Being prompted to write a vision statement is quite similar to the career counselor’s inital question, “If I had a magic wand and could create the perfect opportunity for you, how would you describe it for me?”
Writing a vision statement helps you to think about and clarify what is really important to you. Defining what you want for your future can be complicated and impacted by a wide range of variables, some obvious and others less so.
Promotion, advancement, or career development is not for everyone. Perhaps you do not want additional responsibility or authority. Maybe you prefer work that you can forget when you go home. Perhaps you have another interest that involves a strong personal commitment. Career development may be a long-term goal, but not an important one at this particular point in time.
There is often strong social or organizational pressure to “get ahead”. But getting ahead is not the answer for everyone, and it may not be the answer for you.
Career planning must consider personal interests, values, and commitments. What you do in your working life should be consistent with what you expect to get out of life.
Confusion about goals, values, and priorities is common. Peer pressure to accept certain values as your own is often difficult to overcome. Some values may seem to be more “socially acceptable.”
The goal of writing a vision statement is to work through some of this potential confusion and determine priorities and motivations that are likely to drive both your short and long term goals and decisions. Do not feel concerned if this process presents a struggle, there are many exercises and modules throughout the Career Exploration and Planning Tools to assist you.
Create your own vision statement. Note: The vision statement created in Career Beam should be a sentence or two but no more than a short paragraph. Write the vision statement in a separate MS-Word file, NOT through the Vision Statement Creation link under Exercises.
Part II: Education
After completing your career-driven vision statement, write at least TWO paragraphs on how your degree will help you to achieve your vision. What skills do you think you can learn to help you achieve success in the career that you described in your vision statement? (Degree AA in Science Professional Leadership)
Part III: Reflection
In the final part of the assignment, answer the following question in at least TWO paragraphs:
Did you have a career-driven vision statement in the past? How did it, or the lack of, impact your career satisfaction in the past?
