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Career planning   |   How to Develop a 5-Year Career Plan
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Where your work meets your life.
Career planning


HOW TO DEVELOP A 5-YEAR CAREER PLAN

Stop setting annual goals, and start thinking longer term.
by
 * Mary McNevin, Ed. D.

by
 * Mary McNevin, Ed. D.

September 27, 2023
HBR Staff; arnaudbertrande/Getty Images
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Summary.    Having a long-term plan for your career can help you reduce
career-related stress, increase your perceived employability, and allow you to
connect more deeply with your purpose. But how do you move beyond yearly career
goals and create a five-year...more
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“Where do you see yourself in five years?”

At some point, a professor, a family member, or an interviewer has probably
asked you this question. Your first instinct may have been to roll your eyes.
What a cliché, right?

Turns out, having a long-term plan for your career can be beneficial. Taking
time to actively think about your path can reduce career-related stress,
increase your perceived employability, and help you connect more deeply to your
purpose. Yet, a Gartner survey conducted in March 2022 found that fewer than one
in three employees knows how to develop their career over the next five years.

If you’re one of those people, know that there are ways to move your career
forward. To reap the benefits of creating a long-term career plan, you must
first step away from the habit of only setting yearly career goals.


WHY ANNUAL CAREER GOALS DON’T WORK

Thanks to things like New Year’s resolutions and annual reviews, you may be
under the impression that the best way to think about your career is on a yearly
basis. But here’s the thing: Careers aren’t built in a year. Here are a few
reasons why one-year plans don’t always work.

Some skills require multiple years of work to hone, like communicating with
transparency, providing constructive feedback, negotiating effectively, and
making decisions in times of uncertainty. These behaviors tend to take ongoing
practice to learn and maintain. Of course, you can, and should, set incremental
goals to make progress on these skills, but it’s important to think ahead about
how you’ll continue to develop these capabilities.

It also can be easier to get demotivated and lose track of the big picture. Like
skills, big goals tend to take multiple years to reach. Completing a degree or
certificate program, for example, can seem insurmountable when you’re only
thinking of your career one year at a time. If you plan to accomplish a larger
career goal, you must plan ahead and consider the best timing to move forward.

Finally, short-term goals can be easily disrupted, leading to failure. Consider
all of the unexpected circumstances that can arise in a year. Your teammate may
leave the company, requiring you to you to refocus your role. Your company may
fall short of its financial goals, forcing internal priorities to shift. Or you
may experience something more personal, like a health issue or a death in the
family. Just one of these events is enough to throw a solid one-year plan
completely off course.


WHY FIVE-YEAR PLANS WORK BETTER

To put it simply, five-year plans open the door for you to think more completely
about yourself and your career. Here’s why five-year plans work.

Having a long-term plan can help you focus on developing your transferable
skills, as opposed to skills just for your current role and organization. When
you’re clear on your long-term goals, you’re less likely to fall into the trap
of going through the day-to-day motions of your job. It will help you identify
the opportunities you’re eager to pursue, say no to tasks and projects that
don’t align with your goals, and build the skills you need to succeed long term.

Five-year plans also give you the flexibility to change what’s no longer
relevant to your long-term goals, without derailing your progress. This way,
you’re always working toward what you truly want to achieve. The flexibility
also makes failure (aka a derailment of your goals) less likely, as the
additional time gives you the opportunity to proactively address issues when
they happen and adjust your goals where necessary.

And a multi-year plan can help you feel more fulfilled in your current role.
When you’re focused on the long-term goals you’re working towards, every day and
every action you take has meaning. You can see the bigger picture, which can
make it easier for you to feel motivated at work.


HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR FIVE-YEAR PLAN

The intent of a five-year plan is to think bigger and broader. It’s about
creating a systematic approach to your career that’s built to flex when life
gets chaotic. That may sound overwhelming, but just take it step by step:


1) BRAINSTORM.

Start by thinking about how you want your career to develop and what you need to
do to get there. This requires self-reflection. You’ll need to identify your
primary goal, your passions, how your existing skills contribute to both those
things, and your areas for improvement. A few questions you can ask yourself
include:

 * What am I passionate about?
 * What would I consider as my dream job?
 * What background and skills do I already have?
 * What can I improve on? What skills do I need to develop?
 * What roles may I be qualified for that I’ve never considered pursuing?
 * What’s one thing holding me back that I can act on right now?

These questions will help you dig deeper and uncover the goals you really have
for your career. If you’re still feeling lost, it can be beneficial to take an
assessment to help you better understand yourself and your values.


2) GATHER FEEDBACK.

We’re not aways the best judges of our own capabilities and strengths. That’s
why it can be important early in your planning process to gather feedback from
your superiors, mentors, and peers. They may help you discover career
opportunities you never considered for yourself, clue you into strengths you may
be overlooking, and share insights regarding your areas for growth and
development. Some questions you can ask during these conversations to uncover
that feedback include:

 * In order to grow my career, what behaviors do you think I should develop or
   leave behind?
 * If you were in my position, what areas would you focus on developing?
 * What’s the one skill you would recommend I master to get to the next level in
   my career?
 * Is there a skill you think is going to make a difference for transitioning to
   [my goal role/industry]?

Based on their feedback, you can return to the information you gathered during
your self-reflection. Do their answers match yours, or are there things that
differ?


3) MAP IT OUT.

After doing some self-reflection and gathering feedback, it’s time to organize
the information you’ve collected. There are many different ways to conceptualize
your five-year plan, and it’s important that you find the approach that will
keep you engaged. If you’re a pen-and-paper person, you might want to write it
down on a series of Post-Its or in your journal. If you want something more
easily updatable, consider using a PowerPoint slide or spreadsheet. Whatever
method you choose, try to follow this general structure:

Slide 1:

Use the first slide or page to outline your career goals. Revisit your
self-reflection around your passions and interests to solidify the types of work
and roles that would appeal to you.

This is your chance to truly imagine your ideal scenario. What would you do if
you had no constraints of time and money? How would you spend your days and
nights? What kind of impact would you like to make in the world? Be bold and
ambitious. Don’t limit yourself by what is realistic or feasible. You can always
adjust your plan later, but start by letting yourself dream.

See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals

Slide 2:

On the second slide or page, list out the skills you already have and the ones
you would need to achieve your ultimate career goals. You can refer back to the
feedback you received from others on your strengths and areas for improvement.
This will help you identify your current and future skill gaps.

See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals

Slide 3:

On the third slide or page, write down the development activities you plan to
pursue over the next five years. One tool you can use to do this is a Gantt
chart — a project management tool designed to help you visualize your tasks in
relation to time.

A “development activity” can be anything that helps you reach your goals or
learn the skills you need to move forward. For example, you might include any of
the following development goals in your plan:

 * Joining an association
 * Taking a webinar
 * E-learning
 * Job shadowing
 * Serving on a non-profit board
 * University classes
 * Books
 * Mentorship
 * Formal classroom training
 * Assignment to a project team or supervisory role
 * Cross-training

This chart will help you prioritize and balance your professional and personal
goals. In addition, it will discourage you from overcommitting or
under-committing yourself as you seek to grow your capabilities.

See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals

Slide 4:

On the last slide, you should present yourself with the “worst-case” scenario.
Think about all of the possible challenges or obstacles that might prevent you
from achieving your goal.

You should also propose some solutions or alternatives to overcome these
difficulties, such as adjusting your timeline or finding a more affordable
development activity. This way, you can remind yourself that you’re prepared for
any situation and ready to adapt to changing circumstances.

If you can envision yourself pursuing several different paths or roles, you may
want to create a plan for each of these scenarios. However, to future-proof your
plan, you should try to focus on skills and development activities that are
transferrable to the multiple paths you’re interested in.

See more HBR charts in Data & Visuals

4) Iterate.

Unlike year-long goal setting, the process of creating a five-year plan is never
complete. Your plan should be flexible enough to continually adjust throughout
your career. One way to ensure you’re keeping your plan updated is to set a
quarterly calendar reminder. This will help you address any new developments in
your life or career and make changes where necessary.

As you put your plan into action, ask yourself the following questions to make
sure you’re on the right track:

 * How is this pace for me? Was I too ambitious or aggressive with my timelines
   or do I need to speed things up?
 * What have I learned that I can add to my skills and capabilities balance
   sheet?
 * Does my plan align with my current organization’s objectives while still
   serving my longer-term aspirations?
 * Does this plan inspire me or give me more energy to keep learning?
 * Does this plan sap my energy or make me feel like it isn’t quite the right
   path?

These adjustments should also factor in feedback from your manager, mentors, and
peers, as well as external coaches, experts, and academics. Share your plan and
ask them the following questions:

 * Do you see anything missing from this plan?
 * Are there any additional experiences or skills you recommend I adopt at this
   point?
 * Is there a better way I can go about mastering a skill on my list?
 * Considering what you know about me, do you think I can accomplish these goals
   in a timely manner? Is my plan too aggressive or too slow?
 * Are there other roles I should be considering?

Once you have reflected on your plan and collected feedback, take time to
adjust. For example, you may need to fine-tune the timing for gaining certain
skills that are critical for your next career move. Or you may need to abandon a
class or experience if it will not serve you in the long run.


. . .

As you embark on your career development journey, you need to adopt a growth
mindset and think beyond the short term. It’s time to reframe your career
planning from an annual check-box chore to a perpetual development process that
moves you closer towards your goals. Planning for five years instead of one
gives you the space to expand your possibilities and helps you keep up with
change. You have one life — take ownership of it and aspire to greatness.

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Read more on Career planning or related topics Early career, Personal growth and
transformation and Managing yourself
 * MM
   Mary McNevin, Ed. D. is an executive coach, talent advisor, and former CLO
   and talent executive. She is a growth-oriented talent management executive
   with 20+ years of experience in learning, talent management, succession
   planning, and strategy development. Dr. McNevin earned her doctorate (EdD)
   from the University of Pennsylvania through an interdisciplinary program
   between the Graduate School of Education and the Wharton School of Business.
   Her dissertation focused on Executive Coaching in the C-suite. Dr. McNevin
   also holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and an MS in
   Education from the University of Pennsylvania.

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New!
HBR Learning
Career Management Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online
leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Career
Management. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than
40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
What's your next career move? Learn how to set yourself up for success.
Start Course
Learn More & See All Courses

Read more on Career planning or related topics Early career, Personal growth and
transformation and Managing yourself



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