Creating a Career Development Plan

Struggling to change careers? Here are 7 steps I used to jump from healthcare to Microsoft: 1. Start With Foundational Knowledge I started by learning the basics of my new field. I scoured the web for the top 3 introductory courses on marketing. I devoted a month to taking all of them. But education doesn't get you hired, results do. This was just the starting point. 2. Create A Sandbox Next, I set up my own website. I explored all the digital marketing channels: I published articles (SEO). I ran small paid campaigns to it. I started social accounts for it. I made an email newsletter. This let me get hands on with real tools I'd use. 3. Volunteering Now it was time for the real deal. I reached out to 100s of local businesses. I told them about my goal to transition industries. Then I offered them my services for free with an out to cut ties at any time. This gave me "real" experience and testimonials. 4. Consulting Next, I started charging for my services. I started with a low monthly retainer. Then I used my volunteering case studies to get clients. As I helped more clients, I increased my rates. I also expanded my experience and skills. I was getting paid to learn! 5. Documenting The Journey As I learned, I shared. I created content about: - Strategies I was testing - Mistakes I made - Results of tests I ran - Big wins Writing helped me cement what I learned. It also acted as a "resume" where employers could see how I operated. 6. Action-Oriented Education I didn't stop taking courses after Step 1. I used my "real world" work to guide me. If a client gave me a task I couldn't do? I'd take a course on it. If I realized I needed a skill to level up? I read a book on it. Action refined my education. 7. Packaging It All Up This process allowed me to create my own experience. I put it on my resume, in my LinkedIn, and used the examples during interviews. When I started, I was working in healthcare. By the end, I'd landed my dream job at Microsoft. I hope it helps you too!

My best career acceleration tip is to create an AI feedback vault. It’s my all-time favorite way to use Claude. Here's what I do: Create a Claude project called "[Manager's Name] Feedback." Google doc comments, Slack suggestions, revision requests - I drop it all into the project knowledge. Then, the magic happens BEFORE I send over new work. I upload my draft and ask Claude:  "Based on the feedback patterns in this project, what changes would [manager] likely suggest? Draft recommendations so I can improve before sending." It's like having your manager's brain as a preset filter. The setup is simple: 1. Create a Claude project named "[Manager's Name] Feedback" 2. Add a description. Here’s what I use–feel free to copy it: "Review [manager's] feedback on my docs and identify themes in their suggested changes, so I can write better first drafts in the future" 3. Upload any historical docs + feedback you have - before & afters work great here Six weeks from now, your manager will either give you the same feedback again, or wonder how you got so good at reading their mind :)

After a decade of sitting in manager meetings, delivering reviews, and coaching others through them, I’ve learned what makes—or breaks—an annual review: Here are 7 practical things you can do right now: 1/ Make it easy for your manager to advocate for you. Don’t just list tasks. Show outcomes. Show business impact. Make the case clear and compelling. 2/ When asking for peer reviews, give them a purpose. Are you aiming for a promo? A stretch project? Let them know. It’ll help them speak to the right strengths that support your goals. 3/ Show how you’re already performing at the next level. As Webflow CEO Linda Tong shared with me in my book, leaders want to see you performing at the next level already. Highlight those moments where you took on leadership, strategic decisions, or tough projects. 4/ Cut the fluff. Don’t list every task you did. Focus on the 20% of projects that drove 80% of results. 5/ Ask your manager to pre-review it. I did this for my teams — help them advocate for themselves in the most impactful way possible. 6/ Anticipate challenges. If there’s a project that didn’t go well, address it. Share what you learned and how you’ve applied those lessons. It builds trust. 7/ Compare across quarters. Show how you’ve grown — not just what you did this cycle. We’re prone to the recency effect. Progress tells a powerful story. 𝗣.𝗦. It’s your career. Own your review.

Many things that happen in our lives are out of our control. ⁣ But focusing on the what we can control increases our success⁣. ⁣ Here's 9 skills to develop to make sure your career has the best chances⁣: ⁣ 1: Problem Solving⁣ ↳ The ability to connect insights from different fields to solve multi-layered challenges.⁣ ↳ AI can optimize within systems, but humans excel at seeing patterns across unrelated domains.⁣ ⁣ 2: Emotional Intelligence⁣ ↳ Understanding and managing emotions in yourself and others to build trust and collaboration.⁣ ↳ As work becomes more remote and AI-assisted, human connection becomes increasingly rare and valuable.⁣ ⁣ 3: Adaptive Learning ⁣ ↳ The capacity to quickly understand new concepts and pivot when circumstances change.⁣ ↳ Industries will shift rapidly, requiring professionals who can learn and unlearn at high speed.⁣ ⁣ 4: Systems Thinking⁣ ↳ Seeing how individual pieces connect to larger patterns and long-term consequences.⁣ ↳ Automation handles linear tasks while humans add value by understanding complex interconnections.⁣ ⁣ 5: Creative Innovation⁣ ↳ Generating novel solutions and approaches when standard methods don't work.⁣ ↳ Creativity and imagination remain uniquely human advantages that machines cannot replicate.⁣ ⁣ 6: Digital Fluency ⁣ ↳ Understanding how to leverage technology as a tool while maintaining human judgment.⁣ ↳ The future belongs to people who can work with AI, not those replaced by it.⁣ ⁣ 7: Future Planning⁣ ↳ Anticipating trends and making decisions based on where things are heading, not where they are.⁣ ↳ Strategic foresight becomes more valuable as change accelerates and uncertainty increases.⁣ ⁣ 8: Resilience⁣ ↳ Maintaining performance and well-being when facing constant change and ambiguous situations.⁣ ↳ Future careers will require thriving in uncertainty rather than just surviving it.⁣ ⁣ 9: Cross Cultural Communication⁣ ↳ Working effectively with diverse teams and understanding different cultural perspectives.⁣ ↳ Remote work and global collaboration make cultural intelligence essential for leadership.⁣ ⁣ Which skill will you prioritize developing first?⁣ ⁣ 💚 Follow Hetali Mehta, MPH for more.⁣⁣ 📌 Share this with your network.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ 👇Subscribe to my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/ehMbvmiY

Career advice I’d give my younger self: Keep a record of your wins Document your accomplishments as you go - not just what you did, but the real impact. (Keep this in a personal repository, not at work.) Most of us move from project to project, thinking we’ll remember the details when we need them. Then, when it’s time for a job search or a performance review, we struggle to articulate our impact. Instead, whenever you start a new project, ask yourself: “How will my future self talk about this?” Think in terms of a story - a problem worth solving, a difficult and challenging solution, and a meaningful transformation. You don’t have to wait until the project is finished to start writing it. Step 1: The problem What problem are you solving? A (business) problem worth solving has the problem itself, which lead to symptoms that, if they aren't addressed, can lead to disaster. For example, you might be replacing a legacy workflow. The old workflow is slow and includes manual steps. This results in errors and customer dissatisfaction, which leads to financial risk (due to errors) and churn, resulting in stagnant revenue and declining market share. You'll get more insight over time, but just start at the start. Write down what you know. Step 2: Document the outcomes you (or your leadership) are expecting or hoping for You may not know the final impact yet, but you have a hypothesis. What will change if your project succeeds? More revenue? Higher efficiency? Customer satisfaction improvements? Write that down. The transformation is often the opposite of the problem: if revenue is stagnant, the goal is growth. If churn is rising, the goal is retention. Define the ideal outcome early. Step 3: Capture the key components of the solution As technologists, we naturally document what we built. That’s fine, but remember—hiring managers and execs care less about features and more about impact. And how you collaborated and persuaded stakeholders to create and keep alignment. Step 4: Update your story as you go As your project progresses, go back and update: ✔ What you learned about the real problem ✔ Changes in your approach ✔ The actual results once customers started using your solution Often, the results blossom in unexpected ways - leading to social proof like customer stories, awards, or internal recognition. Capture those. These stories become the basis of a resume that gets interviews and they're great for performance reviews.

As an HR professional, I've seen candidates who invest in upskilling significantly outperform others in interviews and salary negotiations. Let me give you a comprehensive roadmap: Step 1: Skills Gap Analysis Current State Assessment: •⁠ ⁠List all your current technical and soft skills •⁠ ⁠Review your recent performance appraisals for feedback •⁠ ⁠Ask trusted colleagues or managers about your strengths and improvement areas •⁠ ⁠Compare your skills with job descriptions you're targeting Market Research: •⁠ Study 15-20 job postings in your target role/industry •⁠ ⁠Identify the most frequently mentioned skills •⁠ ⁠Note the "nice to have" vs "must have" requirements( use platforms like naukri) Step 2: Prioritise Your Learning High-Impact Skills to Focus On: 1.⁠ ⁠Technical skills- that appear in 70%+ of your target job postings 2.⁠ ⁠Certifications - commonly mentioned in your industry 3.⁠ ⁠Soft skills- like leadership, communication, project management 4.⁠ ⁠Industry-specific tools* and technologies Create a Learning Priority Matrix: Divide them into Urgent + Important, Important but not Urgent and Nice to have Step 3: Choose Your Learning Methods For Technical Skills: •⁠ ⁠Online Platforms: Udemy, Coursera, Pluralsight, LinkedIn Learning •⁠ ⁠Free Resources: YouTube, FreeCodeCamp, Khan Academy •⁠ ⁠Hands-on Practice: Create personal projects, contribute to open source •⁠ ⁠Industry Certifications: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, Salesforce, etc. For Soft Skills: •⁠ ⁠Communication: Join Toastmasters, practice presentation skills •⁠ ⁠Leadership: Take on cross-functional projects at your current job •⁠ ⁠Project Management: Get PMP, Agile, or Scrum certifications Step 4: Create a Realistic Timeline While doing that try to learn everything at once as it's better to master 2-3 skills well than to have surface knowledge of 10 skills. Step 5: Document Your Learning Be it in the form of Portfolio/GitHub, Certifications, Blog/LinkedIn Posts, Metrics Step 6: Practice and Apply Maybe ⁠volunteer for projects that use your new skills or ⁠Mentor junior colleagues (develops leadership skills) or join professional communities and forums Step 7: Skill Validation ( Do it before Job Applications) •⁠ ⁠Take practice tests for certifications •⁠ ⁠Get feedback from industry professionals •⁠ ⁠Join relevant LinkedIn groups and participate in discussions •⁠ ⁠Attend virtual conferences and webinars Hacks: Pomodoro Technique, Weekly learning goals Final Pro Tip: Start learning while you're still employed. It's easier to learn without job search pressure, and you can immediately apply new skills at your current job, making your experience more valuable.

It's performance review season at Apple. Years ago early in my time at Apple, my self-assessments were vague and modest. I assumed my manager already knew my contributions, big mistake. We all suffer from recency bias. My ratings were average because leadership couldn't see the full picture of my impact. Then, I changed my approach: I built a structured framework that clearly highlighted outcomes, leadership, and feedback. Of course, it all starts with great work but equally important is clearly articulating that impact. The results: better ratings, increased visibility, and accelerated career growth. Now I consistently earn top ratings. Here is how I approach my self assessments now. → 𝑫𝒐 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌 Bulletproof your results with clear and quantifiable impact. → 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝑮𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔 Map your contributions directly to your team’s OKRs or strategic priorities. Show how you moved the needle. → 𝑹𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑’𝒔 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 Listen to what your senior leaders praise in All-Hands, town halls, and emails. These are your signals. If you contributed to those priorities, your impact becomes indisputable. → 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 Clearly document how you supported peers, mentored teammates, and collaborated cross-functionally. → 𝑮𝒐 𝑩𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑱𝒐𝒃 Highlight extra initiatives like mentoring, hiring, onboarding, or culture-building. → 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒆 Know the bar and beat the bar. Understanding what is expected is very important to exceed the expectations. → 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 Don’t oversell. Don’t underplay. Acknowledge challenges and how you addressed them. → 𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝑰𝒕 𝑬𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒓 Provide clear, concise, and copy-paste-ready statements to simplify your manager’s job in justifying your top rating. Full post https://lnkd.in/gd6bwk6X I’d love to learn from you too; please share your best practices and thoughts in the comments.

Your personality is your most valuable professional asset - and your biggest potential liability. The difference? Understanding how to leverage it effectively. Many professionals struggle to understand their strengths and weaknesses, leading to missed opportunities and stalled careers. You've probably tried self-reflection or asked for feedback, but these methods often fall short. That's where personality assessments come in. But not all assessments are created equal. ---Class A Assessments--- ▪ Used for psychiatric or mental health evaluations ▪ Highly validated and reliable for clinical use ▪ Example: MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) ---Class B Assessments--- ▪ Trait-based assessments used in professional settings ▪ Validated for use in hiring, development, and team building ▪ Examples: Hogan Assessment, Birkman Method, Winslow Profile ---Class C Assessments--- ▪ Personal development focused ▪ Used for self-awareness and team dynamics ▪ Examples: MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator), DiSC, EQ assessments Many assessments are built on the foundation of the Big Five personality factors, also known as OCEAN: 🔸Openness to experience 🔸Conscientiousness 🔸Extraversion 🔸Agreeableness 🔸Neuroticism (or emotional stability) These five factors are considered the fundamental building blocks of personality. Understanding where you fall on each of these dimensions can provide powerful insights into your behavior, preferences, and potential career fit. Over 20 years ago, I took the Hogan Assessment. It was like someone handed me a user manual for my own brain. I discovered strengths I hadn't recognized and blind spots that were holding me back. I didn't just file it away. I reviewed it annually, using it as a roadmap for my personal and professional growth. Each year, I'd focus on leveraging a strength or addressing a weakness. The result? A more intentional and successful career path. You might be thinking, "So what?" ----Here's how you can apply this---- 1. Choose the right assessment for your needs (Highly recommend Class B) 2. Take it with an open mind 3. Review the results with a certified interpreter 4. Create an action plan based on your insights 5. Revisit and revise annually It's not about changing who you are. It's about understanding yourself better so you can make informed decisions about your career and relationships. Here's a question to ponder: If you had a clear map of your personality traits and tendencies, what would you do differently in your career? Share your thoughts below. And if you've had experiences with personality assessments, I'd love to hear about them!  

Obsess over the feedback loop. All the learning you need is in the feedback loop. Most people don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because they lack a system for learning from failure. Every success story rests on a foundation of failures that were properly ↳ Analyzed ↳ Iterated On ↳ And Improved Most of us don’t hit these important marks. We move move past failure too quickly, avoiding the embarrassing discomfort of reflection. We take failures personally instead of treating them scientifically. We assume trying harder is the answer when we need to try harder to design a better approach. I focus on one core truth: Learning more from failure is how we ultimately win. Failure is a feedback loop, and if yours is broken, you won’t just fail, you’ll repeat your failures over and over. Here’s how to fix that. 👇🏼 1️⃣ Pause & Reflect ↳ Before you move forward, stop. ↳ What went wrong? ↳ What did you assume? ↳ What was unexpected? 2️⃣Capture Data ↳ Write everything down. Future-you needs this information. 3️⃣ Remove Your Ego ↳ This isn’t about you, it’s about the process. ↳ Failures are feedback, not character judgments. 4️⃣ Get External Input ↳ Find people ahead of you who will tell you the truth. ↳ No sugarcoating. ↳ No yes-people allowed. 5️⃣ Identify the Root Cause ↳ Surface-level problems aren’t the real issue. Dig deeper. ↳ What’s the pattern behind your failures? 6️⃣ Make One Small Change ↳ Not everything needs an overhaul. ↳ Start with one adjustment and test the impact. 7️⃣ Test & Observe ↳ Don’t make assumptions. Run your new approach. ↳ Measure the results, and see what actually works. 8️⃣ Iterate with Consistency ↳ One correction doesn’t fix everything. ↳ Keep adjusting, keep improving, keep refining. 9️⃣ Build a Culture of Learning ↳ Winners review their losses more than they celebrate their wins. Every failure contains data. Every mistake contains insight. Are you learning? If you’re not, you’re setting yourself up to fail the same way again. DO. FAIL. LEARN. GROW. WIN. REPEAT. FOREVER. What do your feedback loops like? Which of these ideas might be most helpful to your work? Drop a comment below to share your experience. 👇🏼 _____ 🔗 Subscribe to The Failure Blog via the link in my profile (💯🙏🏼) ➕ Follow me, John Brewton, for content that Helps (💯🙏🏼) ♻️ Repost to your networks, colleagues, and friends if you think this would help them (💯🙏🏼)

One assessment method won’t cut it... Multi-methods unlock hidden potential. Relying on a single method misses the full picture: → It overlooks important skills and abilities. → It may lead to biased or incomplete evaluations. → It fails to identify specific areas for improvement. A multi-method approach paints a full picture: 1. Performance Reviews Deliver structured feedback to highlight growth areas. Focus on actionable steps to improve performance.     2. Surveys & Interviews Gain honest insights directly from key stakeholders. Uncover both strengths and hidden challenges.     3. Skills Gap Analysis Identify critical priorities for targeted development. Design plans to close gaps and build key skills.     4. Self-Assessments Encourage leaders to reflect on their unique strengths. Build self-awareness to fuel ongoing growth.     5. Team Discussions Foster collaboration to unlock team potential. Reveal hidden strengths within group dynamics. Mix at least three methods for real impact: ☑ Schedule regular feedback check-ins. ☑ Build impact skills like communication. ☑ Use tech for surveys and real-time data. Smart assessments drive future-ready leaders. Follow Jonathan Raynor. Reshare to help others.