Career Planning

Quality career planning is about careful and complete information gathering. The key to effective career choice is blending well-researched occupational data with a sound understanding of your own unique strengths, personality, values, preferences, and talents.

A short-term career plan focuses on a timeframe ranging from the coming year to the next few years. The key characteristic of short-term career planning is developing realistic goals and objectives that you can accomplish in the near future. And while career planning and career decision-making is an important aspect of your life, do not put so much pressure on yourself that it paralyzes you from making any real choices, decisions, or plans. Finally, career planning is an ever-changing and evolving process.

Career Planning Steps

1. Identify what you do best. For example, many individuals in our field thrive on the technical aspects of the profession, while others gain success in managing these functions.
2. Conduct detailed research and gather information on the characteristics of role(s) that most interest you. Speak with people in that role in other institutions and discuss the skills required to be effective.
3. Pinpoint the qualifications you need to move to the next step in your career. Assess certifications, graduate degrees, and specific competencies unique to the position you desire.
4. Compare your current profile with the qualifications developed in step 3. How far apart are the two profiles? If fairly well matched, it may be time to switch to a job search. If far apart, can you realistically achieve the qualifications in the short-term? If yes, move to the next step; if no, consider returning to the first step.
5. Develop a plan to become qualified for the next step in your career.  Develop a timeline and action plan for achieving each type, being sure to set specific goals and priorities.
6. Long-term career planning usually involves a planning window of five years or longer and a broader set of guidelines and preparation. The healthcare workplace is rapidly changing, and the skills that you have or plan for today may not be in demand years from now. Long-range career planning should be more about identifying and developing core skills that organizations will always value while developing your personal and career goals in a broad sense.

Traditional healthcare facilities' administration positions are vaporizing, as multi-functional roles are more the norm. Work teams are replacing the blocks on organizational charts. It's an era of restructured employer-worker relationships. At this time we work with the new concept that our employment path is a series of successive contracts where our relationship with each employer is a transactional arrangement. This negotiated arrangement is for only as long as there is a justifiable business-based need for specific work to be done.

Position yourself the best you can within your organization with the skills and competencies that are required for the accountabilities. Plan for the future both in the short and long term by becoming aware of what our industry is demanding from our responsibility. The basic message would be “know thyself.”