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Planning
Your Career Trajectory
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Most
members of the young, job-seeking
set do not aspire to job titles
containing the words "assistant," "junior," "associate," or "aide." However,
few people - if any - immediately
exchange their college graduation
gowns for a seat at the head
of the boardroom table, a window
office, and the accompanying
clout.
Instead, most recent
graduates - especially those
entering hierarchical fields
such as investment banking or
corporate law - will have to
climb, crawl, clamor, and claw
their way to leadership positions.
For those with lofty ambitions,
the challenge lies in plotting
a viable pathway to the summit
and then setting realistic short-term
and long-term goals.
After you have clearly
identified your long-term career
goal, the next step is to study
how the people currently in that
position got there. Of course,
many paths lead to the same position,
and your personal and professional
circumstances will ultimately
push you to carve out a unique
route to success. However, cultivating
a sense for how others have accomplished
what you aim to do will help
you focus and avoid mistakes.
For example, if
you want to be a CEO in the large-scale
telecom industry, figure out
the names of the executives at
Verizon, MCI, AT&T, and Sprint
who currently have the kinds
of jobs you want. Conduct informational
interviews and read biographies,
newspaper articles, and magazine
profiles about those individuals,
paying close attention to how
they arrived at their current
posts.
- How did they
gain entry into the industry?
- What were their
first jobs in the field?
- What was the
timeframe of their advancement
through the ranks?
- Did they get
MBAs or another advanced degree?
- What skills did
they pick up through either
school or work on their way
up?
- Do they attribute
their success to mentorship
programs, networking, or something
else?
- What patterns
and similarities do you notice
in all the backgrounds of the
executives?
After you have gained
a sense for how people generally
arrive in the boardroom, start
translating that information
into goals you have for yourself.
Break your prospective career
path down into a series or stack
of building blocks, and think
about what short-term goals you
associate with each block.
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Dissecting
the process of career ascension will
force you to create smaller, less overwhelming
goals, while keeping your vision in
mind. This way, you will always be
able to measure your progress.
As you define your building
blocks, you may want to ask yourself:
- Where do I want to
be in three years? In six years?
In ten years?
- What skills will I
eventually need to gain?
- How can I gain those
skills? Through an advanced degree?
Through a specific job I'll have
in the future?
- What experiences do
I want to have on my way up?
Phyllis R. Stein, a Boston-area
career coach, says that many of her
clients find it helpful to keep journals
as they figure out and achieve their
short-term and long-term goals. A journal
also provides a constant forum and
record for revising goals, creating
lists of objectives, and reasoning
through surprise dilemmas or boons.
Stein warns that
while a larger vision and small goals
are vital, it is important that you
never feel confined by your pre-made
aspirations. Your goals, your time
frame, and your path to success might
change. You might run into unexpected
fortune or unforeseen roadblocks.
You should never feel like you're
in a box, inextricably tied to the
goals you created 10 years ago. The
process of progress is a fluid one,
a duality of ambition and flexibility.
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