Designing a Career Action Plan

Before you begin, take a few minutes to reflect on the following questions. Ground this work in what matters most to you. Keep them in mind as you progress through the training.

• What is your mission in life? What gives your life meaning?

• What does it mean for your life to be successful?

• Why do you work?

Welcome to the training module on Creating a Career Action Plan. It's great to have you!

I'm Maura Sweeney from the class of 2007, director of Alumni Career & Professional Development at Holy Cross.

I often hear people tell me that they know what they want to do, they just don't know how to get there. That's where this training comes in.

In this training we will discuss the importance of treating your career like a research project. You wouldn't sit down to write a research paper without gathering sources and collecting data. In a similar way, you can't apply for positions before you really understand what you bring to the table and how you can meet the current and evolving needs of your desired employer.

There's a lot to dig into, so take your time and check-in with yourself along the way. You might find yourself intrigued by a career path that you hadn't considered before. Or, you might find that you're not as interested in a certain career path as you expected to be. Both are great data points to collect and analyze. Both can help you determine where your research should take you and what you really want out of your next opportunity.

My goal is for you to find meaning, purpose and joy in your work and life. I hope that the exercises in this training module will help you on your path to your next great opportunity.

Very often, we know that we need a change before we know what that change should be. The first step forward is to understand what we're looking for. Then we can develop a plan to explore it.

I often equate conducting a job search with writing a research paper or conducting a research project. People often want to jump right in, but they quickly realize that they won't get very far if they don't have a direction; if they don't have a specific topic or question to answer.

The first thing that you have to figure out is your thesis statement. What problem are you trying to solve? What question are you trying to answer? What are you actually trying to research? The more specific that you can be, the easier it will be to discover a worthwhile answer and progress down your chosen path.

The first thing that we're going to do is define a research topic. To help you get started, reflect on the following questions:

1. What did you like most about your current and/or previous roles?

2. What did you like least about your current and/or previous roles?

3. What do you want more of in your next role?

4. What 1 thing matters the most to you in your next role?

With this information in mind, take a first pass at crafting your research topic. Your topic will look different from everyone else's, because you're different from everyone else. Try to craft a statement that encompasses the things you need, the things you want and the things that interest you. It doesn't matter if it seems unrealistic or atypical. People make money doing just about anything these days. Allow yourself to dream! You never know what you might discover.

For example, a research topic might look something like this: I am looking for a mid-level remote position that will allow me to combine my interest in preserving the environment and with my strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.

What question are you trying to answer?

Depending on your research topic, there are a wide variety of sources that will help you gather the information you seek. The next step is to identify which sources are likely to be the most useful (we'll devise a strategy for gathering information in the next activity!).

The sections below include lists of resource ideas to help you get started. They're purposely broad, with the hope that you will think of specific sources that are relevant for you in each category.

Make a list: Based on your research topic, what sources will you explore first?

Industry Exploration:

• LinkedIn Company Search: Filter by "Industry" to get a better view of the type of companies that exist within your target industries.

  • How did I get there? Log-into LinkedIn and find the gray "Search" field at the top, next to the blue LinkedIn logo. Click into the field, leave it blank and hit enter. This will bring you to LinkedIn's master search tool. Select "Company" to bring you to the Company Search feature.

• Professional Associations: Search the internet for professional associations that represent the industries in which you are interested. They are likely to stay up to date on the latest trends and best practices.

• Graduate or professional programs: These programs are charged with staying up-to-date on the latest skills, trends and best practices in their industry in order to attract the best students. They often showcase stories of current and past students that might give you ideas as to what kind of job you could pursue in this industry. You might also find free resources that they offer to their students and alumni, which are accessible to anyone on their website.

Organization Exploration:

• LinkedIn Company Pages: Use the Company Search feature to find companies that interest you. Then, visit each of their unique company pages for insights about the organization, posts, jobs, people (current employees), insights, videos and more.

  • How did I get there? Log-into LinkedIn and find the gray "Search" field at the top, next to the blue LinkedIn logo. Click into the field, leave it blank and hit enter. This will bring you to LinkedIn's master search tool. Select "Company" to bring you to the Company Search feature.

• Organization's website: Organizations put a lot of time and money into their public websites. Take some time to read through and pay attention to what the organization highlights. Are they keeping up with industry trends and best practices? Do they align with your own values, skills and interests?

• Online reviews: Companies like Glassdoor offer reviews and insights into organizations and interview practices. This information can be a useful way to get a quick "pulse check" on what people are saying about the organization. However, reader beware. The reviews tend to come from people on both extremes-- those who work at the company and love it (and/or are paid to write good things!) or those who left and hated it (and/or were fired or never hired in the first place!). Take the reviews for what they are and make your own judgments.

Role Exploration:

• LinkedIn Job Board: LinkedIn's job board offers a lot of great insight into jobs and hiring trends. Use this with the eye of a researcher, not a job seeker. What job titles align with your skill set and experience? What skills do they require that you don't yet have? Who do you know that works there and can talk to you about them? Gather the data that you need in order to focus your job search and become a strong candidate later on.

• LinkedIn Economic Graph: This website lives outside of LinkedIn and houses their research into the world of work. It also offers a great tool called Career Explorer, which helps you expand your perspective and explore a wide variety of job titles that might suit your interests and skills.

  • Tip #1:When you arrive at the "Explore Job Transitions" section, make sure to enter in your location first, before you enter in a job.

  • Tip #2: Pay attention to the list of skills that populate after you enter in a Job Title. Check to make sure that these skills showcase the skills that you have and/or the work that you want to do. If not, then you should continue to explore job titles until you find the ones that match who you are and what you want.

  • Tip #3: Once you've identified the jobs that match your skills and interests, write down the list of skills and make sure that you incorporate them into your LinkedIn Profile and resume. In this way, you help to position yourself as a great candidate for this type of job.

• Job Boards & Organization's Career Websites: Similar to LinkedIn, job boards and career websites provide a lot of good data about jobs and hiring trends. Remember that job boards are not perfect. They don't showcase the "hidden job market," i.e. the positions that get hired by internal referrals and never make it to a job board. They also tend to be out-of-date, keeping positions posted long after they've been filled. Use these websites as research tools to gather data. When you're ready to apply, focus on networking as the best way to get your foot in the door.

Explore People:

1. LinkedIn: LinkedIn offers a treasure trove of information about people. In addition to seeing where people are currently working, you can also think of it as a research tool to help you understand the jobs, experiences, degree programs and certifications that helped them get there. Every person's path will be different. Still, you can get a lot of good ideas by looking back through someone's profile to see what they pursued throughout their career journey.

   • LinkedIn People Search: Use the People Search filter to help you identify people who work in industries, organizations or roles that interest you. This is also a great resource for finding people who have pursued specific graduate or certificate programs that might interest you. Click "All filters" to narrow your search.

     • How did I get there? Log-into LinkedIn and find the gray "Search" field at the top, next to the blue LinkedIn logo. Click into the field, leave it blank and hit enter. This will bring you to LinkedIn's master search tool. Select "People" to bring you to the People Search feature.

   • LinkedIn Employee/Alumni Search: Navigate directly to a company or school's LinkedIn page to access the People/Alumni tab. If you are on a company page, then the People tab will show you all of the people who currently work at the organization. If you are on a school page, then the Alumni tab will show you all of the current students and alumni of this institution. You can use the filters to narrow down your search as needed.

     • Tip! Here's a direct link to the Holy Cross Alumni Page on LinkedIn to get you started!

2. Holy Cross Community: Holy Cross maintains two password-protected databases that you can use to search for fellow alumni. Both databases require alumni to log-in using a unique username and password that is provided by Alumni Relations before graduation. Visit the Login Page to access the databases.

   • Alumni Online Directory: This is a full database of active alumni who have graduated from Holy Cross. They may or may not be open to being contacted for networking and career advice.

   • Career Advisor Directory: This is the database of alumni who have raised their hands and are willing to be contacted by alumni with career questions.

   • View this handout (pdf) for tips and best practices for utilizing the alumni directories.

3. Networking: Networking is simply talking to people. The more people that you can speak with throughout your journey, the more research that you will do and the more data that you will gather. Even if someone doesn't seem like an obvious help, they might know someone who has the kind of experience that you're looking for. Start with close friends and family and see who you can meet!

You've done all of this great work to identify the different sources that you want to explore, now you need to develop a plan in order to gather the data that will help you refine your focus.

Reflect and decide:

1. What information do I need to gather?

2. What sources do I need to consult?

3. What people do I need to speak with?

Now that you have a strategy in place, I want you to take some time expand your options and think outside of the box.

In his book, Where Good Ideas Come From, author Steven Johnson writes about "the adjacent possible," a phrase first coined by scientist Stuart Kauffman. The adjacent possible describes all of the different combinations and possibilities that could occur by making a slight tweak or by looking at something from a different perspective. It's where creativity lives. It's the reason why diverse teams are so valuable-- they bring forward different perspectives, thus increasing the likelihood of new and better ideas. He writes:

"All of us live inside our own private versions of the adjacent possible. In our work lives, in our creative pursuits, in the organizations that employ us, in the communities we inhabit-- in all these different environments, we are surrounded by potential new configurations, new ways of breaking out of our standard routines... The trick is to figure out ways to explore the edges of possibility that surround you. This can be as simple as changing the physical environment you work in, or cultivating a specific kind of social network, or maintaining certain habits in the way you seek out and store information." (41)

The next activity offers one resource to help you begin to expand your perspective and venture into the realm of the adjacent possible. This is a no judgment zone. All ideas are valuable. So grab a blank piece of paper and a pen, pencil or marker, and let your imagination soar.

In order to help you expand your options and tap into the adjacent possible, we are going to use a Bubble Map.

1. Grab a blank sheet of paper and draw a big circle in the middle. Write your research topic in the middle.

2. Draw lines like spokes coming off of the center circle, and add a smaller circle on the end of each spoke. In each of these, write down the categories that you just outlined in your Strategy (Activity #3): Information, Sources, People. Add any other categories that you want to explore with relation to your research topic.

3. Build out your bubble map naturally, by thinking of all of the possible ideas that you could explore. Keep "the adjacent possible" in mind and let yourself get creative. Expanding your options in this way might help to unlock new ideas that you hadn't considered before!

Congratulations! You're ready to write your Action Plan.

You already have a lot of great research tools in your tool box, and have come up with some really interesting ideas to explore. Now it's time to build a plan that keeps your momentum going and helps you accomplish your goals.

Create an Action Plan

1. Grab a blank sheet of paper and write your research topic at the top.

2. Draw a table with 3 columns: Action Item | Due Date | Outcome

3. Assign yourself some actions! Here are some tips to help you get started:

   • Start small. What is the smallest change that you can make today in order to help you on the path toward accomplishing your goals? Scoring quick wins will help you build momentum.

   • Maximize your productivity. When do you actually have time to focus on this during the day/week/month? Schedule activities according to your free time in order to maximize productivity.

   • Start with the end in mind. Does your research have a due date? I.e. do you need to get a job or apply to graduate school by a certain date? If so, then start with the end in mind and work backwards. Spread out your action items so that you can realistically accomplish them by your desired end date.

I hope that you enjoyed this training module on Creating a Career Action Plan.

The Jesuits espouse the idea of being Contemplatives in Action. I encourage you to adopt this same mindset as you pursue your goals.

1. Act & Explore

2. Pause & Recover

3. Reflect & Discern

4. Learn & Reframe

5. Repeat

We all need periods of down time along with our periods of activity. It's important that we pay attention to what we learn as we research our topic, and reframe our expectations and ideas along the way.

This truly is a journey, with twists and turns and ebbs and flows. Take it for what it is. Keep an open mind and explore what's waiting in the adjacent possible. I can't wait to find out what you decide to do next!

Keep yourself moving forward toward accomplishing what you desire in work and life.

• What is the smallest first step that you can take toward accomplishing your goals?

• Identify 3 things that you will do in the next 2 weeks to work toward your professional goal.

Hopefully this training has sparked new ideas and gotten the wheels turning on your career search. What new questions are on your mind?

Please email alumnicareers@holycross.edu and include "Career Action Plan Q&A Forum" in the subject line. A reply will be emailed back to you, and the Q&A will be featured anonymously in this forum to benefit future learners.

Maura Sweeney is a career development professional with 14+ years of experience connecting people with meaningful opportunities. As the Director of Alumni Career & Professional Development at the College of the Holy Cross, Maura’s mission is to create space to help alumni discover meaningful lives. She provides direct career advising to alumni, and employs in-person and virtual programs to engage alumni at scale. She creates opportunities for alumni to advance their careers by connecting with the Holy Cross Network through professional groups, events and networking resources. Prior to joining the Alumni Relations Office, Maura spent 10 years working in roles that spanned student advising, employer engagement and recruiting. She earned her bachelor’s degree in French from the College of the Holy Cross in 2007, and her Master of Education degree in Adult and Organizational Learning from Northeastern University in 2010. She became a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach in 2021. She is on the board of the Alumni Career Services Network, an active member of the Career Counselors Consortium NE, and a volunteer for her town's PTO. She lives in the Boston Metro West area with her family.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurahsweeney/