According to Corey & Corey (2006), career planning is a process that includes exploring choices and preparing for a career. Careful career planning can determine whether or not your future career is successful. To make a career plan, you need to do the following steps.

1. Know yourself

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The most basic thing in making career planning is to get to know yourself first. For example, by knowing what interests, talents, and weaknesses need to be improved. Also, pay attention to the opportunities and opportunities that are around you.

2. Crafting  a Vision

(source: personal document)

Once you feel like you know yourself well enough, the next step is to create your career vision or goals. This vision relates to what targets you want to achieve. For example, how do you view yourself in the next 5-10 years?

3. Focus on your strengths

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You need to emphasize that everyone who has disadvantages must have advantages. So, don’t be inferior if you feel a lot of shortcomings, because surely you have one advantage that, when focused, may lead you to success in the future.

4. Take an aptitude interest test

(source: personal document)

By taking an aptitude interest test either online or through an app, you can more easily identify what career is right for you. In addition, the aptitude interest test is also useful for testing one’s character. However, keep in mind that you must have a trusted website or application to make the results more valid.

5. Review your achievements

(source: personal document)

When you manage to achieve something, don’t easily feel satisfied and then feel enough. Continue to improve these achievements so that you always grow. However, if you fail to do something, focus on the evaluation. Fix what’s still lacking and keep it up and improve what’s already good.

These achievements can be useful if you include them in your CV resume.

6. Improve soft skills and hard skills

(source: personal document)

To achieve your dream career, of course, many skills must be mastered. For example, by improving basic skills such as communication, writing, public speaking, and others.

7. Carefully read career opportunities

(source: personal document)

To achieve your career plan, you also have to carefully read about the career opportunities that surround you. For example, by reading trends and understanding what career opportunities are likely to arise in the future.

Then, if you have found a career opportunity that has never existed before, you must be able to quickly adapt and adopt the skills you have to the current conditions.

8. Use the “SMART” method

(source: personal document)

What is the SMART method? SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based. This method is widely used in career planning. With this method, you can make careful career planning. Your career plan must also be specific, achievable, and realistic, and also estimate how long it will take.

9. Discipline 

(source: personal document)

Discipline. A word that is easy to say but very difficult for some people to do. Because to achieve your goals, you must be able to fight your laziness, do it consistently, and be disciplined and responsible.

10. Routine evaluation

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By doing an evaluation, you can find out the shortcomings of your previous progress and improve them. With evaluation, you can also know how far the stage you have passed.

Running a career plan is not easy. We have to work harder, be disciplined, and focus. But with it, you can achieve what you want in the future. Hopefully, these tips can be advice that can help you achieve your career goals.