Planning your next steps

If you have analysed your current skill set and know where you are, you will need to start thinking about where you want to be and how you intend on getting there.

If you have a specific job in mind, you should research it thoroughly. There are various ways in which this can be done:

• Speak to someone already doing the job;
• Read through job descriptions and profiles;
• Conduct research on the internet.

If you are unsure which direction you would like to go in, Learn Direct provide descriptions of over 700 jobs. You can also discuss your options with a Learn Direct careers adviser. If you have completed a course of study, your college or university may also have a careers advisory service.

Once you know more about the role you aspire to, you should start planning how you are going to achieve your goal. There are many activities that you can undertake to help you gain the experience and skills you need.  These include:

• Job shadowing;
• Getting involved with projects at work;
• Volunteer work;
• Keeping up to date with industry news;
• Training courses;
• Further study;
• Mentoring.

After deciding what will be the best course of action for you, you should aim to keep a development action plan. This will help you stay on track and monitor your progress. The professional development how to guide (PD How2) will help you get started with this. You can also maintain and monitor your professional development using our online professional development system, Career Manager, where you can build a job profile and set objectives against it in order to achieve the role you want.