Take Charge of Your Career

By Rachel Friederich, ICSEW Communications Chair

Understanding what your personal values are most important to you can go a long way in helping you shape your professional career.
That was the theme for Taking Charge of Your Career, a joint presentation by Janelle Guthrie and Phyllis Gallegos at the ICSEW career fair May 21. Both women work for the Employment Security Department. Guthrie is the ESD’s communications director and Gallegos is an agency talent acquisition manager.
The women talked about developing a “communications plan” for your career RACE.
Research: Take a personal assessment of where you are now and what you want out of a career.  This includes listing your likes and dislikes about your current job, and listing what personality traits make you unique as well as all the skills you’re good at.
Guthrie and Gallegos said it’s also important to rank your most important intrinsic values (internal motivators) and extrinsic values (what rewards you get out of your work). Workshop participants took part in an exercise to identify their values. Knowing what values give you a sense of satisfaction can help guide you to your ideal job, the presenters said.
Action planning: Set goals using the SMART approach. Goals should be Specific Measurable Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound (Example: Conduct three informational interviews with professionals working in public relations in the next six months)
Carry out your plan: Put your plan into action.  Once you’ve set your goals, break each one down into small tasks to work on.
Evaluate: Check periodically to see if you are meeting your goals and objectives. You may have to adjust your plan or set new goals or objectives.
View the PowerPoint Presentation: Career Planning Presentation ESD
View the Meeting Minutes