How to Create a Professional Development Plan for Your Career

Do you feel like you’ve been a bit adrift in your career, with no clear plan for the future? Are you feeling a bit dissatisfied with your current job? Is there that one thing you’ve always wanted to do with your life, but haven’t yet been able to make happen?

No matter what your age and where you are in your career, setting goals is the key to achieving your dreams. A plan guides you toward continuous improvement and development. If you don’t have any goals, you may achieve some success simply due to diligence and a bit of luck, but you probably will never go as far as you could with a professional development plan.

Don’t be afraid to set your goals high. Be realistic, but also aim high. It gives you a target on which to concentrate your time and effort. If we have goals, we generally are much more diligent and strategic, and thus we achieve more.

Don’t get depressed if you don’t achieve all your goals. By achieving some of them, you’ve at least gotten out the door and down the road – a lot further than you’d be if you had not set any goals at all. Life has many variables – changes in technology and types of jobs – that can affect your career path, so sometimes your goals have to be adjusted along the way.

What Exactly Is a Professional Development Plan?

A professional development plan outlines your career goals – both short-term and long-term, the skills and training you will need to achieve those goals, and what you need to accomplish in order to reach your goals. Creating a professional development plan helps you focus on what you really want – your main objective(s) for your life.

A professional development plan includes developing the strategies to achieve your main objective, analyzing the the cost involved (both in money and time), and setting a time schedule for each step to happen.

If you feel that you’re stagnating a bit in your work, or if you want to go in a different direction with your career, or if you’re just starting out, now is a good time to work out a professional development plan.

Who Should I Go to for Counsel?

First off, if you believe in God, talk with Him! “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21) “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.” (Proverbs 16:3) It is wise to consult with God, and ask for wisdom in developing your plan and invite Him to guide you through the process.

Secondly, if you are married or in a long-term relationship, include your spouse or partner in the planning process. Obviously, your plans also affect your partner’s life (and vice-versa) – especially if it means relocating or a lot of travel or a significant investment of time and money.

Thirdly, you should consult with your superior in your current position (as long as you’re planning to stay with your current company). Your team manager has already achieved some success in the same career and can give you valuable advice on how to advance in your field and in your company. In fact, working with your team manager to devise a professional development plan is a requirement in many companies.

If you’re considering changing careers, you should reach out to someone who is successful in your target career who can give advice in developing your plan. Likewise, if you’re going to remain in the same field, but start up your own business, find a successful entrepreneur in your field for counsel. Another idea is to consult with an independent job coach/career counselor.

Steps for Creating a Professional Development Plan

Now, on to the steps for developing your plan!

Step 1: What is Your Dream Job?

What career do you think best fits your temperament, interests, and abilities? Don’t be afraid to bring all ideas to the table, but at the same time, be realistic. If you are thinking of a new career, you should first determine how much ability you have in the field (which could be tested by getting part-time work or volunteering in the area).

You may enjoy your current vocation and company and simply want to advance in it. You may like your field of work, but want to change companies or start your own business. Or you might want to do something completely different.

Before you can make progress, you first need to come to a clear idea of what specifically you want in your career, so you can develop a plan that will take you there. Consequently, the first step in creating your professional development plan is to determine your main objective. What is the most important thing you want to achieve in your career?

Some examples of the primary objective of a personal development plan might be:

• Advance in my current company to senior management
• Start my own business
• Return to college to complete my degree in Special Education
• Find a career that gives me the flexibility to work from home
• Become a screenwriter
• Make enough money to retire when I’m 50

Step 2: Create a Task List for Achieving Your Main Objective

Your next step is to make a task list, which charts out the individual steps you will need to take to turn your main objective from a dream into reality. Before you make out the task list, first brainstorm several alternate ways you can achieve your target career goal.

For example, let’s say your primary objective is advancing in your current company to senior management. The first thing you’d want to do is check out job listings for senior management in your company (and other similar companies) to see what qualifications you’d need, such as appropriate education, necessary skills, and experience in your field and in management.

Next, discuss your aspirations for advancement with your team leader and with human resources. Ask what steps you need to take in relationship building, team building, training, and leadership experience in order to advance in the company. Incorporate their specific recommendations into your development plan, and have that included in your performance reviews.

As you research, and discuss your goals with your team leader, and consult with other experts in your field, you gather a “to do” list of specific tasks you need to accomplish to attain your primary objective of advancing to senior management in your company. This is what we call your task list, and it might look something like this:

• Take a leadership development course
• Complete MBA
• Work with a job coach to improve skills in conflict-resolution and emotional-intelligence
• Excel in job
  • Complete work on time (or early)
  • Stay within budget on assignments
  • Volunteer for extra work; go the extra mile
  • Volunteer to serve on committees and task forces
• Get promoted to team leader position; continue pursuing promotions
• Be an exemplary leader to those on your team: lead by example, motivate, affirm, encourage
• Provide high quality services to clients –in quality of work you do for them, timeliness, and being communicative, professional and respectful
• Write articles for your company’s website and publications and on your own blog (send links to the boss)
• Build relationships with CEO and top executives by taking part in fundraising activities, golf tournaments, and other company activities

Now, bear in mind that the above task list is only hypothetical for one specific main objective. It will look completely different for a different career goal. The same goes for examples used in the next steps.

Step 3: Complete a Cost & Time Analysis

Now that you have your tentative task list (and consider it a work in progress, that you’ll need to adjust along the way), you need to calculate the financial cost (especially for items like an MBA or hiring a job coach), and also figure out what it will take in terms of your time outside work (which could be considerable if you are working on a degree, writing blog articles, meeting with a job coach, and hobnobbing with company executives).

You’ll also need to consider how your relationships will be affected by the hard work and focus, along with the financial expense, that you’re going to need to put into your task list. If you are married (or headed that way) and if you have children, you need to consider how you’re going to balance the time to nurture relationships with the time it will take to achieve your career goals. If you are married, you need to discuss the stresses that your task list will bring, and be sure your spouse is fully supportive.

Step 4: Make a Tentative Schedule

Now you need to get your tasks in to chronological order. Some of the items on your task list will need to be sequenced. For instance, before you get promoted, you’d probably already need to take at least a leadership development course, excel in your job and provide high quality services to clients. So, you’d want to concentrate on those aspects of your task list first.

You can probably eliminate some items. For instance, if you decide to complete your MBA, that would include a leadership course, so you wouldn’t need to do that separately. There would also be a number of items that you would work on continuously (such as excelling in your work and building relationships with CEO’s) and simultaneously with other items that would be more chronological

As you develop your schedule to move along through your task list, remember to put your spouse and children first. After all, if you achieve your career goal at the cost of a dysfunctional family or divorce, what have you really accomplished at the end of the day? Don’t forget to forge time to spend with God. Remember what is really important in this life (and the next).

Step 5: Get Moving on Your Tasks

Start with the first five or so items on your chronological list and get to work! Be diligent, but also take time to nurture your relationships and to just relax occasionally. As you work to achieve the tasks, you will meet challenges. You may have to adjust your schedule or even change a task. It’s okay to make adjustments as long as you keep your focus on your primary objective and are making continuous progress to that end.

Step 6: Review at Least Annually

Is your primary objective still what you really want? Sometimes our desires change as our life changes. Are the tasks on your schedule still the best way to achieve your primary objective? Progress in technology and changes in business practices may make some of your steps obsolete, and you may need to add in new training to stay abreast of our fast-paced world. Don’t consider your professional development plan to be locked in stone, but rather a fluid document that evolves with the times.

Be sure that you are reviewing your professional development plan at least annually with your immediate superior at work. How are you progressing? What recommendations does your team leader have?

The objective of a professional development plan is to imagine a goal, to organize a plan for what needs to happen to achieve that goal and to turn those plans into reality. It’s rather like a road map to your ultimate destination. Like any road trip, you might take some interesting stops or small side trips, but you’re making steady progress toward your destination.

And, like any road trip, it’s always better when you have someone along for the ride. Invite God to accompany you, consult with trusted and experienced friends, and involve your spouse in the planning. If you need help with navigating, consult with a career counselor who can coach you through the process.