Do You Have A Road Map? 

October 19, 2017

Last week I attended a Building a Culture of Health in Newark Conference on the NJIT Campus.  Since I only needed to be there a few hours to capture a story, my husband volunteered to drive me there. That was the good news. The bad news is he hates to use the navigation system.   

As we got near the campus, I asked, “Do you want me to turn on the navigation?” 

“No, it has to be around here somewhere,” he stubbornly replied. 

After riding up and down the street several times and asking a few people if they knew where the building was located, I asked again, “Don’t you think we should turn on the navigation?”   

Like a typical man, he stated, “I don’t think it’s necessary.” 

Instead of acting on my initial thoughts of choking my dear husband, I decided to take matters into my own hands.  I jumped out of the car and headed toward one of the near buildings to get directions.  As I began to walk up the steps, I spotted a woman who happened to be wearing a conference lanyard.  Finally, an “angel” who could put me on the right path. 

“It’s up the hill and on the other side of the road,” said my conference savior.  “I had a hard time finding it myself,” she continued. 

By the time I reached the conference building, I was mentally exhausted. More importantly, it reminded me of how many people go through life without a career roadmap.  As the saying goes, if you don’t know where you are going, you can end up anywhere. 

To get a realistic handle on what it’s going to take to achieve your career aspirations, it helps to create a roadmap.  Your career roadmap should include helpful directions, along with check-points to evaluate your progress and ensure that you’re still moving in the direction you intended to go. 

Below are a few tips to consider when creating your roadmap: 

• Know where you want to go. Map out a detailed plan on where you would like to be at various points in your career. 
• Instead of focusing on companies, focus on the skills and expertise you will need to pursue your dream career.  This will enable you to be prepared  when an opportunity comes up.  
• Talk to those that are a few steps ahead of you in your chosen field and find out what steps they took to prepare themselves. 
• Be adaptable to any roadblocks you may encounter. You might hit some detours along the way, or your destination may change completely.

“All you need is the plan, the roadmap, and the courage to press on to your destination.”
– Earl Nightingale