choosing the right path.

When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Here's how to develop a career blueprint that will help you achieve your professional goals.

FOR SOME WEARY CAREER WARRIORS, NANCY FRIEDBERG IS A MIRACLE WORKER.

When the career coach met one of her clients--a librarian--he was stuck in a career rut. However, a year and eight counseling sessions later, Friedberg helped him make the switch from library science to technology consulting.

How did an English literature major end up as an SAP software consultant at one of the big four accounting firms? By working with a career coach and coming face-to-face with his personality, interests, and long-term goals. Friedberg helped him determine that consulting was his ideal career, and in today's computer-driven society, technology would be his conduit. But how?

Realizing that he was a quick study with excellent communication skills, a problem solver, and a strong relationship builder, she helped him develop a career plan that included first marketing those talents at a small firm. She also did a lot of work repositioning him--through his verbal presentation and resume--to make him come across as a technology consultant rather than a librarian. Impressed, companies were willing to train him in the technology.

Today, poised to enter the next stage of his career-life plan, Friedberg's client recently joined a New Jersey pharmaceutical company. The move allows him to keep regular hours so that he can be home with his wife and new baby, as well as pursue an M.B.A. Over the past five years, Friedberg's client has not only paved a rewarding and successful career path, but his salary also quadrupled into the six digits.

"It is so important to plan your career and not drift wherever the wind blows," says Friedberg, who is a New York-based career coach with the Five O'Clock Club, a national career-counseling organization, and has a private practice in the city. "You must do some careful long-term strategic assessment, think about what you might need at each stage of your life, commit to a plan, and accept the fact that there will be some trade-off along the way. Too often, people try to fit themselves into a job and end up patterning their lives around it. What they should do instead is find a job that fits them and fits into their lives."

It's no secret that many individuals resign themselves to lackluster careers, having never fully explored all their options. For example, peer or family influences force some into college when entrepreneurship or a technical or trade school education may have been better. Others choose college majors or fall into jobs based on the income potential and then later find themselves miserable.

In fact, a 1998 survey revealed that almost half of the 400 college-educated workers between the ages of 30 and 55 polled said they would choose a different major if they could do it over. The George Mason University and Potomac Knowledge Way survey further contends that the majority of college graduates have switched careers at least once, and about one in five expect to switch in the future. Chalk it up to indecision, societal changes, or kismet, but more than likely it's because many didn't have a plan.

Let's face it. It's cheaper to do your homework up front than stay in the wrong job too long or change college majors halfway through school. Having a documented and well thought out plan early on helps you discover your career-related interests and abilities. It also helps you:

* Identify occupations that match your interests, competencies, and personality.

* Pinpoint corresponding fields of study for further education.

* Understand how you adjust to circumstances, people, and demands in your work environment, and whether these adjustments result in stress or satisfaction.

* Identify your communication and leadership style.

* Determine transferable skills and accomplishments.

* Find out who you are.

In charting your career path, you may find yourself needing professional assistance, a strategic plan, a viable network--or all three. Here, we'll show you how to use these elements to put together a plan that will help you get to the next step or transition in your career.

PUT ME IN, COACH

Whether it's a first career or a career change, many people have sought out the services of a career counselor or coach. Referrals can be found at colleges and universities, through career-planning organizations such as the Five O'Clock Club, or through word of mouth.

"Find someone locally, with good credentials, who understands your area's job market and is experienced in helping people develop career plans," says Susan Urquhart-Brown, career counselor and principal at Career Steps Consulting in Oakland, California. "You can also locate career counselors and coaches who can help you implement your plan. The greatest benefit of having a counselor or coach is the other perspective they can provide." She notes, "You might be able to tune up your car, but a mechanic can probably do it faster and better."

Keep in mind that there aren't any universal requirements for career coaching. Depending on the state, some counselors must undergo rigorous state licensing requirements and have advanced degrees in counseling or social work. On the other hand, some coaches draw on years of work experience and simply hang out a shingle. Fees run the gamut, and can be as high as $200 an hour, depending on the experience of the counselor or coach.

The optimal career-planning process involves the use of various types of career tests, also known as assessments or inventories, such as the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (http://skepdic.com/myersb.html) and the Campbell Interest and Skill Survey. These tests help you better understand your career interests, motivation, work style, personality, values, skills, and aptitudes. These and similar quantifying tests are also available online for nominal fees.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART

With or without the help of a career counselor, it's important to realistically assess how your interests and talents will transfer into the workplace. As a child, Javetta Boldes Robinson knew she wanted to have an impact on education and that she loved numbers. When she put the two together, they added up to a career in school finance. After getting a B.S. in accounting from California State University at Sacramento in 1987, Robinson set her sights on becoming a school district CFO.

Robinson admits that the position she sought is not the most glamorous of accounting careers, especially when there are positions with big public accounting firms to take into consideration. Many tried to steer Robinson toward the corporate sector, but to no avail. "I had many job offers in those areas, but I didn't even consider them," recalls the 36-year-old Long Beach, California, resident. The career is also not one that many colleges focus on; therefore Robinson's plan included garnering much of her experience on the job. That meant getting her foot into the education unit of the California State Controllers Office.

But as life would have it, sometimes you have to be uncomfortable before you can be comfortable, and Robinson was turned down for two auditing positions. Undaunted, she took a detour in her career plan and accepted a job with the Department of Health. To her surprise, opportunity came sooner than she expected. On her first day at work, she was offered a position in her coveted controller's office, and she quit the Health Department on the spot. Although the auditor's position in the Women, Infants and Children's (WIC) unit of the controller's office wasn't her dream job, it got her that much closer to the education unit.

For a year and a half, she begged the education unit manager to hire her, but no positions were available. In the meantime Robinson broadened her auditing experience--a requirement for a higher-level position--and earned her CPA. In 1995, when the WIC unit's funding was in jeopardy, her entreaties paid off and she was transferred to the education unit. However, Robinson's plan was just getting started.

"I set a goal to be promoted every two to three years. If that didn't happen, then I asked why or began looking for opportunities elsewhere." Robinson learned everything she could as she chalked up the 1,000 hours of auditing experience required for her to advance in her career. "I would even do other people's work. I wanted to get all the experience I could get," says the president of the western region of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA).

Robinson befriended and tracked the accomplishments of many district CFOs. In 1997, after reading a newspaper article quoting the woman touted to be the best associate superintendent of business in the state (to whom a CFO generally reports), Robinson recruited her as her mentor. Soon after, a position opened in her mentor's district and Robinson was chosen.

At last, with five promotions in 12 years and unparalleled auditing, personnel management, and fiscal skills tucked beneath her belt, Robinson was promoted last year to chief financial officer of the Compton Unified School District. Reporting directly to the state administrator, she controls a budget of $327 million, with 100 employees and 23 schools under her financial management.

"Specializing helped my career tremendously. I knew there was a market and need for my skills, and moving around from company to company would not have gotten me to this point," says Robinson. "Being true to my plan has been instrumental in helping to further my career beyond those of my peers at public accounting firms."

GOAL SETTING FOR SUCCESS

Just as a map takes you where you're traveling on a highway, so your goals are a map for the road you're traveling in life. We've all set goals at one time or another that we failed to dedicate enough focus to in order to achieve them. That wasn't the case for Lance Moore.

"Throughout my career, I wanted to build a skill base that was marketable. My goal was to be able to go from company to company, build on those skills, and eventually own my own entity," says Moore, 39, for whom restaurant development and franchising has always been a long-term interest.

Moore's career path took off during college when he served a brief stint as a marketing representative at 3M in his hometown, Cleveland. After graduating from Stanford University in 1983, the economics and English major joined IBM, where he not only honed his sales skills but also acquired retail experience working in the computer giant's product centers.

In 1990, a General Foods Brand Manager's Fellowship helped him earn an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management--a school he chose specifically over Wharton because of its strong marketing curriculum.

After graduation, Moore jumped on the brand management track and joined his b-school benefactor, General Foods (now Kraft Foods Inc.). Five years later, Moore became a marketing manager for Omaha-based ConAgra Frozen Foods, a $27 billion food service supplier, where he was responsible for the popular Healthy Choice entrees. "The position allowed me to broaden my career path, go from sales to business analysis, and grow a business," says Moore. "I always focused on an upward growth curve and evaluated myself every quarter or annually to make sure that I was using all of my resources."

Throughout, Moore charted a career course that would give him the experience he needed to one day own his own business. "I worked in sales because it was like owning a business within a business. While at IBM, working with their product centers gave me retail experience. In my marketing roles at Kraft Foods, I had the opportunities to not only learn the food business but to also build brands and create new business," he says.

Today, Moore is a group vice president at Atlanta-based Blimpie International, the nation's No. 2 submarine sandwich chain and the only publicly traded one. With some 450 franchisees under his charge and a territory that covers 13 Western states, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, Moore has entered the restaurant franchising business, realizing his original career goal.

KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW

While Robinson prepared for a career within her organization, the same strategies apply when you're making a move outside of your current career or company. Regardless of where you are in your career, it's important to do informational interviews with people in the field or the company you want to enter. Also, expand your research to libraries and the Internet. "If you ask the average person to name the number of career opportunities available, most can only list about three dozen. However, there are about 20,000 job titles listed in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Outlook Handbook," says Mark Patton, president of MGC Publications in Milwaukee and author of Ultimate Careers and Businesses, (MGC Publications; $12.95; 800-531-9874) a guide that provides information on nearly 500 associations, foundations, organizations, and periodicals. "You must expose yourself to other opportunities. Then you can plan your work and work your plan."

Cliched as it might sound, networking is still an important key to getting the job you want. No college senior knows that better that Lydia Cutrer. Keen on making her mark as an investment banker, the 21-year-old Temple University senior majoring in accounting has made career inroads that many seasoned professionals would envy. "For me, it's been about building relationships," says Cutter. "I thought that accounting would be a great foundation for entering the business world, and joined the student chapter of NABA to learn more about the career and get involved."

Not content with just one affiliation, the New Orleans native is also a member of the National Black M.B.A. Association and has done internships at AT&T and Chase. As one of the youngest members of the Next Generation Network, one of the many career programs offered by the Executive Leadership Council in Washington, D.C., Cutrer has positioned herself to get the pick of plum jobs. Already, she has an offer from JP Morgan Chase and Co. to enter its two-year investment-banking program as an analyst after graduation this spring. Still in the early stages of her implementing her career plan, Cutrer plans to pursue her M.B.A. in two to three years and perhaps enter the fields of venture capitalism, urban revitalization, or management consulting. Conscious that she must continue to build and maintain her network, Cutrer regularly updates mentors and supporters on her progress via notes and e-mail, keeping herself in their minds should they become privy to a potential career or job opportunity.

WATCH FOR ROADBLOCKS AND HURDLES

Youthful bravado has a way of helping career dreams flourish, but somewhere along the way the implementation process gets stalled. It could be marriage, relocation, the birth of a child, getting too comfortable in a current job, a change in education plans, or a simple change of mind. "There is nothing wrong with doing the job you really want on the weekends or part-time," says Deborah Brown, president of D&B Consulting in Atlanta, who works with many attorneys who find themselves in career quagmires. "You can hold down the job that pays the bills and pursue your entrepreneurial or artistic goals during your off time until you determine how to do it full-time."

Career planning is an ongoing effort and never really ends. "Your goals should not just be in the present, but should also look ahead," says Urquhart-Brown. "Ask yourself, Where do I want to be in the next two to three years? It's very important that you don't stop your career planning once you get a job, even if it seems to be the ideal job today."

Get on the right track

These resources will help you carve out a career path and be on your way.

Books:

Do What You Are: Discover the Perfect Career for You Through the Secrets of Personality Type by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger (Little Brown & Co., $18)

Finding a Career That Works for You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Career and Finding a Job by Wilma R. Fellman (Independent Publishers Group, $16.95)

The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success by Nicholas Lore (Fireside), $14)

Websites:

CareerFitter.com For $9.95, you can take this online career test to determine your business style, communication methods, and ideal work environment.

Careers-By-Design.com This site offers fee-based online career assessments, including the Myers-Briggs test and the Strong Interest Inventory, among others.

Jvis.com This is the site for the Jackson Vocational Interest Survey, designed to help college students and career transitioners get to the next step.