Building Career And Job Search Plans

The smartest thing to do when the job market is strong is to act like it’s not. Just because jobs are being created all over the place – we’re in the greatest job market in history – and just because there are millions of open jobs, and just because wages are rising steadily, these are no reasons to expect opportunities to land in your lap. They won’t. And that’s why it’s as critical to have a smart job search and career development plan in this great market as it was when things were… well… rotten.

The robust nature of our job market is the very reason it’s actually even more competitive than it was in the difficult year we experienced in 2020 and another which we remember (2008-2009).

There’s plenty of job market data, but suffice to say, it’s an interestingly active and competitive market. And you need a plan. As that great philosopher Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.”

So OK, it’s time to build a plan, but there’s more to it than just having a to-do list or a target job. Those aren’t plans. They’re goals – and good ones – but how will you get there? The answer is what becomes your plan. And even if you intend to stay where you are, what’s your plan for that? I’ve found that many people, when asked what their plan is, say something like getting a job in the financial services industry or working in the hospitality field or getting that promotion to manager. The difference is that plans point us somewhere and support grand goals; lists get finished and thrown out.

One way or another, you need a plan, and the sooner you get to it, the better – but remember this: General Dwight Eisenhower said, “Plans are fine – until the fighting starts.” The takeaway is that it’s OK to have to alter your plan along the way. It’s just not OK not to have one. “In preparing for battle,” he said, “I’ve learned that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” So don’t be afraid to plan. You know, going in, that it will change. Just get to it.

Steps in building a plan

In building a plan, consider the hierarchy of thought: a pyramid, if you will, with seven levels. At the pinnacle is your vision: who you are or see yourself becoming (usually a much longer-term thought). Next is your mission: that one overarching errand you’re on and will achieve within a specific, but not necessarily limited, time frame. Support your mission with one main goal that should be realistic but a stretch – doable but ambitious, in other words – and specifically time-bound: a year, for example. We meet goals through objectives: those key initiatives that, working together, must be achieved in order to meet your goal. Then come strategies: how you will meet those objectives. This, then, leads to the next level of action points; these are the smaller, but equally important things you must do – once or repeatedly – the things that go on those to-do lists. And finally: timelines. Any goal that doesn’t finish with “by [date]” is not really a goal; it’s a dream. Every goal or objective needs a “by” date.

There it is: vision, mission, goal, objectives, strategies, action points, timelines.

That, for the most part, is what a plan looks like – give or take. It is, at the same time, both intricate and simple, and is never done best alone. An old boss of mine used to tell me that whoever makes a plan alone doesn’t see the holes in it. Get help with this.

Oh, one more thing. Write it down. People who succeed in their plans most likely wrote them down first.