Create a Career Development Plan: Examples and Templates

Where do you want your career to be in the next year? Five years? How about 10 years down the road? OK, now how do you plan on getting there? This is where a career development plan comes into play.

Very likely, you understand the experiences you’ll need to add to your resume. The training programs and possibly certifications. But you may not have figured out the steps to make it realistically happen—and if that’s the case, thinking about career growth can feel overwhelming.

You can outline your overall professional goals and set a strategy for achieving them through actionable steps with a career development plan. If you’re looking to advance your career but need help figuring out where to start, creating a professional development plan is a great first step. Think of it as your road map for success.

What is a career development plan?

A career development plan is a personal tool you can use to create a realistic road map for advancing your career, with doable tasks that tie into your overall goals. Big goals can be overwhelming and feel unattainable until you break them down into smaller goals you can actively work toward.

A good career development plan:

• Defines your career aspirations
• Audits your skill set
• Identifies strengths and weaknesses
• Creates achievable milestones
• Details the actionable steps to take
• Tracks and monitors your progress

When thinking about career development, one of the common roadblocks is goal setting without creating a plan. Figuring out what you want is important. Start with your long-term goals, like being the head of a department. Then, think about what your short-term goals are, like getting a raise. Once you have your goals, the other half of a career development plan is breaking them down into steps you can take right now to help get there.

When goal setting, think about what’s realistic based on your other responsibilities and schedule. If you know you need to focus on expanding your skill set, the first step is to figure out what’s possible.

Maintaining balance is important to prevent burnout and make sure you’re still able to succeed in your non-career goals like being a supportive partner or a good parent. Going back to school full time may not be an option if you need to work or have a family to support. Instead, you may need to take one class at a time.

Ask your manager or human resources department what development programs are available through your current position. Some companies reimburse you for continuing your education or have programs in place for those interested in career advancement. You can also find career development tools like a career coach or mentor on your own.

Long-term goals can feel far-fetched until you break them down into smaller steps. As you check off your achievements, you start to get closer, and it becomes obtainable.

How to create a career development plan

Figure out what you can do today and tomorrow to help achieve your short- and long-term goals at work with a career development plan. Organize your goals, create steps, and start making real progress. What does an effective career development plan look like, and where do you start?

We offer some steps to creating your career development plan.

1. Identify your career goals

The first step is brainstorming and thinking about your long-term goals. Write down as many goals as you can think of. Even if you’re not completely sure, add them to the list, and you can remove them later. Do you want to become a thought leader in your field, move to a different industry, or maybe start your own business?

Be as specific as you can. Once you have all your goals written down, you can work on organizing them. Start with your longest goals and cluster related ideas. Rank them in order of importance and achievability, and then list the steps you need to take to achieve each goal.

2. Assess your current skills and strengths

Once you’ve mapped out your most important goals, you can start your skills and strengths audit. Research and see what skills and experiences each goal requires. Next, take a look at your current skills and evaluate their relevance.

Analyzing your strengths should be a confidence boost, focusing on the tools you have and can start using right now.

3. Identify the skills and knowledge you need to acquire

When you research your goals and where the gaps are, you also find out what you need to work on. If you want a promotion, you could look at the job description for the new role and highlight the different skills, experience, and knowledge listed.

Let’s say you want to move into a manager role; you may want to focus on leadership and project management. Pinpoint the skills and knowledge you could develop to become more competitive and ready to advance in your career. Write them down and group them with each of your goals.

4. Create a plan to acquire the necessary skills

After identifying your skills and knowledge gaps, create a plan for closing each of them. Some of your weaknesses might be hard skills that are easy to work on with an online course or educational conference. Other gaps might be soft skills that you could learn through mentorship or asking your manager for an opportunity to explore different types of projects at work.

Take a look at each gap, then start researching ways to fill it and what tools you’ll need. See what online classes are available through sites like Coursera, Udemy, or Udacity. Ask your current employer if they offer any career development courses or programs. Consider if you need to further your education with a formal degree.

5. Develop a timeline

Another common step that people often miss when goal setting is developing a timeline. Having a timeline helps you know what you should be working on right now, where your priorities are, and how close you are to achieving each goal. Your timeline should be realistic but still push you.

6. Create an action plan

Knowing your goals and skills gaps helps you create an action plan. Start with the goal and then break it down into specific steps using the timeline and skills plan you’ve worked on as a guide.

An action plan breaks down your larger goals into smaller, more actionable and related tasks you can work on. You’ll want to create milestones and take note of the resources needed and what support you have.

Be as specific as possible here; it’s OK if your steps are small. Crossing off even the littlest items can help you feel more accomplished and less overwhelmed.

7. Monitor your progress

Once you have your career development plan, check in with yourself regularly. Review your progress, see what goals you’re close to hitting, and which may take longer than you initially expected. If you miss a goal’s deadline, use it as a learning opportunity and reflect on what you could have done differently.

Career development plan example

After researching your goals and analyzing your current skill set, you can create your career development plan. The purpose of this plan is to help you stay focused and figure out your next steps so you have something to do that’s contributing to your overall goals. Without a career development plan, it’s easy to get off track and spend time on tasks that don’t align with your other goals and end up wasting time.

We discuss a career development plan that can be used as a guideline.

Assess your current situation

Self-evaluation can be challenging. Practice being objective. Think of how one of your co-workers or managers sees you.

Assessing your current situation lets you figure out your starting point, what you have to work with, and what you need to improve. A SWOT analysis is a popular tool for businesses and individuals to examine their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Strengths. Examine the skills, experience, and knowledge you have that can help you achieve your goals.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What would your manager say are your biggest strengths?
• What achievements are you most proud of?
• What are your best qualities?
• What do you enjoy doing most in your current role?
• Do you have any certifications relevant to your career?
• What projects have you helped complete successfully?
• What hard and soft skills do you bring to the table?
• What makes you unique?

Weaknesses. Analyze the areas you could work on improving to help achieve your goals.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What type of tasks do you like doing least or intimidate you the most?
• What would your manager say you need to improve?
• What are your worst qualities?
• What soft skills do you need to work on?
• What skills do you need to develop to move up in your role?
• Do you have any professional bad habits?

Opportunities. Consider the external influences that can help you move forward.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What resources are available to you through your work?
• What online tools can you use to upskill?
• What industry trends could benefit you?
• What skills could help you move up in your career?
• Are there any projects at work you could help with to gain experience?
• Is your company hiring soon for a more senior position?
• Who in your network could help advance your career?

Threats. Explore potential external blockers that could prevent challenges for you.

Question to ask yourself:

• Could the economic climate negatively affect your industry?
• Is your industry seeing layoffs?
• What are the biggest obstacles in your professional life?
• Do any new technologies threaten your position?
• Do you foresee your job and industry changing?
• Are any soft skills holding you back from advancing?
• Are you directly competing with any of your colleagues?

Use online self-assessment tools to help brainstorm and have a bit of fun. Some tests explore your personality traits, like whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, and others help you find out what interests you. You can apply these discoveries to your career. Self-assessment tools and personality tests aren’t an exact science but can be helpful for thinking outside of the box when you’re in the exploratory stage.

Self-assessment tools to try out:

• 16 Personalities
• Myers-Briggs
• High 5 Test
• Keirsey Temperament Sorter
• Red Bull Wingfinder

Set goals and objectives

When setting career advancement goals and objectives, using the SMART framework is a way to break long-term goals into achievable milestones. Compare these two similar goals:

• I want to make more money.
• I want to be promoted to project manager with a 10% pay increase in the next two years.

The second goal, while similar to the first, includes some specific targets that help make it achievable.

SMART goals and objectives are:

• Specific. Make sure your goals are as clear and narrow as possible.
• Measurable. Add parameters so your goals are quantifiable to help monitor progress.
• Attainable. Check that your goals are realistic within the time frame; if not, break them down further.
• Relevant. Verify that each goal works toward your overall goals so you stay on track.
• Time-bound. Give yourself a deadline so you know what tasks to prioritize and can track your progress.

When setting career goals, make sure your combination of short-term goals builds up to make your long-term goals achievable.

Short-term career goals might include:

• Completing the Udemy Agile Project Management course and earning the certificate within the next three months
• Updating my personal website with recent projects, skills, and certifications
• Attending two industry networking events this month

Long-term career goals might include:

• Finding a mentor who can help me improve my leadership skills this quarter
• Earning a promotion and moving up to senior project manager with a 15% pay increase in the next three years
• Being the team lead on a project by the end of next quarter‍

Identify actions to achieve your goals

Once you have your SMART goals, you can break them down into tasks and to-do lists with deadlines. Start by determining the tools and resources you need for each goal, then figure out the steps you can take to make it happen.

You can group related tasks together and check your items off as you complete them. Map out your timeline and make sure it’s realistic based on your current workload. You can use a planner or online calendar for milestone deadlines to help you stay organized.

Action planning example:

Goal: Complete the Udemy Agile Project Management course and earn the certificate within the next three months.

Resources needed: Purchase the Udemy course.

Tasks:

• Week 1 [date]: Introduction and Agile Estimation and Time-Boxing
• Week 2 [date]: Agile Risk Management
• Week 3 [date]: Agile Metrics
• Week 4 [date]: Agile Communications Practices and Agile Communications and Collaboration Tools
• Week 5 [date]: Agile Project Management Tools
• Week 6 [date]: Agile Development Practices
• Week 7 [date]: Agile Quality and Testing Practices and Agile and PMBOK
• Week 8 [date]: Overall Summary and Resources To Help and update LinkedIn and resume to include certification

Build a professional network

Learning how to network is an important skill, especially for career development. Connecting with others in your industry can help you know of new opportunities, like seminars or potential job postings that may not end up on a public job board. Building a professional network is like having a support group for those with similar career goals, interests, and ambitions.

Attending networking events can help you meet people who are further along in their careers and who you can learn from. As you progress in your career, you may come across those looking for mentors whom you can return the favor to.

Tips for building your professional network:

• Attend local or virtual networking events.
• Join professional groups.
• Create professional social media channels.
• Prepare an elevator pitch to answer the question, “What do you do?”
• Connect on LinkedIn, other socials, or email immediately after an introduction.
• Know what you’re looking to gain from an event beforehand.

Gain new skills and experience

To keep advancing in your career, obtaining new skills and experience is key. Successful individuals in any field know the importance of staying competitive by learning relevant skills and gaining experience with them.

Depending on the company you work for, you may have in-house professional development opportunities you can explore. Many companies offer free e-learning courses, continuing education incentives, mentorship programs, and networking groups for those looking to advance their careers.

If you don’t have resources available through your company, many e-learning courses have free and low-cost options. Investing in your skills and gaining experience can pay off in the long run. Learn a new skill through an online course, earn your certificate, and if you don’t have the option to explore this new skill at work, you could try freelancing.

As a freelancer, you can get immediate experience working directly with clients. If your current job allows freelancing on the side and you have extra time, you can explore this as a way to gain experience in different skills. You get to choose what projects you say yes to and how many hours you work.

Overcome challenges and obstacles

Life sometimes doesn’t go according to plan, and adapting quickly and pivoting are essential for career development. You may come across challenges outside your control, like the economic climate or industry changes. The challenge could be internal if you decide to switch careers entirely or feel burnt out and need a break.

Even if you follow every step of your plan, you may not get the promotion or raise. You’ll need to be able to pick yourself up, brush off the dust, and figure out what you can do next. Plateaus happen, and you may have times when you feel unmotivated and like you’re not making progress, but you need to trust yourself and push through.

Tips for overcoming obstacles:

• Stay positive and focus on the wins.
• Use any setbacks and roadblocks as motivators.
• Look at your situation objectively from an outsider’s point of view.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice.
• Break your goals down into even smaller goals if you lack motivation.
• When in doubt, learn a new (and relevant) skill.

Review and revisit your plan

After creating your career development plan, make sure to review it often and track your progress. This plan is your road map for success and should help guide you. Don’t forget to reward yourself for accomplishments, even the smaller ones.

Remember that making adjustments is normal. You may change your mind or want to shift your focus in a different direction. Add new goals or remove ones that are no longer relevant. Keep up to date with your industry, and regularly audit your skills to look for new gaps.

Your career development plan isn’t concrete. When you make changes, take a bird’s eye view and see what other goals are affected. You may need to rearrange your priorities, remove tasks, and extend or shorten your timelines.

Career plan templates

Everyone’s career goals are different, depending on their industry, where they are in their careers, and what they want to achieve. If you’re ready to make your own career development plan, follow along with the templates below. Make any adjustments you need to set yourself up for success.

Goal-setting template

Start with goal-setting. You can use this career plan to help guide you through the process. Break down your bigger long-term goals into shorter ones you can further segment into tasks.

• Career Goal: [Insert one of your long-term career goals]
• Short-Term Goals: [List the specific short-term goals that will help you get there]
• Action Steps: [Break down your short-term goals into actionable tasks]
• Timeline: [Add reasonable deadlines for each task]

Skill development template

After identifying your skills gaps, it’s time to close them one by one. A skill development template helps you plan out how to upskill. Look at each skill individually and determine what resources you’ll need and what it will take to master them. You can use this skill development template as a guide.

• Skills To Develop: [List the skills you need to develop to advance your career]
• Learning Resources: [Identify the resources you’ll use to learn the necessary skills, such as books, courses, or mentors]
• Action Steps: [List the specific actions you need to take to develop each skill]
• Timeline: [Set a deadline for acquiring each skill]

Career change template

If you’re thinking of changing careers, this template can help create a road map for what to do next. Changing careers can feel like starting over, but you have skills and experiences that can transfer over to a different type of job.

Think about what you ultimately want, then perform a self-assessment. Dive deep into the different career paths and then illustrate the steps you need to take to make this happen.

• Career Change Goal: [Insert your goal for changing careers]
• Self-Assessment: [Evaluate your skills, interests, and values to determine the right career for you]
• Research: [Research different careers to find one that aligns with your skills, interests, and values]
• Action Steps: [List the specific steps you need to take to make the career change, such as taking online courses, going back to school, or networking]
• Timeline: [Set a reasonable deadline for making the career change]

Make your dreams a reality—let Upwork help

Once you know what you want, you’ll want to make an actionable plan for how to get it. Long-term goals by themselves can feel unattainable and too far out of reach. When you use a SMART framework to make them actionable, break them down into smaller goals, and assign yourself tasks with a deadline, all of the pieces start falling into place.

A career development plan is how you take your career development goals and make them possible, writing them down and creating a plan that you can follow.

Upwork is a tool you can use during this planning period, whether you want to hire a career or skills coach or gain experience with a new skill by freelancing.

The possibilities are endless; your future starts today.