*Special Thanks to Ellen Berry for this guest post.
“What we think or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only thing of consequence is what we do.” – John Ruskin
I’ve always had a plan for my career, but after getting laid off recently, I decided it wasn’t working for me. I was frustrated with how long it was taking to reach my goals, and I felt destined to be stuck taking detours just to pay the bills. I felt overwhelmed about how to approach my career.
Then I shook myself awake and came to my own rescue. It dawned on me that my career was simply a project in my life, and I’m trained in my work to handle projects a certain way. So I applied my knowledge of project management to my career, and came up with a career project plan.
Necessary Ingredients of a Career Project Plan
Needs
My dream career has always been to have my own business that is successful enough to allow me to live the lifestyle I want, that’s flexible enough to allow me to travel extensively, that’s interesting enough that I look forward to work every day, and that runs well enough that I don’t have to work insane hours to make it happen. So my goal has always been to earn enough money so that I can save up a chunk of cash, say good riddance to working just so that other people can profit, and start being my own boss, making my own ideas happen.
However, because I don’t have any formal knowledge of running a business, I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to handle all of the operational stuff – stuff like accounting and HR and legal issues that come up. Not to mention I don’t have any leadership experience. So I realized I need a real-world education as well as formal training in business before my dream is going to become a reality.
Goals
This time around, for my career project, I decided to break down my grand vision into smaller goals. I wanted to be able to see progress sooner. If my goal was to be an engineer or a physical therapist – a career with a well-defined path to follow – I could have looked up a career profile and used it as a guide to establish my goals. But entrepreneurship is one of those careers that can take shape in many ways, so I had to get creative in my goal-setting.
I took my “happy ending” big picture dream and spent some time really imagining what it would be like to live the dream. Then imagined I was being interviewed about my journey to success. I told the imaginary reporter that “it all changed when I decided to go back to school to get my MBA”. Goal #1.
When the reporter asked me what prompted me to get my MBA, I said, “I met someone who showed me why it was important. He had started his own business, and it had been very successful. I asked him if he would let me volunteer at his company a few hours here and there in exchange for learning the ropes, and he agreed.” Goal #2.
“Once I started really focusing on learning about business,” I said to the reporter, “I started generating momentum and things started happening. My boss at my job left, and the person that took her place asked me to start attending meetings with higher ups and taking on more responsibility. I got a promotion, and qualified for tuition reimbursement so I could start taking night courses in business.” Goal #3.
For more articles on developing career goals and career exploration, career planning, and specific careers, check out BrainTrack’s Career Planning Guide.
Objectives and Timeline
Pleased with these three goals, which would lead me along a path to my ultimate career vision, I then put them into a logical timeline and broke them down further into simple objectives.
Goal #1: Find a role model in business who is successful and is willing to teach me how to be successful
- Go to the career development centers at local colleges to check out internships and volunteer opportunities.
- Talk to professors and students in business schools about the best strategy for getting started.
- Search online for advice on how to choose a mentor.
- Subscribe to Entrepreneur Magazine to read about successful entrepreneurs.
- Go to lectures given by successful entrepreneurs about how they got started. Attend workshops and conferences.
- Ask friends and family what entrepreneurs they know who are successful and who might be willing to let someone mentor with them.
Goal #2: Find a way to pay for taking extended education business courses online or after work
- Look into tuition reimbursement options at work and what is required to become eligible.
- Compare going to school full time against taking night courses or online courses while continuing to work.
- Go to local colleges to check out upcoming extended education courses. Ask about financial aid options.
Goal #3: Get my MBA
- Research good business schools that are known for their entrepreneurship programs.
- Develop a strategy for getting into my ideal schools, and then start working on it as early as possible.
- Apply for financial aid.
- Apply for admission into my top 5 business school choices.
- Start thinking like an entrepreneurship student now, and begin looking for business ideas that I know suit me well and that I can grow into a successful business.
Resources
Making this checklist of things I could do to generate momentum towards my dream career also helped me get a sense of what resources I have to work with right now – and what resources I need to get. I’m hungry now to learn as much as I can about having my own business, begin tapping the brains and just spending time with other people who are active or aspiring entrepreneurs, and coming up with creative ways of financing my future schooling and business ideas.
Making a Career Project Plan Work
I have to admit, I wish I’d starting thinking in these bite-sized, manageable tasks towards larger goals a long time ago. I could have accomplished so much more if I had just started somewhere, beginning with what I had to work with, instead of thinking of my dream as a far off goal that would happen someday when I was ready for a big life change.
Now that I’ve officially hired myself as my own career project manager, it’s up to me to keep moving forward no matter what… but not like a bulldozer. More like a boxer who stays light on his feet and adapts to what comes at him. I will look for the best opportunities to have the most impact, and make the most of my strengths and overcoming my weaknesses.
Having this sense of control over my career gives me a lot of confidence that I will be able to accomplish my dream. In fact, it’s not a dream anymore. It’s the next level up.
Ellen Berry is a member of BrainTrack’s writing staff. She writes articles about a variety of education and career topics, and has contributed to BrainTrack’s Career Planning Guide.