How to Build a Strong Career Development Plan as a Freshman

by | Last Updated: Apr 17, 2022 | Careers, Education | 0 comments

The future has never been as promising for youth than it is now. Today students have so many options for their career development that this choice is pretty hard. 

Many students find it hard to develop a strong career development plan and follow it. Such plans often presume that they need to be active as students and participate in different extracurricular activities, like workshops and seminars. For some, it may be difficult to balance extracurriculars and education. In such cases, many students turn to online services, such as write my essay services, that can help them with their workload, so that they have more time to focus on both. However, these efforts always pay off in their future careers.

Thus, we strongly encourage students to think about their future and to plan it in advance. Starting as early as being a freshman promises much better opportunities in the future. Even though it is sometimes hard to plan the studying process, let alone a career, you’d better have as least some ideas about your future progression. 

discussing future career prospects

Here are several tips that can help you start your career development planning right away. 

Develop Your Vision

Think about the career you want to uphold in the future. Each college or university major presumes at least two options for you to proceed. Thus, you need to think about each of them and decide which one is more for you and how you could progress along with it.

You need to think about it in several perspectives, including time, personal interests, adaptability, flexibility, education, etc. It is always a good idea to project some results and look at 5 years from now. If you can imagine what your life would be if you follow this path, and you are satisfied, this plan fits you well for now.

Be Realistic

Do not push yourself too much. The studentship is the best time for you to become a better version of yourself, but it is also the time to find friends, live an interesting life and be happy. If you try to catch all the seminars and attend all workshops, you risk losing something else due to your busyness.

Filter what you really need and plan your time. Identify your key projects based on your genuine interests and do not forget to take notes about your valuable insights. You need to work on the quality of your career development plan rather than on the quantity of the projects completed and seminars attended.

Evaluate Your Skills

You need to know your strengths to see what you are really capable of. Critically evaluate your soft skills together with your professional and technical capabilities. This will help you know what you can start your career with and what skills you need to proceed further.

All new skills and abilities gained as a result of projects/seminars/workshops should be written down. This will help you see how much you progress along with your initial plan and what areas need adjustment.

steps to plan your career

Determine Your Goals

When you plan your career development, you need to know what it is for. A dream, a goal or a role model is fine. However, you should be interested in what you do and crave for achieving more. Also, more sizable goals should have more realistic and short-term objectives that would help you see how you proceed along with the plan.

Find some famous people or individuals with notable achievements in your field and consider their way to success. Sketch out their timeline and compare it with yours to see what can be done in the future.

Analyze Your Gaps

It is wrong to assume that everyone who reached success did it without any failure. They all had some troubles and hesitations at once. To plan your career development, think of traits and skills that need improvement. Do not be blind to your obvious weaknesses and evaluate them in terms of their use to your professional career – the critical ones need to be addressed.

Find Some Advisors

Your education and extracurricular involvement should mark your way towards a successful career in the future. Yet, you will need some advice from those who have been in your shoes. They can be your peers, mentors, teachers or even parents; literally anyone who can help you see how things worked out in practice. 

Remember that You Create Your Career

Do not treat this plan as a solid truth that cannot be changed. You only plan, but you do not know exactly all the opportunities that the future holds for you. Changing and adapting your plan to them is not a “betrayal” of your younger self. 

Your plan is a guide that can help you proceed to the goal. It also creates your vision of what your life should be. However, it does not limit you in your choices, desires, hobbies, and expectations. 

Reward Yourself

Do not forget to reward yourself for all small achievements along the way. Making things fun and celebrating small victories are a must. It will help you work more productively and exceed everyone’s expectations, even your own. Thus, include small rewards into your planning and let them serve as extra motivation. 

Final Thoughts

Career development is not easy even for those who have already been serving in the relevant position for several years. Needless to say, students, especially freshmen, may find it hard to do. However, be sure that the earlier you start, the better your outcome will be.

A good career development plan is not something that is not subject to changes and alterations. On the contrary, it needs to be as adaptable and flexible as possible. You create your own career as well as you decide where to go next. The most important thing is to know where to go and be inspired along the way.

Featured image credit: Unsplash.com

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