Career Plan
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
-Abraham Lincoln
1.Be Self Aware -
What actions can you take to really understand your interests, values, skills, personality and strengths?
Understanding who I am through analysis of interests, personality and values is key to developing my career. Analysing my personality traits through VIA Institute on Character, Criteria Workplace Insights, and the Myers-Briggs personality tests has been the first step. I have also continually worked to seek feedback, both formal and informal, in my professional life to better understand what improvements could be made. This has also given me an understanding of what actions have had a favourable outcome and should be continued.
This analysis has assisted me in being able to focus on my strengths of empathy, patience, and cooperation. Allowing me to support others in the workplace and create an environment where team members feel supported in their daily activities and foster an effective training environment for a wide variety of learners.
2.Explore Your Options -
What do you need to research to be clear about your options? What could you do to learn more about career options in your areas of interest?
To be clear on the options available to me that align with my interests I have been, and will continue to, research what is available in the human resources space. This research includes a thorough analysis of job descriptions in my chosen field on career websites such as Seek, LinkedIn Jobs, and iWork for NSW. Alongside this I continually analyse potential workplaces to study their existing culture/human resources policies. Workplaces I have explored have been within the emergency services field, local government, or not-for-profit organisations as I have seen or experienced that there are some gaps that need to be filled to create psychologically safe and culturally desirable spaces, particularly for women.
3.Gain Experience and Insight -
What actions could you take to help you learn more about your industry or find opportunities to develop your skills or find work experience opportunities?
While research and analysis has shown me where some opportunities exist, by volunteering with NSW State Emergency Service I have gained valuable insight into all emergency service agencies in New South Wales. I am gaining valuable work experience by volunteering in interagency activities such as land searches controlled by NSW Police Force, bushfires working under NSW Rural Fire Service, and rescues being led by NSW Ambulance Rescue. To gain more insight into the not-for-profit sector and local government I gained employment for a not-for-profit organisation that works closely with Tamworth Regional Council. This job demonstrated the environment in not only Tamworth Business Chamber, but many other organisations and social enterprises that they worked with.
4.Evidence Your Skills -
What action can you take to find out more about what skills you might need to develop in your future career? How might you document/record these?
To evidence my skills I will continually undertake training to ensure all skill required within the Human Resources field are kept up to date. I will also maintain and build my existing networks to discover what works in a variety of environments. This evidence will be recorded on my ePortfolio and LinkedIn profile to ensure that my skills can be seen by others working in the relevant field.
Engaging with employers and coworkers, both current and previous, is incredibly important for my skills maintenance and evidence through both formal appraisals and informal feedback. This feedback is essential to identify opportunities and to continue to build my skills further.
5.Develop Networks -
List three things you could do to start building your professional networks.
While volunteering with emergency services and working within not-for-profit and local government within my skillset has given me organisational experience, I have also continued to network with those working in the field I am studying to learn more about my chosen career path. As a volunteer I work closely with the North Western Zone Volunteer Engagement Officer to build skills that will assist in gaining employment with the State Emergency Service. This has helped to build my skills in both Incident Management and Training spaces.
Another major network that I have become part of is the newly formed NSW State Emergency Service Women's Network. This has brought me in to contact with women from diverse backgrounds across a variety of national agencies from leaders within Australian Federal Police to new volunteers within State Emergency Service. I have gained a greater understanding of what women from diverse background have had to deal with in a variety of emergency situations.
The last and most diverse network I have developed is through LinkedIn. This network has grown over a number of years to include people from all previous employment, study, and those in fields I am looking to enter. All of these networks have enabled me to create a supportive environment for others in my volunteer and paid positions as well as assisting me in professional development.