Planning and Achieving Your Career Goals

Marlen P. has become an expert in career growth and development. Here are her tips for planning your own career:

“The first step is to know what your aspiration is. Once you have that role defined, you can easily create an execution plan. In my personal experience, I really knew I wanted to become a leader, so I worked my goals, networking activities, and learning opportunities around developing the skills needed to be eligible for a leadership role in the future.” – Marlen P.

Marlen says that after defining what your aspirations are, it is important to know two things:

1. You are the owner of your career planning process: Take initiative, seek support, and use available tools to develop your career.
2. Your journey can change over time: Being flexible and open-minded will help you in the long run.

Marlen started her Caterpillar journey 15 years ago as an Intern. After completing three field assignments as a territory manager with Retail, Large Electric Power and FG Wilson, she is now a Sales Manager for Latin America.

Some key tasks and tools that Marlen suggests will help in career planning, growth and development are:

1. Conduct informational interviews: “I personally think this is a great tool to define your long-term goals if you’re still in the process of figuring out where you want to take your career journey.”
2. Build a network: “A good network can help you to learn about job roles, competencies, and skills and can allow you to participate in activities or projects beyond your current position.”
3. Consider getting a mentor: “Someone that you trust and admire can actively help you in your planning process. It is great to have a safe environment where you can trust and discuss your plans and keep yourself accountable about your career planning.”

No matter your aspirations, Caterpillar provides opportunities in a variety of career areas. Are you ready to join the team?