In your Career Plan, Part I, you laid out your goals for the next twelve months. This was a practical choice, given that many employers follow an annual review system. On the other hand, truly long-term planning is something that is almost always up to you. Simply put, you can’t count on your employer to plan your career.
There are some who feel that long-term career planning is a waste of time. They reason that social, economic, and technological changes are happening so fast that it is useless to try to to make far-reaching plans. After all, there may be career paths that are in demand right now that might not exist several years from now as well as other careers that haven’t been created yet that will provide great opportunities in just a few years.
Yet some things probably won’t change. Most of us want to have successful careers. Most of us need to earn money from a career in order to meet the needs of ourselves and our loved ones. In addition, most of us will need to save and invest money from our earnings in order to be able to retire when we want to. Finally, although retirement may be a long time away for many of us, it is something we’ll want to enjoy when that time comes.
For this final assignment, you’ll create a broad, full-term career plan starting now and taking you to your expected retirement age. Please answer the following questions to help guide your response.
At what age do you plan to retire?
Do you have a realistic plan to be able to retire at that age? What are your major assets and debts currently? What major expenses do you anticipate having in the future, such as buying a home or paying a child’s college tuition? Note: You do not have to share any exact financial details with your instructor or the class.
Is your current salary sufficient to meet your needs? If not, what is your plan to earn more than you are currently making? Again, you do not need to share specific salary details.
What does your dream retirement look like? Do you plan to travel a lot? Do you think you might wish to continue working on a part-time basis or participate in volunteer work?
Generally speaking, how ambitious are you, and what shape does that ambition take? Do you want to keep getting promoted until you reach the top? Would you prefer to start your own business? Alternatively, are you satisfied doing what you are doing right now, and will you still be satisfied doing it many years from now?
Finally, in a couple of sentences, define what career success means to you. When you retire, how will you know if your career has been a success?
Format your assignment as if it were a workplace memo, including the following.
To:
From:
Subject:
Date:
The expected length of this message is approximately 300 words, and it should consist of two to three thoughtful, single-spaced paragraphs.
The assignment will be graded based on the following rubric.
