Career Plan Checklist

12 Steps to Creating an Actionable Career Plan

Many people have career goals, but often wait for a promotion rather than actively taking steps to ensure they get that new job. If you’d like to steadily climb to the top of your profession, follow these 12 steps to become proactive in moving your career forward.

1. Set concrete goals with dates

Create a career plan with deadlines, looking at where you want to be in one year, three years and five years. Set deadlines not only for getting a promotion or specific job title, but also for completing the tasks that will help you get there (such as adding a certification or taking a class at a local community college).

Think about using a personal organizer to put your career plan into writing, making it easy to enter, reference, update and cross things off your list as you pursue your goals.

2. Create a career organizer

You’ll need to keep track of all the things you’ll use as you advance your career in the direction you want it to go.

Create a bookmarks bar folder where you’ll place all of the links to websites, blogs, e-zines, seminars, webinars, trade associations and other tools you’ll use.

Create one or more Excel spreadsheets or Google Sheets where you’ll keep track of dates, action items, list, conferences, budgets and other tasks you’ll be working on.

Assign a folder in one of your home desk drawers to your career plan. This is where you’ll keep the letters you receive from companies, brochures for educational seminars, professional magazines, to-do lists and anything else pertaining to your career goals. Having a tangible career folder makes your career planning a more “real” project and not something that only exists in your mind. For multi-year plans, consider investing in a file cabinet or other filing system.

3. Research job descriptions 

If you want a specific job, you’ll need to know exactly what that job entails and what skills HR departments look for in candidates. Search job boards for job descriptions of titles you want, even if you’re not ready to apply for those jobs right now. This will help guide you in building the skills you’ll need.

You don’t do this just to see what employers want, but also to see what skills the people who have the jobs you want have – and what skills you’ll need to learn and add to your brand and resume.

4. Create an optimized resume and LinkedIn page

You don’t need to pay hundreds of dollars to a professional resume service if you’re on a budget. You can find countless articles online that provide tips for creating an effective resume. Keep your resume up to date—you’ll never know when you’ll be asked for one and you don’t want to miss that opportunity with an outdated CV. Use your resume to create a short bio you can use to go along with articles you write, for a company website or for speaker program book entries.

Be careful of using AI to create cover letters and resumes. Recruiters and HR departments are now able to detect them, and they’re actually received dozens of duplicate cover letters from different applicants for the same job. If you can afford a good resume writer, hire one to make sure your resume is ATS friendly, is easily scannable (in less than 10 seconds), emphasizes your accomplishments (not just your duties) and presents you better than your competition.

No one is going to hire you for a management-level job or higher without looking at your LinkedIn account. If you don’t care enough to put together a decent LinkedIn profile and add the right posts and comments, no recruiter will see you as management or executive material.

5. Start skill building 

Once you know what skills and experience you’ll need to get your dream job, start improving your skill set. If your industry offers a certification, research the steps it will take to earn it. If the job you want requires specific technology skills, look for one-day workshops or online training courses. Ask your company if they pay for continuing education, school tuition or certification training.

Work on your soft skills, such as time-management, team-building, leadership, interpersonal communications, conflict resolution, business writing and mentoring.

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6. Build the right network

A business network should consist of more than just professional people you know well. It should include people who might one day be in a position to help you land your dream job. They might do this by serving as a reference, sending you a heads up about a job that’s not advertised, or providing an introduction to others who can help you. 

7. Manage your network

In addition to building a network, you need to manage it. Once you’ve added someone to your professional circle, keep in contact with him or her via email, LinkedIn and other professional means. If the only time someone hears from you is when you need a job, you haven’t developed a valuable network.

Attend conferences, trade shows, cocktail parties and other professional events even if you don’t feel you’ll get much out of them; your network needs to see that you are committed to your profession. Use your network to review your resume and to conduct mock interviews with people who hold the job you want “interviewing” you for their position.

8. Improve your online reputation

Have you Googled yourself lately? Potential employers will. Before you send a resume, check out, clean up and improve your online presence. Make your personal social media sites private, keep your LinkedIn profile up to date, delete iffy Instagram posts and ask webmasters to remove or update information about you that’s incorrect.

9. Set up informational interviews

Find people who hold the job you want and ask them if they would be willing to talk to you about their careers, how they got to where they are and what advice they have for preparing for this position. If possible, find a mentor. Bring a resume to informational interviews but don’t offer it—your contact might think you are trying to backdoor a job offer. Have a CV ready in case you’re asked, though.

10. Serve on industry committees and boards 

You don’t need to be a CEO to serve on the board of directors of many professional groups. Many desperately need volunteers and will train you by having you start out on a committee (such as the newsletter or annual meeting committee), then becoming a committee chairperson, then becoming a board member. You can first try to get experience by serving on the board of a local nonprofit, such as a youth sports league.

11. Try public speaking

Look for opportunities to either make presentations at conferences or seminars, or sit in on a panel discussion as an expert. This will help establish you as an expert. Learn how to create and deliver PowerPoint presentations. Public speaking will help you make new connections and build your network and may even attract job offers.

12. Get published

Submit article ideas to trade industry publications, business magazines, professional newsletters, your company’s blog and informational websites. This, along with public speaking, will increase your profile as an expert candidate with potential employers. Have a friend or co-worker who’s a good writer edit your work.