Career Planning: 7 Steps to Prepare for Your Future

The world of work is changing fast. Industries are growing and shifting, job roles are evolving, and new skills are in demand. It's completely normal to feel unsure or even overwhelmed when thinking about your future career, especially as a young person about to start building a future career.

Data shows, 70% of young people in secondary school don’t know what they want to do for a career in the future. But planning your future isn’t about having all the answers right now - it’s about taking small, smart steps so that you feel more confident about what comes next. So how can you plan for your future? How can you know whether you are making the right choices now and which college course should you study?

In this post, we’ll help you understand more about the steps you can take to plan your career.

Why Career Planning Matters

Even when things feel unpredictable, employers are still hiring. Some industries grow faster than others, and some jobs may change - but opportunities still exist. What many employers now look for are people who:

• Cope well under pressure
• Adapt to change
• Show resilience
• Take initiative to learn and grow.

These are skills you can develop right now, even if you're not in work yet.

Step 1: Reassess Your Skills and Goals It’s worth taking a moment to reflect. Have your attitudes towards work changed recently? Do you feel your strengths have grown? Have new goals started to form? You might have developed skills without even realising - especially digital ones. Employers value transferable skills like communication, time management, and adaptability.

Try a SWOT Analysis

Use this time to conduct a SWOT analysis to see how far you’ve come. This will help when updating your CV and social media profiles, as well as for preparing for job interviews if entering the labour market.

Strengths – what are your strengths now? How did you develop them?

Weaknesses – have you identified areas to improve? How will you improve them?

Opportunities – what options do you have moving forward?

Threats – what potential barriers can you identify?

Step 2: Research Your Career Options

Now that you’ve reassessed your skills and strengths, this is an opportunity to research your career goals and to find out what your interests are.

Ask yourself:

• What do I enjoy studying or doing in my spare time?
• What kinds of jobs match those interests?
• Are those jobs in high demand?

There are lots of resources you can use to help you identify what type of careers match up with your strengths and interests.

Here at the College, we use an online careers platform called Start. There are other resources such as iCould, which have their own short Buzz Quiz to help you quickly match up against job families.

Step 3: Have a Plan B… and Maybe C or D

When speaking with careers advisors, something you may hear is: “Always have a Plan B!” Well, it could be worth considering a plan C or D as well. You may have decided on a career path, which now might not be so appealing, but that doesn’t mean your time has been wasted.

Taking advantage of new opportunities, using this time to really consider what you want and what you want to achieve are the first steps toward your new future.

Step 4: Expand Your Network

Who you know really can help shape your career. Now’s a great time to start building or growing your network.

Starting with people you know, connect to them through social media. This could include colleagues from jobs, voluntary work or work placements you have completed, as well as friends, family and course mates.

As you expand your network of contacts, you’ll start to discover opportunities, new connections and links through your contacts’ networks. You never know where the next opportunity, or person who can help you, will come from!

Step 5: Update your CV and Online Profiles

You’ve probably done more than you think, even if you might not have work experience - and it’s worth showing it off!

Use this time to:

• Add recent experiences or qualifications to your CV
• Update your LinkedIn profile (or create one if you haven’t yet)
• Think about your personal brand: how are you presenting yourself?

Imagine you're a product - how would you sell yourself to an employer? Are you highlighting your strengths and achievements? Make sure you're showing potential employers why you are worth hiring.

Step 6: Talk to People Already in the Industry

One of the best ways to figure out how to get into a career you’re interested in is to speak to someone who’s already doing it. Most people are happy to talk about their journey - and their advice can be way more helpful than a quick Google search.

Why this helps:

• You get real, honest insight into the job
• You learn what path they took - courses, first jobs, key decisions
• You find out what employers in that industry actually look for
• You might even find a mentor or future opportunity.

How to start: 

• Use LinkedIn: search for people working in jobs you’re interested in. Look at their profiles to see how they got there. Then send a short, polite message asking if they’d be willing to answer a few questions.
• Ask college staff: they may know someone in the field or be able to connect you.
• Be respectful of their time: a message like “Hi, I’m a student exploring a career in [industry]. I really admire your role and wondered if you’d be happy to share how you got started?” goes a long way.

You don’t need to ask for a job -just ask for insight. Most professionals remember what it was like to be in your position and many are happy to help.

Step 7: Try Things Out Through Experience

You don’t have to wait until you finish college to start building experience. Getting hands-on - even in a small way - can help you figure out what you enjoy (and what you don’t).

Ways to get work experience as a young adult:

● Part-time jobs: even unrelated roles help build key skills like communication, time management and teamwork

● Volunteering: looks great on your CV and shows initiative

● Work placements: ask your tutors or Careers Team about any placement or shadowing opportunities

Even a little bit of experience can give you a better sense of whether a career path is right for you - and it gives you something concrete to talk about in applications or interviews. Trying something is always better than guessing.

Career support at The Manchester College

Careers are rarely a linear path; they are often winding roads. You’ll often find that people progress in their careers by taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them, being open to trying new things and having the flexibility to adapt to change.

This is your career and your future. Only you determine the path you take and the career you have. So, take ownership of that and have the career you want. And remember, we are here to support you!

As you consider some of the things we have discussed in this blog, you may want to speak to someone who can help you answer some of the questions.

Careers advisors are a great resource to use. They can support you to identify what skills and strengths you have. They can help you to map these to job profiles and to explore the full range of opportunities that are available.

They can assist you in researching and understanding your labour market - as knowing what skills employers value, where the jobs are, and what opportunities there are to pursue your career goals, is key to achieving them.

The Careers & Welfare team at The Manchester College is made up of qualified careers professionals who will offer impartial personal career guidance. We support our students through every step of their journey, from pre-application and identifying the right course, through their programme with us and beyond.

Contact us for expert career guidance and learn how to navigate that path towards your career goals, explore our wide range of college courses in various subjects and enrol today.