They say that every journey starts with a single step. But it also ends with a single step.
Career planning involves many steps, twists and turns and usually ends with an interview to assess whether you’re the right fit for a particular role (and vice versa).
This final step usually involves ‘interrogating’ candidates in what can feel quite a stressful situation, with questions such as, “Tell me about yourself”, “Why do you want this job?”, “What interests you about our organisation/research group?”, “What can you bring to this role?”, “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?” Furthermore, you will have questions to ask the employer, e.g., “What is important to your organisation in terms of the working environment and culture?”.
These are very poignant questions and require a lot of preparation, research and self-reflection, if you’re to achieve a successful result. And, ironically, they are exactly the kind of questions you should be asking yourself at the start of your career planning.
So, it occurred to me, why not start at the end of the process when career planning, rather than at the start? It makes sense. Your future employer wants to know what is important to you in your career, what you’re good at, where your passions lie, what motivates you, how you like to work and what are your longer-term plans. And, although you may well be inwardly aware of the answers to these questions, articulating them out loud and in a coherent way for the first time can be challenging, awkward, difficult and even revelatory. Talking about your innermost hopes and aspirations, your interests and values, as well as doing it in a positive, convincing and forthright way to strangers in an interview can thus be quite cathartic! You may surprise yourself as you reveal characteristics about yourself that you haven’t even disclosed to your closest friends.
So how would this reverse career planning work? I’ll propose some steps that you could try out, using the following typical interview questions:
“Why do you want this job?”
To answer this question you need to have researched the role and the organisation/research group. You will need to know the requirements of the post, as well as the culture/values of the work environment. You will also need to show how it fits with your own career ambitions.
Researching roles and organisations well ahead of making job applications will mean that you’re familiar with the types of positions available, how they fit together, who works in these jobs and what are their backgrounds. You’ll also find out who is currently or previously working in this career sector. You can use this research activity as a networking opportunity to connect with research groups, companies, employees etc., even conduct informational interviews, so that you gain more personal and accurate insights into their operations and purpose. You can start to consider what you could offer to them in terms of your own skills and expertise, as well as identifying skill gaps and areas for career development, which you could address during your current role.
“Tell me about yourself”.
This brings me to another very popular question that is usually asked at the start of an interview. Here, you need to consider which aspects of your experience, skills, aptitudes and other characteristics are relevant to the role and that connect you to the requirements of the position. What gives you a sense of achievement and reward? How would others describe you? What are your strengths and blind spots?
On a broader scale, this question prompts you to consider your past experiences – your social background, reviewing your younger self and how you came to arrive at where you are now. What or who has influenced your decisions in the past and how would you describe your life highs and lows – for example, can you recall any significant experiences or turning points? Furthermore, regarding this question, you’ll need to connect your answers to your career choices and evaluate why you’ve chosen this line of work and, more importantly, why. The process of self-analysis and reflection is not an easy one, which is why many people benefit from professional career coaching or educational sessions to help them with their self-discovery and career planning.
“What can you bring to this role?”
This question is perhaps a little easier to answer. It requires you to focus primarily on your experiences, interests and skills to show what you can offer to the project or the organisation. Maybe there’s a focus on your functional or technical expertise, your investigative skills, your ability to manage others, communicate or organise, etc. In addition, you may need to give evidence of certain personal characteristics, such as your tenacity, energy, empathy, precision, etc.
Again, being able to identify and articulate your strengths isn’t an easy activity and takes time and deep reflection to discover authentic answers. Sometimes it helps if you ask others (colleagues, friends, family) to give you some feedback and, of course, a career coaching interview can also assist in the process.
“Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?”
Having a longer-term vision of your career is not for everyone! Many of us like to take things one step at a time and, of course, in a topsy turvy world, who knows what the future holds? Furthermore, personal circumstances change, which, in turn, changes our values and aspirations. For example, having a family might make stability and security more important, which can impact career decisions.
To answer this longer-term question, rather than imagining yourself in a particular job and organisation, think more widely about what you want to do more of and what you would like to diminish. In one of my previous blogs, I use my PhD Career Choice Indicator to help researchers to identify skills of interest to them. For example, you may see yourself building on your research interests, gaining more expertise and investigative seniority. Alternatively, you may be interested in gaining greater managerial and leadership responsibilities or maybe you want to build more artistic and/or communication expression into your career.
Turning to a favourite career planning model, which I’ve described in a previous blog, you’ll see that careers is a complex and messy business! Whether you start at the beginning, end or in the middle any activities you do to address aspects of your career will be helpful. Use your research and analytical skills to interrogate yourself, the job market, career sectors, professionals, networks, etc. and use resources to assist you in these activities, as well as getting practical advice and information about how to write an effective online profile, CV and application, as well as, of course, refining your interview technique!