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Career tools

This page contains a variety of resources that we invite and encourage you to utilize in the development, execution, evaluation and refinement of your Career Plan. Some of the information and articles located here are basic tips and techniques that are easy to adapt to your needs and others will require closer study.

Look for articles authored by MyEducationJobs staff soon!

What is a career plan?
What should I be reading...?    Updated!
Quick tips and practical advice Updated!
What are some hot skills employers want?
What are some traits of star performers AND leaders?

What is a career plan?

Quite simply a career plan answers the questions: What do you want your career to be? and What steps do you have to take to get there? As with most things, the devil is, indeed, in the details. The critical point of having a career plan is to get you to be proactive in the management of your career. It is important to know that you can, and should, have a great deal of impact on the path your career takes.

In order for a plan to be truly effective, you must list specific, measurable goals for each aspect or component of your desired career. It is also important to remember that the best plans are often revisited and revised to reflect changes in your work and life circumstances.

Having a written plan helps give you direction and motivation, particularly if it includes a back-up plan. To develop a career plan you should give consideration to the following:

Needs, Wants, Expectations: This is the jumping off point so to speak. It is imperative that you have an idea of what you want out of your career. Ask yourself: What do I need to keep myself interested? Stimulated? Motivated?    What do I want to receive in return for all of my hard work? What are my strongest skills? What are my strongest values? How do I want to use my skills to best satisfy the areas I value most? What kinds of people do I want to be surrounded by? Where do I want to live?

Skills Assessment - This means taking a hard look at what you can and can not do for your future employer. Try to be objective. What do you do well? What are your current deficiencies or weaknesses? Learn what your peers are doing. Do you have similar skills? Attributes? Can you get them? Do you want them?

Evaluating Career Paths - Do you prefer a science track or eventually management? Academia or Industry? Biotech or Big Pharma?�..Make a list of questions and YOUR answers.

Personal Values - What matters to you most? Does your employer appreciate, or respect or tolerate that? Can you build it into your day-to-day activities at work? Away from work? Is there conflict or compromise?

Framing the Plan - It sounds simple but begin with where you are today, and then determine where you want to go. Then consider the alternate routes that can get you there. Do you have access to these routes? What will it take to place you on the right path?
There are a variety of excellent career tools available to you on the internet. We elected to highlight two planning sites that are fairly comprehensive and well put together. You can either use them as is or create your own tool using them as a guideline. We chose not to reinvent the wheel and are thus presenting them to you here.

Career Development Manual - University of Waterloo:Based on the University of Waterloo, Canada site, Marlene Bryan has created an online guide that starts from the very beginning: self-assessment, to take you through the career choice process.

Careers in Science and Engineering

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What should I be reading to help me with my career?

By reading various sources you will not only keep current in your area of expertise, you will also gain competitive data and enhance your overall knowledge base. Sometimes it really is what you know.

We have tried to provide direct links where possible to a given publication's site or to a resource for obtaining the book, newspaper, periodical, etc.

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Quick tips and practical advice

Think Futuristically
If a question is important, invest in answering it. There is a practical limit to the investment you can make in research, but isolating the key assumptions of your business strategy and testing them in a disciplined way makes sense.
Distrust your own biases. Wishful thinking can color your perspective on any investigation. If you're hoping your research will support a strategic decision you've already made, you're more likely to find the support you're looking for.
Second-guess all information sources. As you come across any kind of business information, keep your spin detector on. Sharpen your news-reading skills, and train yourself to substitute your own interpretations and judgments for those of the writer.
Look beyond the generalizations and averages. Look for segmentation and variability, especially in evaluating information about people. For example, the label "lnternet users" masks a lot of diversity. When someone talks about Internet users, try to determine which users that person is referring to.
Pose questions so that they are answerable. Use focused, issue-specific questions that can deliver part of the solution to the problem you are researching.
Be willing to contradict prevailing beliefs. The majority is not always right. The conventional wisdom is not always wise. And the accepted doctrine is sometimes flawed.
Get as many perspectives as possible. If you're hearing the same prediction or conclusion from a number of sources, try to find a contrarian view. You might discover that all the people touting the idea got it from the same source.
Learn to live with uncertainty and ambiguity. Face the fact that you can't predict the future; get comfortable using the word "guess" Learn to evaluate your guesses. Rate them in terms of the confidence you have in them, and consider the level of uncertainty they introduce in the models of the world you're trying to cope with.

Source. "Corporate Radar: Tracking the Forces That Are Shaping Your Business" by Karl Albrecht (Amacom Books. 1999)

Let Your Supervisor/Manager Know What Motivates You
Knowing what motivates you is critical to improving your work satisfaction and performance. To perform to your capacity and to feel truly happy in your career, you need to be motivated.

To discover your or motivations, make time to sit quietly with yourself or with a good coach. Set a time limit, maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. During these minutes, list everything that motivates you. Don't analyze, just brainstorm. Once you've made your list, rank the motivators from most influential to least influential. Now sit back and really think about the list and the rankings. Ask yourself: Do you feel comfortable with them? Do they accurately reflect what is most motivating for you? If you said yes to these questions it is imperative that you find ways to build these motivators into your life.

If you feel inadequately rewarded or stimulated at work, and you have a supportive employer, the next step is to set an appointment with your supervisor. From your list of motivators, choose the top three to five that would further stimulate your productivity at work. These may be things that are already somewhat in place or not. Have a candid discussion with your supervisor regarding how you feel about your work and how adjusting, modifying or adding just a few things may greatly improve your performance. You may be surprised at the results of the meeting. In today's tighter labor pool, companies are more willing to go the accommodate committed employees.

Be Politically Savvy
Today, many companies are flattening their organizational and managerial hierarchies and are "democratizing" their organizations. In other words the old silos are disappearing, that means companies are working in teams and empowering employees to make their own decisions. Regardless of the changes, you still need to be aware of the political environment in which you work and of even greater importance is the development your political skills. You need to know how to promote yourself within your organization, how to gain allies, and how not to get pigeonholed. Where do you get this information and training? Try the following: Read, observe other politically savvy employees, find a good mentor or coach. Watch, listen and learn.

Focus Your Career Search
Knowing what you want from a career in intimate and finite detail will give you the focus you need for a successful job search.

Ask yourself questions about potential jobs such as:

Does the job reflect your passion and what drives you in life?

Will you have a great mentor?

Will you have the opportunity to learn a lot? Quickly?

Will you have intellectual challenge?

Will what you do make a difference?

Does the job encourage rapid change?

Do lots of people think highly of this company and want to work for it?

From observations and talks with employees and others, do people working there have fun?

What skills do I want to learn in a new job?

Be methodical in searching for companies that best meet your needs. If you are serious about job hunting you should design your own techniques for interviewing companies. During interviews, keep in mind that your happiness is as important as your ability to do the job.

Signs Your Career is in Trouble
Even very good careers can take a turn for the worst after we've taken a job and worked in it for awhile. Maybe the boss you loved left the company or a restructuring altered your career's landscape. At times like these, it's hard to know if you should move on or not. Here are some clear signs that your career is in trouble and you either need to address these issues within the company or consider job hunting.

You don't want to go to work in the morning.

Your boss doesn't support your career development.

You're stuck on lower profile projects.

You're pigeonholed with the position you first held with the company or a project you tackled early on in your job.

For whatever reason, your reputation is working against you.

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What are some hot skills employers want?

Experts who study trends in hiring find that most employers, regardless of size or industry, look for the same basic skills when hiring. Believe it or not, you are most likely to develop these "competencies", during college. They include:

Critical thinking -- seeing the big picture and being analytical; comprehending what you read, hear, and observe.

Visionary qualities -- brainstorming, looking to the future, setting goals.

Self-motivation -- showing a willingness to take the initiative.

Proficiency with information -- being inquisitive, curious, and resourceful; knowing how to conduct research.

Globally-minded -- understanding and showing an interest in other cultures and getting along with diverse groups of people.

Teamwork -- working well with others to achieve common goals.

Chances are, you already possess a number of these key skills. Once you cultivate these attributes, you'll be better able to "sell" yourself the type of performer any company would want.

Thoughts to Keep in Mind
How adept are you in handling your boss when you disagree? Can you cooperate with difficult coworkers? If you want to get ahead in your career you have to be able to handle these types of situations. The one skill you absolutely must have is job savvy- the ability to react appropriately when presented with challenging situations. How do you know if you've got it? Ask - your boss, your peers and anyone you may have opportunity to supervise.

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What are some traits of star performers and leaders?

9 Traits of Star Performers as presented in a study by The Harvard Business Review.

They understand what extra value is. They determine where and how they can provide it.

They are good at networking.

They understand and utilize self management.

They understand the effectiveness of teams.

They are good at consensus building on goals, metrics, etc.

They understand 'followership'. Getting people to buy in to, or validate opinions at all levels.

They know how to view decisions beyond the singular perspective. They obtain input from all parties that will be impacted by a decision.

They have strong presentation skills.

They have organizational savvy. They know their company.

Traits People Want in Leaders

Honesty

Competency

Vision

Ability to Inspire

Intelligence

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Career tools