A Career Plan
When the final exams are over; when the graduation ceremony is over, new college graduates will be looking for work. With unemployment rate for graduates averaged about 9% in the U.S and 16% in Western Europe and 28% in Asia, many graduates will have difficulty in finding work. Many people blame the global recession but the fact has nothing to do with the recession but because these graduates are studying in fields that are no longer in high demand. A global study confirmed that in every country, as numbers of unemployed graduates continue to go up but there are also many jobs that go unfilled because there are NOT enough qualified applicants.
A market analyst explained: “Many students do not understand the job market which is dictated by the law of supply and demand. Some still think college degree is a guarantee for job and it is a big mistake. In this competitive market, if they do not plan their career ahead, they will be disappointed. To succeed, students must plan their career as soon as they get into college by select the right fields of study based on market demand and constantly monitor the market changes to make sure that they will get job when graduate.”
A college professor lamented: “For many years we always urge students to follow their own interest; to study what they like and get degree in a field that they love then everything would be fine. As academicians, we are either naïve or too idealistic. We do not know that the world today is not the same as twenty years ago. Today a college degree is no longer a guarantee for job and companies are not training workers anymore. With globalization, students must compete for work with thousand others who also want the same position.”
A mother asked: “How come with the Internet, search engines, and social media graduates could not find jobs? I think it should be easier because once they create an application, they can submit to hundreds of companies online. Out of hundred companies, I am sure some would need an employee.” What she did not know is today where most applications can be submitted online, companies have installed filtering devices to eliminate unwanted applications. These filter software allows companies to search for keywords in the applications. And if the applications do not have the right keyword, it will be eliminated. A company can program the filter to only accept applications that have the skills they need so most applications would be discarded.
An unemployed graduate admitted: “As college students, we are all the same. It does not matter what field of study that we choose, we all go to class, take exams, and enjoy our time in college together where all are friends. However, after graduate there is a big difference between people who have job and some who do not. Now we realize that selecting the right fields of study that the market need is critical. Few years from now there will be more differences among us as some have good job, get married, establish family, buy car and house and some will have to work low paying job that has nothing to do with their education. They will not be able to establish their own family as some will be depending on the support of their parents. Now we understand that career planning is so important but it is too late, I wish that someone could explain to us earlier.”
According to an university study, many college students do not have career plan. A career plan is a roadmap to achieve your career goals, its objective is to plan your career by identifying what skills that you need to learn; what skills that you needs to have; and what abilities that you must develop to achieve your career goals. Many students confuse career goals with a job as they all wish to have good job, good salary, and good relationship. They fail to distinguish a job and a career; a salary and a financial goal; a friendship and a relationship. That is why when they are students; their goal is a degree as they believe a degree will get them a job. They also believe by having a good job, they can live comfortably and establish a family of their own. Few understand that today, a college degree is no longer a guarantee for a job and unless they have a high paying job, they may not be able to live comfortably and establish their own family. Even when they get a good job, many do not think about a career or set a financial goal. After get jobs, many stop learning new things which lead to them to stand still in their career with no advancement or get better salary. As things change they may not be able to maintain their jobs as their skills are obsolete and may be replaced by younger workers that have the current skills that companies need.
To develop a career plan, students must understand that a career is a long journey with many short stops. To reach the destination, they must travel and stop in many places and during each place; they assume certain positions and responsibilities. For example, software engineering graduates may start as software testers then move to software developers, with experience some will move up to software designers, software architects, requirements analysts, project managers and software managers, software directors then Chief Information Officer. For each position that they hold, they must know their strengths and weaknesses then identify how to move up. They need to know what skills they need to develop that will get them to the next position. Each position commands a different salary so as they make progress, their salaries are also go up with their skills. They must know which weaknesses that they need to improve and what knowledge they need to have to get to the next position and better salary. Only by setting a clear career plan and achieve financial goal, they can live comfortably, establish a family of their own and be able to make sure that they will be able to support their children in the future.
All students have strengths and weaknesses but few would take time to know what they are good at and bad at. To plan a career, students must begin by asking: “What area of study do I generally have success in? And what do I frequently fail at? This will help them to select the field of study when enter college. They also need to ask: “What field of study that will allow me to get good job when I graduate? How does this field of study differ from the field that I select? Is there a big difference or only a minor one? This is where they will have to make decision on whether they should select what they want or what they need for their future. If they decide to switch from “Want” to “Need” they must ask: “Do I need a stronger foundation to succeed in this field of study? Or since there is only a minor difference, I believe I can handle it without any help? If needed, they should take some remedial classes to build strong foundation to ensure that they will do well in the field of study that they have decided on. They also need to ask: “Will I be comfortable doing this? And what do I feel uncomfortable about?” to validate their decision about selecting the field of study.
Once they settle on the field that they will study in college, they need to make a list of things that they want to focus on to ensure that they will do well. They need to plan the time to study by following the college study rule that for every one hour in class, they will spend two hour to study on their own and one hour with a group of friend. The next step is deciding what class that they will take. They should ask themselves: “What do I need to know? What skills do I develop? How does it help me? What can it give me? How does it impact my life and those around me? By having answers to these questions, they are ready for college learning.
The next step is to identify what they need to practice in order to achieve their goals and what and where they can get the resources for it. Beside the textbooks, articles that professors assigned to them, they also need to identify certain books, articles, websites, blogs that could help them to develop the needed skills to achieve success. I often recommend students to make a list of books that they want to read at the beginning of the school year and ask them at the end if they have finished their list. (Note: I recommend 2 to 4 good books per year; these are NOT technical books for school but books that can help them to broaden their knowledge. For example: “The World is Flat” of Thomas Friedman; “Steve Job Biography” by Walter Isaacson; “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie)
The final step in planning your career is to periodic reviews on your progress (Should be weekly or every 10 days) where you can assess the situation and how effective your approach is and subsequently make adjustments to your career development plan. Try not to view your plan as a finished fixed schedule. Rather it is something that is always a work-in-progress and evolving for the better.
By following this simple career plan, you will be able to achieve your career goal.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
