Planning goes for anything from a job, to a place to live, or a trip you want to take. No matter how simple or difficult the goal, or how soon or far off in the future, you need to take steps to reach it, and those steps need planning.

Some may wonder why they need to plan for a career they are already pursuing, but it’s believed that planning will help you manage the direction it takes, skills needed, and et cetera.

Yvette Mutesi, a student in her final year of a medicine course at University of Rwanda’s College of Medicine and Health Sciences, says a career comes with objectives and challenges, and if you plan well, it becomes much more manageable.

Mutesi plans to pursue a Master’s as soon as she is done with the Bachelor’s degree, and this, she says, is important because it gives her the much-needed direction to make clear decisions about where she wants to be in the future.

Also, she notes, planning keeps one aware of their strengths and weaknesses—attentive to the skills and knowledge required to achieve their goals in the future.

While some objectives may seem difficult or even impossible to achieve, they can appear much more manageable through the use of a career plan. The future can provide an extremely uncertain ride, but having a solid career plan in place can serve as a reliable roadmap to get you wherever you would like to go, writes Aaron Sanborn in his article, "Why it’s Important to Have a Career Plan”.

It is recommended to start with a clear mind and know what you want to do and where you see yourself in the future. Many people get to learn what is best for them as they grow career-wise.

Amon Kwizera, an entrepreneur, says it’s important to plan things out, and that planning will give your career true meaning and purpose.

He says that with a defined career path, chances of success are high. "It will give you a broader skill base because you would’ve identified and learned the skills necessary to make yourself more marketable.”

Various studies and research have established that planning for your career aids in making rational job transitions.

Here, it means that one knows what skills and responsibilities to look for in the next job in case there is need to.

If one of the important destinations in your future is a much-desired job or position, a career plan truly is a roadmap to help you reach it, Sanborn writes.

Enock Musafiri, a career and skills mentor at high school-level, believes that with a plan, you will identify and gain the skills needed to take on more responsibility in your career. He says this will give you a broader prospective and understanding of a specific job.

Effective career planning

To be able to enhance your career effectively, Musafiri says it’s important to always take time each year to evaluate how you are doing career-wise.

This, he says, is to find out if you are meeting your goals or what changes you need to make, and if your skills are top-notch.

Failure to evaluate your progress, Musafiri says, will make you vulnerable to stunting as far as your career is concerned.

Musafiri notes that building a network in your plan is important because many times, opportunities come from the network we create.

"A network is often the best place to find out about a new job or training opportunities. This means that one will remain informed all the time,” he says.

It takes years of planning your career growth, hard work, and even a little bit of luck to develop your current situation into the career of your dreams. By isolating exactly what you’ll need to accomplish in order to be a candidate for the job you truly want, fulfilling the needed tasks will become much easier and your chances of success are much higher, Sanborn counsels.