Online Career Planning Resources for Students & Working Professionals

Deciding on a proper career path is a time-consuming task. It requires thorough research, but it also needs knowledge about self and setting up adequate career goals. But did you know that there are specific tools designed to help you accomplish this task? We have you covered if you plan a career transition or are entirely new to joining the immense workforce. 

What are Career Planning Resources?

Resources for career planning are certain practices, tests, worksheets, and even documents that aid you in choosing the dream career for yourself. Many educational institutions incorporate career planning courses in their curriculum for students.

These tools are also available online, which helps in this current pandemic situation. Why? Because the pandemic has largely changed career planning setup for everyone. These resources help students, as well as those looking for a career change, keep motivated.

Career Planning: Why Do You Need It?

Complex tasks are made easier with career planning resources. As mentioned before, proper career planning is a hefty task. So these resources will help you narrow down your potential choices, keeping in mind your preferences. In addition, most jobs have a predetermined requirement of skill sets, and these resources will help you sort your options. So, planning right in the early stages of job searching will make it easy to find your dream career.

Top Resources To Help You Plan Your Career The Right Way

Here are some of the most helpful career planning resources to help you set up your dream career.

1. Self Assessment

Understanding your skills and where you lack them is the primary step. Simply put, self-assessment is quite similar to standing in front of a mirror to make self-judgments. For this, you can opt for any of these:

Practice Writing

This will help enhance your thinking skills. Simply think about what jobs will you rather be in, and write about it. This will not only bring insight into what your job preferences are, but you will also narrow down the choices.

Worksheets

Solving worksheets will help you identify those skills you lack. Since the job market is ever-changing, you must be up-to-date with the in-demand skill-sets.

2. SWOT Analysis

SWOT is simply an acronym. It stands for the four main elements of self-knowledge. S stands for Strength, W stands for Weakness, O stands for Opportunities, and finally, T stands for Threats. Such an analysis is helpful to understand what your core characteristics are. SWOT analysis comes in the form of a matrix, and this framework will make sure that you are focused on your strengths. 

This resource helps identify those jobs that are in tune with your set of skills. SWOT analysis will also help you to work on the negative traits in your personality, and by working on those, you can transform the negative ones into positive ones.  

3. Community Resources

Did you know that specific resources, like your local library, are available for an entire community? The pandemic has now pushed these resources to be updated online. Using such resources as books, journals, or magazines, you can do proper research on the career path you want to choose. 

4. Career Assessment

It is never easy to find the perfect job. But a career assessment will help you to narrow down your job options. Opting for a Career Aptitude test provides a great insight into one’s job personality. Not only does this test guides you towards your dream career, but it also informs you about what kind of office environment will aid in your success. 

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5. Personality Tests

Who doesn’t give a thought to their career? But somehow, even after so much planning, we end up with wrong choices. Have you wondered why? This is where understanding your personality comes up. 

Personality tests can push you in the right direction, as they help identify both your negative and positive aspects. Here are a few tests to give you the right nudge:

Big Five Personality Test

Have you ever thought about why some people can work well with their colleagues while others can’t? The answer to this lies in their personality. The Big Five test helps to understand the extent to which you can work well with your colleagues and have peer communication. Now you can figure out if you are suitable for a job that requires constant communication or not!

Pymetrics

Built on multiple puzzles, Pymetrics tests your hand at problem-solving. This test helps to understand your cognitive traits, if you are detail-oriented, or if your decision-making process is intuition-based, or if you give your utmost effort to the job at hand. Understanding these cognitive traits helps you choose your dream job and build a perfect resume by focusing on your strengths. 

Myers-Briggs Type Personality Indicator

This is another great test, which most companies use to determine if you would be a suitable employee for their firm. 

Steps To Plan Your Career

Now that you are aware of the online resources to help your career plan, here are a few crucial steps. 

1. Explore your options

After analysing your core characteristics, you should begin exploring your career options. First, discover various jobs that suit your skill-set, educational qualifications, and personal traits. You can also take the guidance of expert career counsellors’ guidance, who will help you gather a few options.

2. Proper field research

Now that you are done listing your choices, field research is vital for a reality check. Meet the people in your field of interest and ask them about the job. Besides a reality check, field research will also help you build your professional network.

3. Target fixing

In this step, you need to fix a goal. Which job position would you prefer? Does it coincide with your preferred locations? However, once you are in the workforce and have gained experience, this target will keep changing. 

4. Build your resume

A good resume can do wonders. It attracts exciting job prospects, and with experience, you can keep refining it. If you are a scholar looking forward to joining the workforce, you can consider internships. These are added feathers and can brighten up your resume. You can use online resume-building services for designing your perfect CV. 

So, having followed these steps to build your resume, what are you waiting for? Confidently approach the challenge and invest your time and attention in building a resume. Remember, a resume is, after all, the first impression, a reflection of who you are to your potential employee. All the best!

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