The Career Planning Process & Finding Your Mission
Many students who attend post-secondary do so for the ultimate purpose of gaining a higher education with hopes of finding a career in their chosen field. Is it that simple? Is it that straightforward? Is it that realistic in today’s labour market?
One thing to realize regarding this, is that a career is not a destination; it is a journey.
This journey is known as the career planning process. This process looks like the following cycle:
KNOW YOURSELF → KNOW THE WORLD OF WORK → DECIDE & DO → REPEAT
If you don’t know yourself, how are you to know what you are meant to do?
If you don’t know the world of work, how are you to know where you fit within it?
If you can’t answer these questions, how are you to decide what your next step is and how to take it?
All three points change consistently. You change. The world of work changes. Your decisions and action steps change. One’s career path is an ongoing cycle of discovery and application of these new discoveries. However, one thing remains consistent throughout this dynamic process and can be found at the centre of it: Your mission. This is your vision and purpose for every part of your life, including your job, which lasts through all the stages of your career journey. Your mission represents the deepest and best within you. It is the fulfillment of your own unique gifts. It inspires you in whatever you do.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself to develop your own personal mission statement which will help guide you through some of life’s greatest decisions:
• What would I really like to be and do in my life?
• What are my greatest strengths?
• How do I want to be remembered?
• Who is the person who has made the greatest positive impact in my life?
• What have been my happiest moments in life?
• If I had unlimited time and resources, what would I do?
• How can I best contribute to the world?
If you have not yet developed a personal mission statement, set up an appointment with Joy Ulrich, the director of Career Services, to help you discover more about yourself and guide you in creating one. (JUlrich@ambrose.edu)