Career Mapper

Defy expectations
Defy expectations
Do you feel like your skills would be better suited to another industry? Like you want
to change career path but don’t have the qualifications you need to unleash your
potential? You aren’t alone — we spend most of our lives at work, but many people
feel like they don’t have control over their career.

That’s why we’ve created Career Mapper, a one-stop-shop designed to help you
shape your thoughts and ideas about work into a series of simple steps with a
realistic timescale for action.

Designed for anyone short of time who wants a structured approach to career planning,
our Career Mapper poses the essential questions to answer if you’re looking to progress
in the world of work.

You’ll be asked to consider your existing skills, values, and experience, before giving
shape and structure — including additional learning — to your plan.

At FutureLearn, we can help you unlock new opportunities with access to hundreds of
online short courses and microcredentials, all the way up to degree-level qualifications
in a huge range of subjects.

Whether you’re seeking promotion, a career change, or returning to work, it’s time to
take stock of where you are right now.

Online learning offers a new way to explore the subjects you’re passionate about, at a
pace that suits you. Find your perfect course at futurelearn.com.

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Where are you now?
It’s time to self-evaluate. The prompts below are designed to help you consider where
your strengths lie, what you enjoy doing in the workplace (as well as what you don’t
like doing), and the things that inspire and motivate you.

Don’t rush, give this the time and careful consideration your career deserves. Think about
where you are now and where you see yourself in the future. Some of these questions
might seem obvious, but you might not necessarily ask yourself them on a regular basis.
You might even discover something new about yourself.

Consider your aspirations, your lifestyle, any personal obstacles, and your current
circumstances. Do you have childcare commitments or a second job? Do you volunteer?
Do you have the free time to commit to additional learning?

And then there are the ‘bigger’ questions: do you feel emotionally fulfilled and
satisfied? Does something in your life need to change?

We’ve broken it down into three categories:

Work
• Are you inspired by your current job?
• Yes
• No
• Sometimes

• Does your job utilise your strengths?

• Yes
• No
• Somewhat

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Where are you now?
• Does your work allow you to reach your potential?
• Yes
• No

If you don’t feel inspired by what you or your company do you’re less likely to feel that
your work is rewarding. Understanding what your strengths are and harnessing those
skills will give you the confidence to progress in your career and fulfil your potential.

• What are you passionate about?

• What three things are you good at?

eg organising, leading, listening

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Where are you now?
• Do you feel valued at work?
• Yes
• No
• Sometimes

• Can you deal with the stress levels in your current job?
• Yes
• No
• Sometimes

Not many of us are able to combine our job with the things we’re really passionate
about, that’s probably the holy grail of work! Find a balance and you’re definitely
heading in the right direction.

It’s also important to feel like your efforts are valued and you’re good at your job.
That you’re not only making a contribution but also making a difference. These are
the building blocks of your sense of professional self-worth.

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Where are you now?
Life
• Do you feel in control of your life?
• Yes
• No
• Somewhat

• Do you see family and friends as much as you would like?

• Yes
• No

• Do you have enough time to relax, exercise and eat healthily?

• Yes
• No

• If money wasn’t a barrier, what would you like to do with your life?

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Where are you now?
• How many hours a week can you free up for additional learning?

• Which days are best for you to study?

Change won’t happen overnight so be patient. Try not to overload yourself by trying
to do too many things or take on too many courses at once, and think about how
much time you can commit to. Be realistic about what you can achieve in the free
time you have.

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Where are you now?
Needs
• What motivates you?

• What are your priorities?

• What kind of work would you like to do?

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Where are you now?
Needs
• What is important to you in your work and life?
Do you crave excitement or like peace and quiet? Do you enjoy being creative
or are you more practical?

• What’s your preferred work environment?

Do you prefer the office or the outdoors? Working in teams or working alone?

Think about what matters to you and what makes you happy. Do you have dependants
or need to look after someone? Do you have a time-consuming hobby or interest
outside of work? Does work/life balance matter to you? These are big questions, so give
them some serious thought!

Our working environment can have a huge impact on our quality of life. If we like our
environment, we’re often more efficient and proactive. We’re frequently happier too.
Think about places you’ve worked in the past and how they’ve made you feel.

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How do you get there?
Let’s draw up a strategy to hit your career goals. We can do that by identifying the
tasks you need to do to get there and then breaking them down into achievable,
practical steps.

• What would you like to do?

eg nutritionist, data scientist, cyber security expert?

• What are the requirements to do it?

Extra training, working towards a qualification or gaining practical experience?
If you’re looking for inspiration, check out our career pages at URL, and make a
list of the courses that interest you.

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How do you get there?
• What are the pros of your dream job?

• What are the cons of your dream job?

• Is anything holding you back from achieving it?

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How do you get there?
• What obstacles do you have, and how could you overcome them?

• Create a realistic vision of your future which takes into account both your
professional and your personal life.

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What’s the plan?
This is where we break everything down into bite-sized actions to help you implement
your plan. However, even the most well-thought-out goals can sometimes be challenging.
It’s important to be optimistic whilst retaining a sense of realism! For instance, is there
a course or any additional learning that could help your career move to the next level?

What’s your long-term goal? eg opening a clothes shop

• What’s the first step towards achieving it?

• When can you take that step?

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What’s the plan?
• When will that step end?

What’s the next step?

• How can you achieve it?

• When will that begin?

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What’s the plan?
• When will that step end?

What’s the next step after that?

• How can you achieve it?

• When will that begin?

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What’s the plan?
• When will that step end?

Keep going until each step is laid out bit by bit, so you can see exactly what you
need to do to get to where you want to go.

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What’s the plan?
A few things to remember:
• Are your goals realistic? If not, they’ll be hard to achieve.
• Be honest with yourself. Goals need to be clearly defined and feasible.
• Make lists and use reminders. Ticking off tasks can create a real sense of progress.
• Sign up to email alerts from potential employers and follow them on social media.
Don’t forget to check FutureLearn’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts
for info on the latest courses in your area of interest.
• Talk to friends, family members, colleagues, a career coach or mentor. Getting
different perspectives can be really useful in terms of staying focused and
solving problems.
• Our career advice pages are a really useful way to discover more about your
dream job. Whether you want to be a nurse, data scientist, or nutritionist, we’ve
got all the details you need to get you on the right track.
• If you get stuck and you’re not sure where to go next, try brainstorming. Write down
everything that comes to mind in relation to your goal. Don’t feel embarrassed if
it sounds silly — you might come up with something that breaks the deadlock.

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Time for a review
Life can get in the way of even the best-laid plans. Your personal situation can change,
so a regular review of your career plan is useful. Your goals and timeframes might
occasionally need to shift. Try to stay flexible and keep an eye on your step-by-step
strategy, making sure it remains relevant to where you’re at right now. You might
even need to add new goals or steps as time goes by.

You might make mistakes or suffer some setbacks — that’s normal. Use the experience
to learn, revise your plan, and move on.

It’s also important to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your dream industry.
New legislation or a shift in the way the sector operates could have a knock-on
effect on your plan.

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The next step
Hopefully this process has helped you create some career clarity. To achieve your goals
you might need to do some extra learning or gain extra qualifications.

At FutureLearn, we’ve got hundreds of short courses, microcredentials, and degrees

to help boost your career prospects in every sector, industry, and subject matter. From
teaching to programming head to futurelearn.com to browse our extensive course list.

Microcredentials offer an accredited qualification from a leading university and help

you build professional skills relevant to your career.

Then there’s our Unlimited package. For a single payment of £189, you can learn at your
own pace with access to limitless upgraded short courses for a year.

Choose a short online course to delve into fascinating topics and learn with experts
from around the world or learn flexibly with online degree courses created by leading
universities.

Everyone deserves an inspiring and fulfilling professional life. With the right plan and
qualifications it needn’t be a pipe dream.

Find the right course to drive you towards your ideal job at futurelearn.com.

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