Focus On Your Next Steps To Get Done

You value your professional success. Your motivation and energy are focused on making positive changes in your career, family, or other life priorities. In addition, your energies are aligned toward your desired outcome. The Intelligent Career Card (ICCS) is your first step toward valuing and understanding your personal aspirations, your skills, and your professional network. Utilization of an ICard gives you a focused laser focus and a clear direction for your next steps in realizing your goals and becoming the person you want to be.


As you journey through life's milestones, you may not be aware of your opportunities to take advantage of new ICards that are designed to help you focus on your next steps toward your career objectives. A career ICard can help you focus on your future career goals, as well as give you a guided path from today to your next career milestone. You will discover that ICs give you helpful information about current job openings and open positions in various industries, along with information and details about each job opening. Along with this, you will discover useful information about starting salaries, benefits offered, hours of operation, equipment and machinery located in the company, and more.

In addition, ICs offer resources that aid in planning your job search activities. For instance, you can use ICs as a guideline when writing a resume, when preparing for interviews, during job hunting, during job interviews, on training days, after a job search, and following up with past employers. In short, the ICard is a convenient way to keep track of your career objectives and progress, a way to stay focused on your career plans, and to develop a comprehensive strategy for your career.

There are many career options available to an individual interested in learning how to create and maintain a winning ICard. However, in my experience as a career counselor and executive coach, most people struggle with how to implement an effective exit strategy. Often, these individuals do not take the necessary steps to prepare for the future. This means that if they were to exit their current job, they may not be able to find a similar position with the same company. If this scenario describes you, it may be time to implement an effective exit strategy, a strategy that will help you identify and select the best steps to take toward achieving your career goals.

What should you do with your priorities in your new job search? Your first priority should be to identify the jobs, or fields, that interest and accommodate you. These jobs should be ranked according to your strengths and weaknesses. In other words, your new job search should consist of the jobs or fields that you are most interested in doing or can perform well.

Now, what are your first steps as you navigate the landscape of your career search? The first step you should take is to take actions that will help you develop and enhance your skills and competencies. For example, if you know that you have the skills and competencies necessary to succeed in accounting, you should begin taking the necessary courses to advance in your career. You should also take advantage of free professional development and education opportunities, such as those provided through your employer or the American College of Accountants.

Once you have developed your skills and interests, you should take the next steps to prioritize the goals you have identified for yourself. Your first goal should be to become a top-level manager. Your second goal should be to achieve CPA certification. Your third goal should be to become a certified fraud investigator. Your fourth goal should be to become a licensed bankruptcy attorney. Regardless of the field or level in which you currently reside, the highest goal you should aspire to achieve is to reach the level of success needed to meet your company's competitive goals.


As you can see, there is a lot to do. Fortunately, there is a process by which you can move through the steps to take your company to the next level. First you must create a written action plan. Next you must evaluate the effectiveness of that plan and put it into action. Finally you must track your progress and take action to reach your goals each year.