It's all in the plan

So how do you put this to work for your own career?

• Spend time planning your career but don't plan so rigidly that you aren't open to interesting options you hadn't considered.

• Career planning is not like party planning. It doesn't just happen and then it's over. You have to keep doing it.

• Aim to do one career-building task every week. A career-builder can be furthering your skills, increasing your professional network, learning more about your industry, or talking to someone else about your future possibilities. Sometimes, your weekly career-builder is also something you need to do for your job.

  For example, suppose your manager asks you to give a presentation to another department describing how your department trained staff members to work in teams. You can use this opportunity to learn how to use presentation software (like Power Point) to enhance your presentation skills. Not only will your presentation be professional and polished, you will also know a new program that you can add to your CV.

• Ask people in your preferred career about how they got where they are. If you hear enough of these stories, you'll discover what you need to do and how to position yourself.

  For example, when I was a graduate student hoping for an academic career, I talked to a lot of professors about how they finished university and became lecturers. From their stories, I learned many steps I could take as well as what kinds of pitfalls to avoid. I learned how to finish my dissertation in a reasonable amount of time, how to interview for jobs, how to avoid political problems as part of the academic staff, and how to prioritise the many different tasks my new career would require.

• Aim to make money at your career but take time planning your moves. If you can afford it, taking a position that will help you develop a skill for your career is better than an unrelated job that pays well. But you can translate skills in a lot of ways.