Creating A Five Year Career Development Plan

It's normal to wonder what the future will bring. If you are in the midst of a job and either unhappy with your current situation, currently without a job but wanting to be on a career track or wondering how far you can go, in your current position, it may be time to create a five year career development plan.

In order to create a five year development plan, you will need to put a notebook, a pen and your mind to work.

In the notebook you are going to jot down a number of things which will later help you figure out where you are going with your career life and where you want to, or should, be in five years.

First write down today's date at the top of the page. Next to it write down the date that it will be five years from now. While it seems obvious what that date will be, it's always best to put things in writing, so they are in front of you, in black and white. These two dates show you the scope of your five year career development plan.

On the first line of the page you should write down 'present position' and then list your current job. The next line down you need to write "five-year goal" and what job you would like to have in five years.

Looking at just the start and finish points it may seem like a major goal to reach in just five years. Don't get to concerned yet. Now we are going to create steps between the two, to make it less of a jump.

You should now make space for each of the steps to reach your goal. You should label the left side of the page as 'Year 1', 'Year 2', 'Year 3' and 'Year 4', with four or five lines between each entry. At the bottom of the page write 'Year 5' and your ultimate goal.

It's time to fill in these spaces.

There are always steps to be taken to reach a goal. You just have to discover yours so you can put them in writing. If you ultimately want to be a VP in marketing and you are currently part of the sales team, you know you have to become a team manager, a general sales manager, and so on to make your way up the rungs of the corporate ladder.

Make a list of all the roles you will need to achieve in order to get to your ultimate goal. Now space them out on the timeline where there is an attainable goal to achieve each year as you move towards your final destination.

Even if you don't have a job right now, or want to get a different job in five years, you can use this plan. If you don't have a job, you can go through the various options for you such as an internship, then low level position to work your way to the one you really want. If you are planning a career change you can put the first milestone as the starting position you will get in your new career field, and the ending position as the one you want to ultimately achieve in five years, and fill in the steps to get there.

One you have your yearly goals listed, you need to delve into them deeper and discover what can help you reach them.

Are you lacking some of the skills to make it to that first advancement? What skills do you need? How can you get them? Whether it's schooling, a certification course, or any other type of learning needed to gain the skills, this should be put within your 'Year 1' goals. After all without this training you will not be able to make it on that first rung of the ladder.

Follow this for each step of your plan. Are there other training sessions or certifications, skills or experiences you will need for each level of advancement. Research them now so you know what will be confronting you down the road and are ready to face it head-on. This portion of your five year career development plan may take a little research to figure out what is needed along the way. This is especially true if you are looking to switch career fields or start from scratch, as you may not be familiar with all the requirements for that industry. You should be able to find much of the information you need on the internet with a little research.

Beside each of these training or skill needs jot down how you plan to get these skills. Whether it's taking a class at a local college, an online course or any other means. Also write down when you plan to get this training done. The sooner the better.

Once you have it filled out it is important to keep your five year career development plan nearby. You will want to look at it often to remind you of where you want to be, and what it takes to get there.

It's important to keep on the schedule you have set for yourself. If you let days, weeks and months go by before you get around to earning the requirements to meet your milestones, those are days, weeks and months longer that you will have to wait to reach your goal.