit yourself to only considering what you do and don’t like about your current job–try to think about the bigger picture. What things really matter to you in your life?
- Now take a look at your desires. This exercise can be done simply by jotting down your thoughts on a new piece of paper. What do you really desire out of your career? Do you want to help others? Do you want to work with your hands? Do you want to build stuff? Fix stuff? Break stuff? Do you want to work in a clinical setting or would you rather work in a forest or a factory setting? Think about what you want out of a job– it will help you focus your efforts in the right direction.
- Examine your pastimes and hobbies.
- Next think about what you enjoy to do when you have free time: what are your pastimes and hobbies? It might seem a bit strange to think about what you like to do when you are not working while you’re career planning, but exploring what you like to do outside of work can give helpful insight into what might be a good career fit.
- So think about this and be sure to jot down your ideas.
- Review career and job trends.
- There are tons of helpful resources out there with detailed information about career and job trends. One of the most reliable resources for this kind of information is the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The BLS collects and analyzes data on careers across the US and provides that information to the public so that people can make educated career choices. They provide all sorts of helpful information about each career the feature, including:
- What activities are required for that career
- Work the work conditions are like in that career
- How to get started working in that career
- What the median pay is like for people working in that career
- The expected job outlook for that career
- And more
- So spend some time conducting research on BLS.gov and pay close attention the careers with promising job outlooks.
- Set Career and Job Goals.
- Ask yourself these three questions:
- Where do you want to be in 1 year?
- What about 3 years?
- How about 5 years?
- Once you have answered these questions, ask yourself:
- Will you be where you want to be 5 years from now if you keep going in the direction you’re currently headed?
- Because you are taking steps to plan a new career, chances are the answer to the last question is “No.” So now it is time to look at your answers to the first three questions and set up action items to reach those goals. You aren’t likely to end up where you want to be in 5 years if you don’t make a plan and take action, so this is where you outline exactly what steps you need to take to reach your 1-, 3-, and 5-year goals.
- Explore new education/training opportunities.
- Many professional opportunities require advanced education. And even if a given profession doesn’t technically require formal training, being prepared with proper education won’t hurt your chances of landing the job you’ve been dreaming of. So take some time to explore what kinds of education and training opportunities are available in your field of interest near you. If you are in San Antonio, we at Lamson Institute offer the following career training programs:
- Electrical Technician
- Lab Assistant, EKG Technician/Phlebotomy
- Medical Assistant
- Medical Coder/Biller/Office Assistant
- Commercial Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning
- Optometric Assistant/Optical Assistant
- Research future job/career advancement opportunities.
- Once you have a career path in mind, it is a good idea to explore what kinds of advancement opportunities are available in that field. Many entry-level careers like those we prepare students for here at Lamson have the potential to propel motivated individuals into positions of increased authority and salary. Having goals for advancement before you even begin your career training can be exceptionally motivating.
Here at Lamson Institute we are committed to helping our students discover their career paths and teaching them the skills they need to achieve their occupational goals. Each of our hands-on programs is career-oriented and designed to prepare graduates for rewarding entry-level work in their field of study.
Call us today to speak to your admissions representative and learn more about how we can help you on your path to the career of your dreams.