SIX STAGES OF THE CAREER DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
1. Self-Exploration is an opportunity to reflect on your skills, interests, passions, values and
whether/how you’ve integrated these into your past assignments in School/College or
organization.
2. Market Research involves investigating sector, industries, companies and functional areas
of interest.
3. Focus is the intersection of the first two stages, overlapping your interests with what is
happening in the market and setting a goal for yourself.
4. Planning is creating your marketing materials (like resume, social media profiles, cover
letter and interview responses etc. to reflect your personal brand.
5. Implementation is the launch of your plan during which you venture out in campus
placements, career fairs, networking activities, and job interviews etc.
6. Career Management covers the transition into your new role as well as periodic
evaluations of your career and the flow back into the next iteration of the job cycle.
This Personal Career Development Plan document focuses on first four stages of the process to
get started. Data & information generated will later be used to develop key marketing materials.
STEP-1: SELF EXPLORATION
(Knowing Yourself)
Self-Exploration is an opportunity to reflect on your skills, interests, passions, values and
whether/how you’ve integrated these into your past assignments in School & College etc. This
first step in planning your career involves evaluating and understanding your aspirations;
strengths; interests; values and personal influences. You must also use the self-assessment done
through psychometric testing.
Complete a self-assessment and record your strengths, interests, and competencies.
My Strengths:
• Adaptable
• Team Work
• Honest
• Good Decision Making
My Skills and Competencies:
• Problem Solving
• Multitasking
• MS- Office
My Interests: __
• Learning new Things
• Playing Games
• Interesting in doing Practical work rather than Theoretical
My Values:
• Empathetic
• Responsible
• Being Respectful towards Everyone
Discuss your skills and strengths with friends, faculty mentor or any industry mentor to gain a
better understanding of all the personal factors that influence your career options and write
down additional information that may be important.
As Per the discussion with my friends and family I am good in Decision making. I am good at
handling Situations and bringing out Positive in every bad Situation. I can Build things from
Scratch without getting Demotivated
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
ASSESSING PERSONALITY
In addition to interests, values, and strengths, other aspects of your personality are also very
important to consider in your career choices and planning. You may have an intuitive sense of
who you are and with a little self-reflection or input from people close to you, you will be able
to identify certain aspects of your personality that are important to consider with regard to your
career trajectory.
Psychometric assessment undertaken in Pre-Term will be of a great help in this regard and must
be used to assess your personality.
The list below contains words that describe various personality styles. As you read through the
list, circle 10 of those items that best reflect aspects of your personality. Be honest and realistic
in your choices. This is an inventory of who you actually are, not who you would like to be or
how you would like others to perceive you.
CAREER HISTORY
Objective: To identify your prior learning and critical experiences. Identify transferable skills
to highlight in resume and interviews. Focus on past 3-5 years for this exercise and explore the
rest on your own if applicable.
School/College or Position Achievements Skills Life Lessons Learned
Company (If with Held Used
work experience)
Pacific India Pharma HR Hirings People I Learn People
Assistant People Management, Management and Time
Time Management Skills
Management
Synergy Thrislington HR Gain Industry Decision Learn about Practical
Intern Insights Making exposure rather than
theoretical
What are the three most significant achievements in my career?
Event Organizer (State, School, Position/Significant Achievements
College, NGO etc.
CDP Project Children Public Sr. Sec. Planted 30 Trees in this Project
School Berthin (HP)
STEP-II: MARKET RESEARCH
(Your Target)
Knowing where you want to go in your career makes planning the next steps much easier.
Having a goal in mind also helps you identify and take advantage of opportunities at work that
might take you closer to your career aim. Gather information about the career options in your
field of interest/specialization. Look at job advertisements in your field in newspaper or
LinkedIn or popular job portals like Naukri.com etc. and record the minimum and ideal job
requirements.
Desired Industry Sectors to work in after MBA
1 FMCG
2 Banking and Finance
3 Manufacturing Industry
Desired organizations for Internship
1 HDFC Bank
2 ICICI Bank
3 HUL
Desired organization to work for after MBA
1 HDFC Bank
2 Kotak Mahindra Capital Company Limited
3 HUL
4 ICICI Securities
Desired job titles/functional roles after MBA
1 Financial Analyst
2 Investment Banker
3 Talent Acquisition Specialist
STEP-3: FOCUS
(Gap Analysis)
The objective is to identify a functional role whose duties, tasks, role and responsibilities are a
good “fit” with your interests, skills, knowledge and experience.
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis reveals Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in you and the
employment market. It enables you to analyse the realism of your vision and plan accordingly.
Additionally, it could help you specify goals and objectives to mitigate gaps (weakness and
threats that separate you from where you would like to be) while also strategically leveraging
personal strengths and market opportunities.
YOU Internal
Strength Area s To Improve
Needs to work on My
Communication Skills
• Honest
• Good Decision Maker
• Adaptable
• Time Management
• Multitasking
• Teamwork
MARKET External
Opportunities Threats
• Inflation • Advancement of Technologies
• Financial Planning • Recession
• Emerging Financial • More Competitive than Others.
Technologies and AI
STEP-4: PLANNING
(Plan to fill the gaps)
Now fill in the boxes below with 3 job descriptions of functional roles you identified in STEP3
above. For each of the role, identify the skills companies are looking for and
Functional Role-I: Financial Analyst
What they want?
Analytical Skills, Financial Modelling, Accounting, Finance, Excel
What I have
Excel, Accounting and Finance Knowledge
What are the gaps, and how might they be addressed?
Need to work on Excel and Learn Skills Like the Financial Modelling, Data Analysis and
Presentation Skills through Pursuing Some Courses on these Skills.
Functional Role-II: Investment Banker
What they want?
Negotiation, Project Management, Legal Knowledge, Finance Knowledge
What I have
Excel, Accounting and Finance Knowledge, Teamwork
What are the gaps, and how might they be addressed?
Not having all the Skills required for Role, Need to Learn and Acquiring these skills
through Reading Case Studies, Participating in College Activities to get into this Job
Functional Role-III: Talent Acquisition Specialist
What they want?
Time Management, Listening, Negotiation, Sourcing, Multitasking, Communication
What I have
Time Management, Listening, Multitasking
What are the gaps, and how might they be addressed?
Need to work on another Skills. It can be Learned by Actively Participating in the Classes
activities and also Strong Networking also helping in this
MAKING CHOICES
Consider the suitability of each option and decide (with the help of faculty mentor) which one
is the best match to your aspirations and career goals.
Talent Acquisition Specialist
Financial Analyst
________________________________________________________________________
Based on the choices you have made, and the development opportunities you have identified
now write your goal(s) for the short and medium term. Aim to make each goal as specific as
you can.
Goal 1: To Become a Financial Analyst
Short Term: Skills Development, Internships, Networking, Certifications
Medium Term: Get Job in Finance Sector, Mentorship, Professional Development
Write down what you need to do to achieve this career goal:
To Achieve this Goal, I need a Good Resume, Need Proper Mentorship, Networking, Join Finance
Seminars, Workshops and Networking Events to Connect with Professionals
_________________________________________________________________________
Goal 2: Talent Acquisition Specialist
Short Term: Skills Development, Internships, Networking, Certifications, Work on Communication
Medium Term: Full Time Position as a Talent Acquisist, Mentorship, Networking
Write down what you need to do to achieve this career goal:
To Achieve this goal, I have to do some internships, Apply for Entry Level Roles, enhance my Soft
Skills, Learn Data Analysis, Join Professional Associations, HR Certifications
_________________________________________________________________________
MAKE IT HAPPEN
To achieve your goals, you need to have a course of action. You (and your advisor/mentor) need to have
a clear understanding of what steps you will be taking, the commitment required by you and relevant
time frames.
Agreed course of action/action plan
Start Completion Skill, experience, knowledge How will this be Provider
Date Date to be gained gained?
Aug Going On Soft Skills Through GDs and In College
2024 Participation Events
Sep Dec 2024 Excel Online Course Coursera
2024
Sep Dec 2024 Financial Modelling Online Course Coursera
2024
Sep Dec 2024 Accounting and Finance Online Course Coursera
2024
Congratulations on investing time in your Personal Career Development Plan
Build a plan but know the
REAL RESULTS
Comes from taking the actions to
EXECUTE IT
