Career planning helps you to shape your career possibilities.It does not necessarily follow routine or logical steps.Each of us places weight on different factors and may consider certain phases of career planning at different times.Career planning includes gathering¹ information about ourselves and about occupations，estimating1） the probable outcomes of various courses of action，and finally，choosing alternatives that we find attractive and feasible.Quite often，career planning helps people to see the kinds of assistance they need to d o what they want and helps direct them to available resources.

　　What needs to be pointed⁴ out is that there are serious flaws in the ways many people make career decisions.The first is complacency2）。They ignore challenging information about the choice they make and take the attitude that “It won't affect me ”or“ it will never happen.”

　　A second flaw is defensive⁵ avoidance.When confronted with a decision and unable to believe they can find an acceptable solution，some people remain calm by resorting to wishful thinking or daydreaming⁶ or even procrastination3）。

　　A third flaw is hypervigilance4）。This occurs in career decision making when people believe there is not enough time to find a solution and they panic.They search frantically⁸ for career possibilities and seize on hastily contrived⁹ solutions，overlooking the consequences of their choice as well as other alternatives.People who are in a panic sometimes do not think clearly or logically.

　　The best coping behavior is vigilance.Vigilant¹⁰ decision making occurs when people believe that 1）a choice should be made，2）they can find a solution，and 3）there is enough time.Under these conditions，people evaluate each alternative，and work out contingency¹¹ plans in case one or another risk appears.

　　Keys to Career Planning

　　1.Study yourself.This is the key to career planning.Understanding what you are like，what you value，and what you wan³ t to become is the foundation for all career planning.In studying yourself，you examine your strengths and weaknesses，your goals，and the trends in your personal development .The self－understanding that you gain enables you to imagine how certain occupations may best fit your personality，interests，abilities，and goals.All career decisions require us to learn both about ourselves and about work，and to integrate5） these two kinds of knowledge.

　　2.Write your career goals down.A technique useful for organizing ideas about your career development is to actually write them down by time blocks in your life，for example，ages nineteen to twenty－two，twenty－three to thirty.……Writing something down forces you to crystallize6） your thinking and to reorganize fuzzy and half－formed ideas.It may lead to new insights about your possibilities and may help you to see new relationships，patterns and trends，or to identify gaps in your thinking a bout² your career development.

　　3.Set up some hypotheses or predictions about yourself in a career.Consider the kind of person you are，what you're likely to be like，what changes are likely to take place in an occupation，what basic problems you might meet，and what you need to solve your problems.These hypotheses，or educated guesses，should represent your understanding of yourself at present，what you can do，and what you will do.

　　4.Review your plans and progress periodically with another person.Every so often，take stock of your situation and consider what steps have to be taken next.Taking inventory¹² of progress and planning further steps can help you cope with the changes that you undergo and the changes that take place in the lab or market.Talking over your plans with a college counselor，your parents，and your friends helps you define your goals and improve your career plans or make them work.

　　5.If you choose a career that does not fit you，you can start over.Today，growing numbers of people are changing careers or getting second starts in careers that have greater appeal to them.Society no longer attaches the stigma7） of “instability” to the idea of career hopping，as it once did.Motives¹⁴ or reasons for changing careers vary widely，but many people move because they feel stale or fed up with a grinding or dull routine.For some，a second start grows out of the realization¹⁵ that what they want out of life is not what they are doing，and they decide to do these things they enjoy and believe to be important.Certainly，time spent in one occupation is likely to narrow the range of later occupational choices，very few people have the motivation and financial resources to start a completely new career in midlife.Most people move to a related field that involves a minimum8） of new training.

　　Career planning does not guarantee9） that all the problems，difficulties，or decision－making situations that face you in the future will be solved or made any easier.Nor can any formula be given to do that.But career planning should help you to approach and cope better with new problems，such as deciding whether or not to enter educational or training programs，deciding whether or not to change jobs，and analyzing¹⁶ the difficulties you are having with a situation or a person.

　　职业策划可以帮助你发掘你就业的可能性。它不必循规蹈矩。我们每个人有不同的侧重点，在不同时期会考虑需策划的不同方面。职业策划包括搜集有关我们自己和职业的信息，估算采取不同方案可能会出现的不同结果，最后，作出对我们有利且可行的选择。职业策划也经常会让人们看到要达到他们的目的所需要的帮助，并指导他们利用现有的条件。

　　需要指出的是人们在择业时有一些严重的欠缺。第一是盲目自满。他们对有关他们选择的挑战性的信息视而不见并采取盲目乐观的态度，认为“这不会影响我”、“这绝不会发生。”

　　第二是防御性的逃避。当面临抉择而又不知道能否找到可行的方案时，有的人借助期望和梦想甚至拖延来保持镇定。

　　第三是过分紧张。当人们需要作出抉择而又自认为时间不够时，便慌乱不已。于是，他们忙乱一气，草率行事，既忽略了别的选择，也不顾自己的抉择将引起的后果。在慌乱状态下，人们有时无法保持自己思维的清晰和条理性。

　　最佳的处理方式是警觉。只有当人们相信必须作出选择，一定能找到办法并且有足够的考虑时间时才能作出警觉性的决定。在这些情况下，人们权衡各种可能性，并制定出应付这样或那样的意外的对策。

　　职业策划的几个要点

　　1.研究自己。这是职业策划的关键。了解自己属于哪类人、注重什么、想做什么是所有职业策划的基础。在研究自己的时候，审视自己的强处和弱点、自己的目标及个人的发展趋势。这样获得的自我了解有助于你去设想哪些职业最适合你的个性、兴趣、能力和理想。所有的职业决策都要求我们对我们自身和工作都有所了解，并将二者结合起来。

　　2.把发展目标写下来。一个有助于理清自己关于事业发展的打算的有效方法，是依据时间段把你的目标如实地写下来，比如从19岁到22岁，从23岁到30岁……把想法写在纸上有助于理清思绪，重新组织那些模糊的不成熟的思想。它还可能带给你新的灵感，让你发现新的可能性，帮助你看到新的联系、模式与趋势，或让你辨别出你的职业发展中的漏洞。

　　3.大胆设想和预言。设想一下你是什么类型的人，你将会成为什么样的人，工作中大概会发生什么变化，你将会碰到哪些基本问题，解决这些问题你需要些什么。这些设想，或者称作有水平的猜测，代表着你对当前自我的了解，你能做些什么，以及你将会干什么。

　　4.定期与他人回顾你的计划和进展。经常审视自己的处境并考虑下一步的计划。细列自己的进步，作出下一步计划，有助于你应付自身经历的变化及劳务市场上的动荡。与你的大学就业顾问、你的父母和朋友商谈你的计划有助于你选定自己的目标，完善或实现你的计划。

　　5.如果选择了一个不适合你的职业，你可以重新开始。现在，越来越多的人在改变职业，或重新开始，转向对他们吸引力更大的职业。社会不再像以前那样把改换职业看成是“不稳定”的、不光彩的事情。改变职业的原因和动机各不相同，但许多人是因为感到厌倦和乏味。对有的人来说，重新开始是因为他们意识到他们现在所做的并不是他们所向往的，于是，他们决定去做他们认为有意思或重要的事情。当然，干一个职业的时间长了，会缩小以后的择业范围，很少有人有勇气或足够的经济基础在中年时再开始干一份全新的职业。大部分人转往相近的、只需接受最少量训练的行业。

　　职业策划不能保证解决你面临的所有的问题、困难，摆脱所有的困境。没有能达到如此效果的公式。但是职业策划可以帮助你更好地面对和处理新的问题，比如，决定是否参加教育或培训计划，是否改换工作，分析正让你为难的某一件事或某一个人。

　　estimate v. 估计， 估价

　　complacency n. 满足， 安心

　　procrastination⁷ n. 延迟， 拖延

　　hypervigilance n. 过分紧张

　　integrate v. 结合

　　crystallize v. 明确

　　stigma¹³ n. 不光彩的事情，不好的名声

　　minimum n. 最小值，最少量

　　guarantee vt. 保证， 担保