How to Develop a 5-Year Career Plan

Having a long-term plan for your career can help you reduce career-related stress, increase your perceived employability, and allow you to connect more deeply with your purpose. But how do you move beyond yearly career goals and create a five-year plan?

1. Brainstorm. Start by thinking about how you want your career to develop and what you need to do to get there. This requires self-reflection. You’ll need to identify your primary goal, your passions, how your existing skills contribute to both those things, and your areas for improvement.
2. Gather feedback. We’re not aways the best judges of our own capabilities and strengths. That’s why it can be important early in your planning process to gather feedback from your superiors, mentors, and peers. They may help you discover career opportunities you never considered for yourself, clue you into strengths you may be overlooking, and share insights regarding your areas for growth and development.
3. Map it out. After doing some self-reflection and gathering feedback, it’s time to organize the information you’ve collected. Consider keeping track of your plan in PowerPoint. For example, slide 1 should outline the career goals you identified in your self-reflection. Slide 2 should list out the skills you already have and the ones you would need to achieve your ultimate career goals. Slide 3 should highlight the development activities you plan to pursue over the next five years to help you achieve your goals. And slide 4 should present all of the possible obstacles that might prevent you from achieving your goal and how to address those challenges.
4. Iterate. Unlike year-long goal setting, the process of creating a five-year plan is never complete. One way to ensure you’re keeping your plan updated is to set a quarterly calendar reminder. This will help you address any new developments in your life or career and make changes where necessary.