A career plan consists of a detailed plan that serves as a guide for the employee’s growth in the workplace. In companies, the plan is usually drawn up according to each role and the individual’s main goals. Therefore, it must contain deadlines, goals, and performance criteria.
Therefore, the instrument allows attracting and retaining talent for many leaders who seek business success. After all, the plan is an opportunity to motivate and develop skills that contribute to the progression of each profession and position.
Nowadays, many organizations tend to be flexible and personalize each strategy to meet the greater needs of teamwork . This ends up generating more engaged and motivated professionals to deliver better results for the business as a whole, ensuring a competitive advantage.
In other words, the career plan serves mainly to develop employees’ occupations in the short, medium and long term, allowing them to achieve personal fulfillment throughout their working life. However, for planning to really work, you need to have discipline, determination, patience and, most importantly, know how to prioritize actions that add value to your career path.
Before defining a career plan, it is essential to know the different strategies for its elaboration. In the next topic, we will talk more about the main types of plan.
Types of career path
To advance towards your goals, you must first know where you want to go. This will make it easier to understand what steps you need to take, what your qualification demands are, and what skills need to be developed to achieve the desired personal improvement.
Knowing your current situation will help you develop your strategy, increasing your chances of becoming successful in your chosen field. Below, we list the main types of career plans and their characteristics.
Y-plane
The Y-shaped plan suggests a growth model based on a specific position, i.e., it is the moment when you must choose whether to continue in the role of specialist or manager. This is because certain occupations and sectors require technical knowledge for some positions, which are considered superior and leadership positions .
Thus, a Y career path offers the opportunity to move up a level and gain recognition from the company to which you offer your services, generating professional appreciation. An employee who has this type of plan generally stays ahead of the competition and has a high chance of having a stand-out resume.
This happens because it is believed that the individual will be able to bring innovations, helping the business to achieve positive results in the market quickly. Areas such as technology, food and industry, for example, offer possibilities of higher salary gains and stability for those who have good planning.
W plan
The W plan proposes that the professional becomes a project manager, being responsible for monitoring team performance, providing technical feedback and also providing consulting services. In other words, the employee must work towards the development of other people, even if he or she is not considered a traditional leader within the company.
In practice, the W model works in very specific sectors, especially those that deal with technology. For example, a senior programmer may be called upon to manage a team of developers, becoming an expert within the company in which he works.
Therefore, the employee can join the technical leadership team and rise to the level of project manager for the business. The W plan is common in companies that value the advancement and growth of the brand, and also in modern startups, where innovation is the basis for implementing any idea.
Career path for high-growth companies
Career planning for high-growth companies should be thought of in the long term. In general, many areas need to undergo restructuring with the frequent arrival of new employees, the creation of new work teams and the development of leadership. In this scenario, planning should be more open and adaptable, with short and medium-term objectives.
To achieve this, business management must establish processes and tools that ensure that everyone feels supported and encouraged to pursue their own professional growth, without any insecurity in the face of constant changes. Thus, to continue offering new opportunities, many organizations invest in training programs to enhance their talent pool.
In an environment like this, employees can have better expectations for development and deliver even better results to achieve a good position. In addition, leadership can also have a broader view of each individual’s goals, having a better chance of extracting the team’s maximum potential.
How important is it to have a well-defined career plan?
Having a personal career plan is essential to be able to outline your short, medium and long-term goals, increasing your chances of achieving a good position in the job market. Therefore, by clearly knowing your professional profile, you will be able to make more informed choices that will be useful for the progress of your career.
This way, you can still know what steps and investment are needed to acquire new skills and qualifications in your field. After all, to get an exceptional position in a certain company, it is essential to present differentials, such as a postgraduate course and fluency in a language.
In this way, the career plan allows the individual to clearly visualize the fundamental steps to achieve their goals. When preparing your plan, however, it is more interesting to integrate your personal goals with your professional ones, taking into account that there is no separation between the two dedications.
What are the essential points when defining this plan?
Getting a specific job, getting promoted, and becoming a leader in your industry requires preparation and investment. This is because making the right decisions in the company requires commitment and clarity with all the actions and activities that you manage. A career plan, when well-defined, can significantly help project expectations and the chances of success and failure in a given project.
Basically, your plan should take into account two aspects: your current professional status and your desired status within a certain period of time. The objectives can be short, medium or long term, even if they will have to be adapted and remodeled in the future. In fact, it is essential to be aware of the risks and to launch yourself into new experiences to reflect on what you really want to do with your occupation.
Thinking about these issues is important both to better understand your career choice and to achieve success in your sector, as this will help you guide your career path and be better positioned when opportunities arise. Therefore, to create motivation and achieve your goals, it is essential to know in detail what the necessary steps of a career plan are.
How to develop a career plan
You must be wondering how to develop a personal strategy that delivers results quickly, right? Well, you should know that such a task requires patience, self-knowledge, dedication and a lot of clarity from the individual, who must be aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Being self-critical, for example, is a fundamental requirement at this time, as you will have to face your qualities and defects, also understanding where you need to improve. All of this shows that you are the one most responsible for your professional future, and that your personal performance is totally interconnected with your behavior in the workplace and with your goals and objectives.
Below, we have separated some valuable tips to help you learn how to best prepare a career plan.
Have well-defined strategies
The first step to developing your plan is to have well-defined and achievable strategies, goals and objectives. It is very important that you consider your current professional situation so that these points make sense for your personal life. For example, define whether your goal is to change jobs, get a promotion, a raise or even a career change.
From there, set goals that you are sure you can achieve, as this will help you see results quickly and feel more motivated about your long journey. It is essential to keep in mind that the plan takes some time to take shape and become a reality, considering the period of initiation and execution of your strategy.
Get out of your comfort zone
Leaving your comfort zone is essential to avoid stagnation and feeling comfortable in the position you currently hold. To get around this situation, look for qualification options that are appropriate for your occupation, as this will help you perform better and also reach new positions within the company.
Take advantage of the moment and study the market in your sector to gain more knowledge about the possible paths and the roles that are in demand in your area. With this, you can invest in learning and qualification, presenting a competitive edge, appreciation and a resume that is better prepared for possible challenges.
Invest in self-knowledge
Likewise, knowing yourself is vital to identify what you need to learn, acquire or change in your routine. By understanding your strengths and weaknesses, you can easily see what you are good at and what needs to be improved in order to achieve your previously set goals.
Self-knowledge also provides valuable information about your behavioral profile, which is essential to understanding your real needs and desires as a person and professional. This will allow you to define your actions with greater confidence and accuracy, creating a unique and non-transferable career plan.
Develop professional skills
Once you are clear about who you are and what your skills are, you should also consider which skills need to be developed. Having a systemic view of your situation will significantly help you identify your qualities and have the chance to leverage them to your advantage during the execution of your plan.
Coaching, for example, provides effective tools and has a methodology that allows professionals to accelerate their results, both in their personal and corporate lives. Another tip for going through this process is to research the training and courses that may be useful for your development and career advancement.
Be creative
Opening your mind and exercising creativity is a professional skill that brings innovation to the workplace and is valued by many leaders. It is also essential when defining a plan, as you will always need to think of new solutions and solutions for both old problems and challenges that you may face in the future.
In other words, your strategy must always remain flexible to undergo changes over time. To keep your creativity high, analyze the market and the competition, find out what other professionals are looking for and which tools are best suited to boost your performance. You will certainly have a much better chance of standing out and aligning yourself with the constant changes in your industry.
Get motivated
Finding ways to motivate yourself throughout your journey is very important for your progress and growth. Therefore, be open to meeting people and networking, as this way you will learn from those who are already at a more advanced stage in their careers. Therefore, whenever possible, participate in events and training in your field and seek to strengthen the bond with individuals who also have the same goals as you.
For example, reflect on the reasons for each goal and why achieving them is relevant to your trajectory. The answers should be aligned with your values and what you want for your life. With the right motivation, it will be easier to stay focused and execute each step of your planning safely.