Preparing a Strategic Career Plan
Graduation and certification are the beginning of your career as an NP. Whether you are looking for that dream job or you have decided to open your own practice as an independent NP, you need a plan to get there. Before the Web and social media, job hunting was relatively simple.
Job hunters perused the classifieds, made cold calls, and many times just showed up with a resume in hand. There has been a dramatic change in the last decade in how people find and get jobs, and NPs are no exception. For those seeking employment now, there is a wealth of resources available from mega employment Web sites to specialty blogs.
Finding a job as an NP may not be a big challenge, but landing the position that you have passionately prepared for and pursued is going to take some work. A well-crafted cover letter and resume may be necessary items, but it may not be enough to get you exactly where you want to be. With so many opportunities and career trajectories available to NPs today, you need to focus and get serious about what you want to do and where you want to do it.
Directions
In this Assignment, you will develop your own strategic career plan for starting your new career as an NP. There are sequential steps that need to be accomplished. Use the following template to design your career plan. You do not need to include references. This is a plan that you may layout how you wish. There are no right or wrong answers in this plan.
It is time to take inventory and ask yourself some questions. What is your career vision? Be specific and honest. Where do you want to work? What are your short term and long term goals (give timeline). What are the most important things you are looking for? Do you want to independently own a clinic? Perhaps you have a niche such as managing chronic diseases in patients over 65 years old. Or, your aspirations may be more concrete such as salary and benefits.
Next, describe your ideal work situation. Is it a rural clinic or major trauma center? Who do you want to work with? Who is your target patient population? What schedule do you want? What are the priorities in your career right now? How about 5 years from now?
How do you plan on researching opportunities (whether looking for employment or independent practice site)? List several methods such as job fairs, the Web, and medical employment agencies.
Discuss your networking ideas. Networking is essential today. Are you in Linkedin?
If all goes right, how will you prepare for the interview? This is sometimes the make it or break it step. Be specific here on how you plan on acing this step.
If you want to start your own practice, describe what your practice will be? How you will market this business? How will you obtain funding?
What do you need to do before opening the doors? Briefly, what is your business plan?
To view the Grading Rubric for this Assignment, please visit the Grading Rubrics section of the Course Home.
Assignment Requirements
Before finalizing your work, you should:
be sure to read the Assignment description carefully (as displayed above)
consult the Grading Rubric (under the Course Home) to make sure you have included everything necessary
utilize spelling and grammar check to minimize errors
Your writing Assignment should:
follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.)
be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful
display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics
use APA 6th Edition format for organization, style, and crediting sources. Refer to the APA Progression Ladder.