Image
Create a career plan
Not sure what comes after university? You are definitely not alone! A career plan can help you turn uncertainty into action by identifying your strengths, exploring opportunities and creating realistic goals that help you move closer to the future you want. Whether you have a clear career path in mind, or are still exploring your options, this process will help you make informed decisions with confidence.
You can create a career plan in 4 easy steps:
1. THINKING ABOUT YOU
The first step in career planning is understanding yourself. By reflecting on your skills, interests and values, you can identify career options that align with who you are, your strengths, and what matters most to you.
Identify your skills
Knowing your skills will help you explore suitable career options, understand what employers are looking for and identify areas you may want to develop.
Thinking about the skills you have to offer involves reflecting all aspects of your life, including:
- Academic studies - modules, projects, group work
- Work Experience - paid work, volunteering, placements, work shadowing
- Activities and Interests - societies, sports teams, community involvement, hobbies
Read our guide on identifying your skills to assist you with this stage. You can also complete our Skills Audit document to assess your skillset and identify areas for future development.
Guide on Identifying Skills Skills Audit (pdf)
Explore your career interests
Understanding you interests can help you identify careers that are both a good fit and personally rewarding.
Use the 'Career Interests Inventory' on Team Focus to explore how your interests, skills and preferences align with different career paths. You'll receive a personalised report highlighting career themes and job roles to investigate further.
Register for Team Focus using your University of Portsmouth email address, then access the Career Interests Inventory from the dashboard. You can always explore the suggested careers in more detail using the Prospects Job Profile database.
Register online for Team Focus *
Understand your values
Your values influence what motivates you and what you find fulfilling in life and work. When your career aligns with your values, you're likely to feel more engaged, motivated and satisfied.
Most people find it hard to articulate their values, or at least to identify those that are really important and fundamental. The Values Based Indicator of Motivation on Team Focus can help you to discover your underlying values and to understand more about what drives your career choices. Once completed, you'll receive a personalised report to support your career planning and decision making.
Register online for Team Focus *
*If you are a graduate, please contact us at [email protected] for access to Team Focus
Using AI to support your career planning
AI tools can be a valuable part of your career planning journey - although it shouldn't be used to make decisions for you, it might help you to discover new possibilities, organise your thoughts, and provide a useful starting point for further research. You might use AI tools to:
- Explore careers related to your degree, skills and interests
- Understand different job roles and career pathways
- Compare industries and sectors
- Create action plans and SMART goals
Career Map Tool
CareerSet's Career Map tool can also support you to explore options, and understand more about various roles. It can help you:
- Explore job roles and understand what they involve 'day to day'
- Discover how careers progress over time
- Identify the skills needed to enter and advance in different professions
- Compare opportunities across industries and sectors
- Explore emerging trends and future career opportunities
To access the Career Map, log in to CareerSet with your university email*, and select the 'Target' function. When prompted, copy and paste a job description in, upload your CV, and then select the 'Career Map' button that will appear in the top right of the screen.
*If you are a graduate, please contact us on [email protected] to request access to CareerSet.
Remember that AI generated content might not always be accurate, complete or up to date. Always verify information using trusted sources and employer websites. Read our guide to Using AI in your job search for more information:
2. RESEARCHING OPTIONS
Now you have reflected on you and what is important from a career, you can begin researching career options. Use the below activities to explore roles, sectors and opportunities that interest you.
| Explore | Activity or reflection to complete |
|---|---|
| Find careers that match your interests |
|
| See what other graduates do |
Use resources to explore what graduates from your course do, such as:
|
| Look beyond your degree subject |
|
| Identify what you don't want |
|
| Explore related careers |
Research job profiles and 'career families' to provide ideas you might not have contemplated:
|
| Keep an open mind |
|
3. MAKING PLANS
The next step is to turn your research into an action plan! An action plan helps you identify your next steps and stay focused on your career goals. Use any format that works for you, whether that's a document, spreadsheet, notebook or digital planner.
Start by thinking about your goals in the the:
- Short term - next 12 months
- Medium term - 1-5 years
- Long term - 5+ years
SMART goals
SMART goals help you to create clear and achievable objectives as part of your career action plan.
Specific
Is your goal well-defined? Avoid setting yourself vague or unclear objectives, and try and be as precise as possible.
Measurable
Be clear on how you can tell when you've achieved your goal. Use details like dates and times to represent clear objectives.
Attainable
Make your goals challenging but realistic. Setting yourself impossible goals will only end in disappointment.
Relevant
Make sure you're always keeping your goals relevant to you and where you want to end up.
Time-bound
Set yourself a timescale for completing each goal. Even if you need to change this as you progress, this will help you to stay motivated.
Examples of SMART goals
-
'Complete an online Power BI course during the Easter break to improve my data analysis skills'
-
'Volunteer with a local wildlife organisation by Christmas to gain environmental sector experience'
-
'Update my CV and identify four overseas opportunities to apply for before the end of the summer term'
Non-SMART goals
-
'Find a graduate job'
-
'I want to work abroad'
-
'Complete a PhD'
-
'Do some volunteering'
Action steps
For each goal you have decided on, identify the steps you'll need to take to achieve it - this will help you break things down into more manageable chunks. Set realistic deadlines, and check in dates so that you can review your progress along the way.
Example action steps:
Goal: Secure a placement in marketing by the end of the academic year.
Action steps:
1. Update my CV by the end of September
2. Attend an appointment with the Placement Team to review my CV and for support with my search
3. Find and research at least 10 placement roles that I find interesting
4. Submit all applications by the end of December
5. Review progress monthly
4. TAKING ACTION
Now you have reflected on your strengths and values, explored your options, and set yourself some goals, it's time to take action!
Remember our top tips:
Start with your next step
Choose one or two actions from your plan and get started. Every action you take will help you build experience and gain clarity about your future direction.
Stay flexible
It's normal for your career goals to change over time - you may discover new opportunities, develop different interests or simply choose an alternative direction altogether! Staying flexible allows your goals to change, and you can change your timescales if needed.
Be kind to yourself
Related to the above, don’t be too hard on yourself if some of your circumstances change and you have to adapt your plan. Try not to see this as a setback, but instead a learning opportunity; having a positive mindset will help you to ensure you are being kind to yourself.
Get support
You don't have to figure everything out on your own - don't forget Careers & Employability is here here to help!
Book an appointment with one of our advisers to explore your options, create a career plan, and gain support in achieving your goals.
Further Resources
- Skills Audit (PDF) - fill out this document to assess your current skillset
- The 53 Student Employability profiles (PDF) produced by the Higher Education Academy with the Council for Industry and Higher Education help you identify the work-related skills you've developed through your studies
- How to choose a career - Prospects article with more information on creating a career plan
- Targetjobs Pathways - Targetjobs have a range of self guided online learning modules that help you to explore different options (you will need to create a free account to view)
- Our Disability, Equality and Diversity Guide is for students who feel that their personal issues may affect or disadvantage their career planning or job selection process
Explore more from Careers & Employability
Career guides
Explore more than 40 industry guides and learn about the knowledge and experience you need to find a job in your dream sector.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion employment guides
Guidance on the importance of equality and diversity in recruitment, highlighting fair hiring practices and inclusive workplaces.
Enable University alerts
Turn on notifications for critical updates like closures, safety alerts, and urgent service disruptions.