Design Career

Designing your career can be fun and challenging. The following are some tips for how to put yourself in control of your future. Focus on personal growth: self-examination, market exploration and searching for the best suited occupation that meets each individual’s personal needs. Design Your Career module gives students hands on experience to assist students to design their own career by laying out a compatible career path with their individual personality, talents, interests, values and skill.

The first step towards designing your career is to identify where you are currently at. Take time to reflect, analyze and evaluate your current situation. Consider where you want to go, why you want to go there and what you are hoping to achieve there. Next, determine the steps that will take you from where you are now to where you would like to be. The Design your Career module will guide you through the entire process and lay out a plan in step-by-step detail.

Next, determine which career path is best suited to your personality, skills and talents. Identify your hidden talents, what you are good at, and your biggest limiting factors in pursuing your chosen career path. This is your action plan. Make a list of all your skills, what you are good at and your hidden talents. This action plan will serve as your blueprint for designing your career.

If you have already reached a certain level or position in your previous job, ask yourself if it is still in line with your career goals. Is it still possible to climb up the corporate ladder to your next level without having to face a possible new job? For instance, if you are satisfied with your current job but not happy with your income level, or if your boss is requesting you to increase your workload or responsibilities, is it still possible to turn the situation around to where you are both content and happy with your current role?

You might also want to consider changing your career path in light of your current position or circumstances. If a new job opens up that provides an increased opportunity for advancing your career, consider taking the position. Your career goals may change as well, so it is a good time to do some serious thinking about your future career and how to best fulfill your potential and move forward.

Do not forget to include any personal interests or aspects of your personality that you enjoy. Even if you are not currently pursuing a particular career path, it could be good to design a career plan that takes into account aspects of your personality that you find to be important and enjoyable. For example, if you love to travel, include a destination list for your future career. Include activities and clubs you enjoy that could help you get to your new job. On your resume, have a bullet point list of your top ten preferred professions and industries along with a separate list for the things you most dislike.

If at all possible, try to attend college or obtain formal training on the design thinking processes. There are many universities that offer online degree programs that will give you the foundational skills needed to design thinking process. Your future career depends upon your ability to learn, so it is important to be well educated and prepared to move forward. Even if you have a great resume and a great set of skills, the design thinking skills that will define you will not be learned at a four-year university, but can be learned and developed over time.

To sum it up, you should spend time on your resume and on your networking. Work on building your skills through formal training or education. Design thinking is a fundamental part of the personal growth process, and as part of your career path, so is your ability to understand and use design thinking skills to create an excellent career for yourself.