By Malenah Hunter, Associate Director of Membership and Awards, AACRAO
Although Career Development is mostly used as a blanket term for anything job-related that looks good on resumes and performance reviews (and may get you that needed budget increase or raise), creating a career development plan is the real game-changer for making things happen. Having all the pieces is not the same as having an idea of how you can and want to use them. Your plan is something you can keep with you and take out when you need it, like a map when you get lost, but it can also be your cheat sheet when it feels like you’re being tested.
A good plan involves constant self-assessment, making decisions, setting goals, managing expectations, and commitment. But how do you start a lifelong journey to something better? (Don’t worry, you won’t need gas.)
Start, Stop, Start, Stop …
Professional growth doesn’t just start when you need it and stop when you don’t. Many people only get serious about their career when seeking a better opportunity, but don’t have a plan for what comes after, whether they get it or not. Whether it’s your first job or your current job, you’ll need a way to navigate the road you’re headed down. Always doing just enough to get by will eventually leave you out of the loop and very far behind. If you’re only making progress in fits and starts, you’ll likely miss things, have more setbacks, and burn yourself out before you even really get anywhere. Your plan is what helps you begin and will help you maintain focus and sustain your momentum even if you hit a roadblock. And although you may stumble along the way, the plan will be there to help you regain your footing and keep going a little faster and smoother every time. You’ll need continuous effort to keep you on track and motivated because taking the next step is easier than running to catch up.
As higher-ed professionals, the statistics and research on students who stop out or keep applying but never enroll are not new. So, we give them clear plans, provide support, and check in to make sure they reach the finish line and beyond. Why would the same not work for advancing to the next level?
Your Personal Professional Pan Pizza … Make It What You Want
So now you’ve done the first step of deciding to start. Pat yourself on the back. You’re doing great so far. Let’s take that a step further. What else are you doing great at right now? It can be professional or personal, big or small; the things everyone notices about you or only things you would notice about yourself. The point is, it should be about you because your plan is going to be for you. Remember class pizza parties in school, or ever have office pizza for a job well done? Well, your career development plan is like your personal, professional, pan pizza. It should have the toppings you want on it, right? You can look at others for inspiration or ideas, but don’t let yourself be influenced into pineapple when it’s just not your taste. Following someone else’s path could lead you in a direction you weren’t meant to go.
- Get strategic and specific with your plan.
- Set goals that are clear and realistic.
- Don’t leave yourself wiggle room, or try to get out of anything on a technicality (You’ll find out).
- What are you not doing so hot at right now? Where can you improve?
This is your chance to look inward, be a little selfish, and reward yourself for how far you’ve come and where you are right now, because here comes the hard part. Nobody likes to acknowledge where they fall short. Don’t beat yourself up. You’re human. If AI can make mistakes, so can you. And maybe you haven’t messed up, but you know you could be doing better. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is an important part of mapping out your success, and you should check in with yourself throughout the journey. You could be great at making connections at meetings but let those LinkedIn requests go unanswered once you’re back home. Or maybe you’re good at paying attention to details and pointing out the mistakes people miss, but the solutions to bigger problems don’t come as easily to you.
Use what you have to get to where you want to be. Keep up the skills you have under your belt and challenge yourself to push them just a bit further. Add to them until you have something solid you can put in your back pocket on your way.
There’s No End; You Just Keep Going
Once you start, each step you take gets you a little bit closer to your goals. When you clear one, you move to the next and don’t stop. Each small win you get will compound into big milestones that even the most annoying obstacles can’t get in the way of. Sure, there will be times when you start searching for that finish line, wondering how much further you have to go until you reach the end, but the thing is, there isn’t one. While you can’t control what twists and turns come your way, you can control how you let it affect you. Your adventure won’t have an easy stopping point you can see in sight, but you have the power to slow down or speed up your pace at any time. Give yourself time to celebrate and recharge before you tackle the next challenge. The best part about your journey is that you can change it. Nothing is set in stone, but because you have your plan, your rough outline, you’ll know which way you should keep heading.
Not sure where to go next in your career journey or need tips on setting up a development plan?
- Visit our Career Development page for job-related resources.
- Submit your application by October 2, 2026, to join the next Peer Mentoring Cohort starting October 23, 2026.
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