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Create a Career Development Plan: 2 Examples + Free Template!
Published on:
March 16, 2024
Updated on:
November 19, 2024
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Career development plans are more than just aiming to get the next promotion or landing a better job. It demands a strategic effort and an intentional approach to laying out the steps one wishes to take in their professional life.
Career developments bring about serious self-reflection, goal-setting, and continuous learning in the process. Individuals who actively engage in their career development will be better equipped to seize opportunities, deal with challenges, and chart a course toward their success.
Especially in modern-day times where everything is changing at such a fast rate, career development plans are more important than ever and require more attention to detail.
Similar to talent mapping, career development plans are a valuable tool for creating a roadmap for professional growth that helps highlight strengths, weaknesses, and aligned aspirations.
Follow along to see which steps you need to take to implement career growth plans into your professional life to ensure growth and long-term success in your career, and take a look at examples and templates of career growth plans that you can customize!
Whether you are creating a career development plan for yourself or practicing career pathing in the workplace by creating employee career development plans, here is the most barebones definition of a career development plan.
A career development plan is a strategic and structured roadmap that outlines the professional journey an individual aims to set out on. Career plans are often designed to not only help individuals determine where they want to go but also how they want to get there.
Let’s talk about what a career development plan is not. Career plans can often be confused with singular goals. A single goal one sets for themselves or receives through their superior doesn’t equate to a development plan.
When creating a career development plan, setting career development goals is only one of the steps. The rest of the plan includes mapping out your progression steps, analyzing your existing competencies alongside the necessary ones you will need to develop, potential opportunities and how those opportunities align with your aspirations.
Building a career development plan not only encourages you to take proactive steps in your career but also offers a guiding structure to manage your growth and respond to new opportunities effectively.
No matter how you choose to approach it, trying to map out your career progression can be an overwhelming prospect. That is why structuring it in the form of a step-by-step plan takes away the intimidation factor and makes the entire process more digestible.
If you’re wondering how to create a career development plan, you can begin with a career development plan template, which helps outline essential components, such as setting specific objectives, assessing your current skills, and determining actionable steps for improvement.
As you scroll down in this article, you will find a development plan template Word document, that you can download and start using right away!
A career growth plan is a very powerful tool when used right. It helps empower individuals to take control of their career direction and beyond the obvious benefits of goal-setting and skill enhancements, career development plans provide a sense of purpose.
By grasping your short and long-term goals through career planning, you will create yourself with a strategic compass, a career path, that will guide you through a competitive and slippery world. Career growth plans are also important to invest your time and other resources in the right places that will help you succeed the most.
As career growth plans encourage continuous learning, it enhances individuals’ resilience and overall abilities. They create a sense of proactivity in approaching careers as a whole which in return helps individuals become more in tune with talent development opportunities and align better with their career goals.
Now that we have gone over what career growth plans are and why they are important, let’s take a closer look at how you can design one for yourself and what steps you’ll have to take in the process before we move along to employee development template and examples.
The first step is to have a clear understanding of yourself as a professional and your development goals. Once you know more you can start articulating short-term and long-term goals.
One thing to take note of here is to make sure your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). SMART Goals will help you advance in your career in a structured and strategic way that keeps you thriving for more but still rewards you in the process.
Break down your larger goals into smaller and manageable steps to ensure an easier process to track and help you stay focused on your overall objectives as you take your journey day by day.
In addition to identifying your goals and objectives, an integral part of individual development plans is knowing your skills and competencies. By assessing and seeing your current status, you’ll have a better idea of what else needs to happen for you to achieve the goals you set.
Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, values, and interests. At the same time reflect on how they have assisted you in your achievement thus far. This will make it easier to highlight what areas need more growth.
As you see more clearly in this aspect, and as you identify more of what satisfies you professionally, this introspective perspective will provide you with a realistic and strong basis for you to design your career development plan.
The next step is to put into words your realizations from the retrospective approach previously, into a step-by-step action plan to follow day-to-day.
This plan can include acquiring new skills or developing existing ones through training or education, seeking mentorship, networking with other professionals in your industry, and actively going after any relevant opportunities for growth.
When thinking about your action plan, don’t forget to include what you believe are potential obstacles on your way and devise strategies to tackle them in case you need to. A well-rounded action plan will help make your goals a reality and keep you organized in your career development journey.
A career growth plan is not simply one document set in stone and never to be reviewed again. It’s an ever-evolving process as you take steps to grow via your career growth plan. As you evolve, your plan should do the same.
To ensure that you are on track, make sure to review your career growth plan consistently by using tools such as the 9-box review, to keep your steps in check and ensure they still serve a purpose for your growth.
Be open to adjustments when necessary, especially based on new opportunities or discoveries about yourself. Don’t forget to utilize appraisals during the process of employee development plans, to keep motivation high.
If you can implement an adaptable nature into your career growth, then you can truly succeed in the long term. Without fine-tuning your experience in growth as you improve, you can miss out on even better developments.
Regular self-reflection and tweaks here and there are vital if you wish to maintain a dynamic and sustainably effective career growth plan.
If you’re looking for a way to start yourself out on your own career development plan, we have a template for you that you can download!
You can also create your own career development plan inside Teamflect! Teamflect is an all-in-one solution to performance software.
An app that was designed for Microsoft Teams, that has all of your needs under one place just a click away. You can use Teamflect to keep yourself or your team accountable for their career growth, create tasks and goals, and evaluate progress through performance reviews.
In addition to a set template for a career development action plan, we’ve also taken the liberty to give you examples inside this article so that you can also see an example plan that’s already been filled out. Take a look at the following examples;
Set Clear Goals:
Assess Current Skills and Interests:
Continuous Learning:
Gain Experience:
Networking:
Seek Feedback and Mentorship:
Career Advancement:
Define Career Objectives:
Self-Assessment:
Continuous Education:
Gain Experience:
Networking:
Seek Mentorship and Feedback:
Career Advancement:
Creating a career development plan is an empowering process, but there are common pitfalls to watch out for. Not to mention that this is your career we are talking about. The stakes are high! Knowing what to avoid will help you build a career development plan that is realistic, flexible, and effective.
Setting Unrealistic Goals: One of the biggest mistakes is setting overly ambitious goals that are either too broad or too difficult to achieve within a certain time frame. For example, aim to master new skills progressively rather than attempting to tackle everything at once. We have previously discussed how you can set SMART goals effectively on this very blog.
Ignoring Self-Reflection: Skipping the self-assessment stage can lead to plans that don't align with your true strengths, interests, and values. Self-reflection isn’t always an easy prospect but having a clear understanding of where you are is the only way to ensure you know where you’ll be going. Take the time to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses carefully before moving forward. Without an honest self-assessment, it’s easy to set goals that don’t truly support your career aspirations.
Neglecting to Review and Adjust: A career development plan should be dynamic, not static. Failing to review and adjust your plan based on new experiences or shifting aspirations can lead to outdated goals that no longer serve your growth. Regularly revisit your plan and compare your personal plan with other career development plan examples to stay adaptable.
Lack of Actionable Steps: Avoid vague goals without specific, actionable steps. Outline clear steps and resources for achieving each goal, whether it’s through courses, mentorship, or hands-on projects. For example, a sample career development plan might include detailed action items for short-term and long-term goals to ensure measurable progress.
Overlooking Available Resources: Many people underestimate the resources available to them, from industry networks to free career development plan templates like the one you can download from this very post!
If you are building career plans not from an individual perspective, and instead aiming to implement succession planning and employee career pathing in your organization, then tools like Teamflect, which integrates with Microsoft Teams, provide structured ways to manage employee career progression.
With features such as branching career paths, competency frameworks, and AI-powered employee development goals, you can use Teamflect to help your employees take their next career steps in your organization.
Understanding the importance of a career development plan is crucial for anyone looking to take charge of their professional growth or help their team feel that their organization is invested in their journeys.
A well-crafted plan helps individuals envision their future and make intentional choices toward achieving their goals. Below you will find just some of the reasons why creating a career development plan is definitely worth the time and effort:
Clear Direction: When you create a career development plan, you gain a clear sense of direction. Instead of reacting to job opportunities or challenges, you can actively pursue paths that align with your long-term goals. This approach provides a proactive, strategic framework to guide your career, offering both purpose and motivation.
Enhanced Skill Development: A career plan encourages you to consistently refine your skills and identify areas for improvement. Whether you use a career development plan template or a more specialized tool like Teamflect, you can track your progress and build a comprehensive action plan for growth.
Increased Resilience and Adaptability: Having a plan helps you navigate career changes and setbacks with greater confidence. With a structured plan, it’s easier to pivot when new opportunities arise or when circumstances shift, ensuring that you stay on a path that aligns with your goals.
Professional and Personal Satisfaction: Building a career development plan fosters a sense of ownership and accomplishment. As you make progress toward each goal, you not only advance in your career but also experience the satisfaction of achieving milestones that matter to you. A well-designed career development plan can make your professional journey both rewarding and fulfilling.
To get started, consider downloading our free career development plan template. With intentional planning and the right tools, you’ll be better prepared to seize opportunities, overcome challenges, and achieve long-term career success.
An all-in-one performance management tool for Microsoft Teams
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