Section 1.2 Careers in Marketing
15
Career Planning
Success and happiness usually do not
happen by accident. Success is a lifelong
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overnight success, you usually discover that
the person has been working hard for many
years. Successful people often have a long-
term goal, for example, to become a profes-
sional actor or the president of a company.
Successful people usually have a detailed
plan for achieving that goal.
You may not have any goals or career
plans at this point in your life. However, now
is the perfect time to start thinking about
and planning for your future. Planning now
for your future career can help assure your
career success.
Planning actually has two parts. The
first part is setting a goal. The second part
is developing activities that will lead you to
achieve your goal.
Goals
A goal is something a person wants to
achieve in a specified time period. You can
have a wide variety of goals. Areas in which
people have goals include personal growth,
finances, possessions, education, career,
relationships, family, and community. For
example, a personal-growth goal might be
to run a half marathon. An educational goal
might be to get a college degree.
The advantage of having goals is that they
can help you organize your activities to more
efficiently achieve them. Once you know your
goals, you can make decisions to help you
reach them. Not having goals is like being in
an airport and taking the first plane you see.
You may or may not like your destination.
However, if you know where you want to go
before you get to the airport, you will buy the
proper ticket, get there on time, and arrive at
your chosen destination. You may have delays
along the way, but you are more likely to reach
the destination you chose.
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There are entry-level
positions in every career.