How to: Plan your career

1. Start planning early inyour career. Ask yourself: do I want to specialise in a certain industry? Do I want to get some experience overseas? Do I want a top corporate position, or am I happy to remain a middle manager?
2. Be realistic about your ambitions, strengths and weaknesses. Being
over-ambitious will only lead to disappointment.

3. Be realistic about what you want and ask yourself if it fits in with your lifestyle. Top jobs in big corporations often require long hours and a work-centred social life. If family and home are important to you, you should consider moving to a smaller organisation.
4. Keep your skill sets up to date-get the relevant training you need in order to achieve your objectives and ambitions. This may mean changing jobs so that you get a wider range of experience and develop different skills.
5. Stay well informed about your industry and profession. Read widely and take advantage of professional trade bodies.
6. Support the efforts of junior members of staff-this will encourage their loyalty as well as helping their careers along.
7. Keep close to the person whose job you may want -- he or she often has a lot of influence over who becomes their successor.
8. If you feel that you may need to change jobs in order to achieve your ambitions, make the decision quickly-leaving it too long may be leaving it too, late. You may feel you have peaked too early, or that your contribution is not really being recognised by your current firm.
9. Don't underestimate the role of the recruitment consultant. They may offer away for you to escape from a company that no longer holds your interest. They are also there for advice and may advise you on a strategy that more closely matches your goals.
10. Make sure that your CV is always up to date - no matter how happy you are in your current role, you never know what may be round the corner.
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Warm Regards,
Dheeraj