How to Envision One's Career Goals

Career Vision Plan

Introduction

All my life I have been surrounded by health care professionals. My sister is a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP). My family friend is a certified physician assistant. My health care provider is an ARNP. I come from a background where medicine is a way of life and that has informed my own life decisions. Currently I am employed but want to advance my education so that I can become a Family Nurse Practitioner. In this Career Vision Plan, I will lay out my goals, the steps I will take to achieve those goals, when I intend to achieve them, and the effective networking strategies I intend to implement to assist me in reaching my objectives.

Goals

As a working nurse, my career vision plan consists of three stages with three specific goals for my future career development. My immediate objective is to stay employed at the facility where I am currently engaged as a nurse and register for classes. My mid-range goal is to continue with school including doing a preceptorship, and my long-term aim is to finish my education and become a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP).

Table 1. Timetable.

Time

Immediate

Mid-range (in 2 years)

Long-term (in 3 years)

Goal

Register for classes while working part-time

Continue with education / preceptorship

Graduate school and apply for a position as an FNP

Plan for Accomplishing Goals

My plan for reaching these goals is to follow these steps:

1) Register for classes at my current university. To accomplish my immediate goal, I will consult with my current employer to make sure that it is plausible for me to balance schooling with my work. I expect my employer to be supportive of this aim and to help me to work out a schedule where my hours are not in conflict with classes. As my employer has helped to balance schedules like this with other employees and is supportive of furthering one’s education, I anticipate no obstacles with this. I must also meet go to my university’s registration page online and begin filling out the registration for this program. I will need to arrange financial aid so as to be eligible for the program, and I would like to consult with a supervisor at the university just to make sure that the program can be completed within the timeframe that I anticipate.

2) To accomplish my mid-range goal, I plan continue scheduling my classes and balancing work with education. For my preceptorship, I will contact a variety of facilities to find a mentor who is willing to partner with me to further my education in the actual field of medicine. At the same time, I must schedule time in my day for studying, for doing homework, and for learning the skills and knowledge needed that I may pass my tests.

3) To accomplish my long-term goal, I must dedicate myself completely to this plan and not allow any obstacles to get between me and my objective. Upon graduating from school, I will be an FNP and will then apply for a position in a facility where I would like to work. I will use my social media presence as a marketing tool to promote my brand.

Plans for Effective Networking Strategies

The three networking strategies that I will implement in order to develop my career in conjunction with this plan are:

1) To join nationwide accredited organizations such as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). This organization has as its goal the mission to “empower all nurse practitioners to advance quality health care through practice, education, advocacy, research and leadership” (AANP, 2018).

2) To utilize social media links like LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to share achievements for increasing the visibility of my brand and the marketability of my services. As D’Andrea, Ferri, Grifoni and Guzzo (2010) and Rapp, Healy, Charlton et al. (2016) point out, social media is an effective way to communicate information in the Digital Age and to share knowledge with others. For me, it would be an effective strategy to enhance my career and visibility.

3) To reach out to other FNPs and doctor’s offices and hospitals so as to build effective relationships with other health care professionals.

Three individuals that I am going to use to help me start the networking process are my sister, who is a DNP; my healthcare provider, who is an ARNP; and my family friend who is a Physician Assistant-Certified (PA-C).

The person I will choose to be my mentor is my sister who is a DNP. I am going to choose her because we have a shared background, understand one another well, communicate effectively, and trust one another. She is also available for mentorship and has already offered her assistance in this capacity because she wants to see me succeed in this endeavor. She is very supportive of my goals and is always encouraging me with kind words so that I can accomplish all my tasks. I cannot think of anyone who would be a better mentor to me in this career path.

As a BSN, I can also act as a mentor for other RNs and CNAs. In doing so I can work to create my own brand by uploading tutorials to social media, as D’Andrea et al. (2010) and Rapp et al. (2016) recommend. Establishing myself on social media can be a good way to effectively market myself. Many professionals use social media to advertise themselves to the public in the Digital Age because so many consumers and clients look to social media for information whenever they are pursuing a subject. I will also use my years of experience and knowledge of health care and highlight my excellent performance at University when applying for a job as a FNP. The attributes that I intend to highlight about myself in my personal branding are my unique skill set, my personal care services, my deep knowledge, and my positive attitude. I will also highlight my ethical care framework, my communication skills, and my attention to detail and application of critical thinking and decision making. I am to use this marketing to advance my career by continuously publishing and promoting what I learn online through my social media channels to show how professional I am and how committed to helping others I can be. This will show to employers exactly what they can expect from me.