How to plan your next career step?

Planning your next career step is exciting! However, when you decide to choose a career path or even to make a change in your current career you have to be as thorough and realistic as possible. Obviously you need to take into consideration different aspects if you are a fresh graduate and if you have already gained a couple or more years of experience. Before you would start applying like crazy to all different kind of positions sit down, take a deep breath and state your career objective.

Fresh Graduates
If you are a fresh graduate you might have several fields of interests therefore it is worthwhile to gather information about the market and the different jobs from friends/family members who have already gained some experience. You can also turn to recruitment agencies or even participate at assessment centres to gather as much information as possible about certain positions.

Having depicted a picture of opportunities, you need to evaluate yourself. Think about your skills you already have, your accomplishments and achievements and apply for jobs where the requirements mostly match your character. Do not overestimate yourself, be realistic but at the same time aim high, be ambitious, enthusiastic and very much motivated.

Once you've decided upon your field of interest and found the opportunities that match up you need to prepare a one-page resume. Submit your application to the relevant job adverts and relax - no longer than one minute because this is just the beginning. Save and remember your applications so that when a recruitment consultant contacts you there will be no difficulty to answer easy questions such as "Why are you interested in this position?".

Making a change
With more years of experience you probably have a clearer view about your career objective. In this case first you need to analyze your career and learn from your past experience. Analysing your career highs and lows will help you identify certain points that you'll be looking for at your next job. These might be of different importance therefore you have to clarify for yourself which are essential and which are desirable to you. Prioritizing in this way will assist you in setting your goal(s) you would like to achieve by making a change. Reasons for leaving are useful to collect but NEVER include these in your resume. Instead, concentrate on the skills you have already gained and can be transferrable to your next role.

Always appear positive about your work experience and ex-companies and emphasize responsibilities and trainings relevant to the desired role. Make sure that your resume is no longer than 2 pages. Remember that just because you have already gained work experience it won't exempt you from gathering information and identifying your motivations.