Online Class: Managing Your Career

This course was designed to teach you the processes and strategies involved with successful career management. Whether you're contemplating starting a career, trying to choose a career path, or are looking to make changes or improvements to your career, this course will provide you with the information you need on your way to achieving success. 

It's never too early or late to start planning and managing your career, and it's never too early or late in your career to take this course. We'll start at the very beginning and talk about career planning and development. Next, we'll dive straight into your career and teach you the skills and strategies you'll need to put into place to turn that plan into the successful career you want. 

This course contains 12 lessons.The first 11 lessons are followed by a lesson exercise/quiz and a lesson assignment. The lesson exercise/quiz is mandatory and will be the basis for your course grade. The lesson assignments are optional, but highly recommended. These will help put what you've learned into use and make managing your career after completing this course a lot easier.

The last lesson is a little different. In the last lesson, you'll get to practice what you've learned in the course with simulations. The simulations will involve choosing a right response, then explaining your answer to the instructor. Learning how to manage your career is important. Part of learning to manage your career is learning to make decisions that will have the best possible outcome for your career.

Determining where you are at right now in terms of your career will help you as you go through this course. Perhaps you're a stay-at-home mom wanting to start a career. Perhaps you want to change careers or advance further in your current one. Maybe you've worked different jobs all your life without any one career path, and now you want to trade in some of the experience you've gained toward a brand new career. Whatever your case may be, this course will help you. However, first you must determine where you are in order to gain the most benefits from what you learn.

Answer the questions below to complete a basic self-assessment.  

1.     What things are you currently doing to plan for, or advance, your career (in addition to this course)?

2.     Why do you want a new career, or to advance in your current one – aside from financial reward?

3.     Look at yourself now (career-wise). Where do you want to be in five years? Ten years?

4.     What things do you feel that you need to improve about yourself to be more successful in your current or intended career? 

5.     Do you want to work long hours or do you want flexibility?

6.     Do you prefer to serve others, be part of a team, or be the one in charge?

7.     What obligations do you have right now that can hold you back from a career (or career change)? How can you find a support system to help you overcome them?

You can answer the questions above as briefly or as in-depth as you want, but the goal is to create a mission statement for yourself. 

a)     Where are you now? 

b)     Where do you want to go?  

c)     Then -- why and how?  

You don't have to be career-specific at this point. In fact, it's better if you're not. Instead, this is a personal evaluation. 

Listen, choosing a career is about more than choosing a job. In a way, it is a life mission. For example: "I want to be a doctor so I can work with children with late-stage cancers."   That's much more than a job. That is a mission.  

That said, take a few minutes to evaluate yourself. Jot down your mission statement for your career. If you're already mid-career, that's fine. Create a personal mission statement anyway that states what you want to do from this point forward.Then, we'll move on to the next step.

How many people have you known over the course of your life who were unsatisfied with their careers – or unhappy with the type of work they did?   It happens more times than we can count. A lot of people choose their career paths while they're in college, and sometimes what you think will be fulfilling when you're 21 isn't fulfilling anymore when you're 35 -- or 50. That is part of the reason there's a growing number of people starting second careers or going back to school to further their education. 

A career assessment test measures your personality, as well as your interests, to determine what type of career best suits you. These tests can be administered to high school and college students, but also to adults who are looking for career alternatives. Of course, the tests shouldn't be used as the only method to choose a career path. However, they can shed light on options you may have never thought of or considered. For someone who wants to start or change their career, it can be a helpful starting point.

If you decide to take a career assessment test, use it as one of many tools in deciding your career path. It should be a first step that opens the door to ideas and guides you to explore different avenues. However, the career path you take, and how successful you are in your career, is determined solely by you.