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Senior analyst
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Graham Odell, 26, senior analyst, workflow management team, Deutsche Bank
Graham believes that talking to career professionals and having a three-year career plan can pay dividends in your career.

"When I was made redundant from my last job, I was given access to free professional career advice and, even though I had already secured my current job, I found the experience really beneficial. In particular, they listened objectively as I spoke about my career, suggested alternatives and tactics and advised me to have a three-year career plan. They told me to do a SWOT analysis, and to think about what I needed to do to excel in my career. (For more on SWOT analysis see Your career plan.)

This three-year plan doesn't, however, mean that I think in terms of a job title that I want in three years' time. It's more a case of having a picture of the kinds of things I want to do. For me, this means remaining in the web operational side of things, but working in more cutting-edge areas, and being in a management role where I have more strategic input and decision-making power. This is where the analysis comes in. I constantly check my career progress against certain criteria that I have set to help me meet my goals. If I feel that I am weak in a certain area, I look at how I can improve. For instance, I consider the training I might need to plug any gaps in my business or product knowledge. To me, good career planning is about analysing yourself, empowering yourself and being proactive so that you can drive your career into the areas that you want to go."

Anthony Morgan, 32, entrepreneur and director, Frukt Music Group
After taking stock of his career and doing an MBA, Anthony landed a top role at Warner Music and now runs his own research and media consultancy in the music industry, which employs 10 people.

"I decided to get back into the career apex when I was 24. I saw myself moving in a direction that didn't excite me, and so I took time out to study an MBA, which enabled me to identify:

I identified that I was inherently entrepreneurial, and this helped me to package myself in such a way that I appealed to employers looking to fill positions that needed to be driven forward. Soon after my MBA, I secured a role as the first new media person at Warner Music. I have constantly needed to re-assess what I have to offer, but the experience of doing the MBA definitely helped me to pursue a career path that has interested me, developed my skills and been rewarding financially and in terms of seniority."

Kim James, 54, interim performance management consultant/HR director
Planning ahead and watching the market have been instrumental in Kim's career, which is one that has seen him work in corporate roles for blue-chip clients such as ICI, Grand Metropolitan, De La Rue and Lonrho, and more recently on several high-profile consultancy projects in the financial services and rail industries.

"My career planning has been all about looking ahead three years or so and asking myself where I want to be and the knowledge, experience and skills I need to get there. So when I was working on the shop floor at ICI and decided that I wanted to work in personnel management, I went to a labour relations college for one year and later did a masters in personnel management and psychology. These were the crucial first steps in kick-starting my HR career, and the same forward planning has enabled me to constantly rise in job level and status over the years.

The other thing I do is study what the market is doing now and what it will be doing in the future. I have always been good at spotting opportunities to develop my career and adapting my skill-set to what the market has to offer. All in all, the fact that I have always planned ahead in this way has given me the freedom to take my career where I want it to go."

Leon Maitland, 31, technical engineer, Adserve
After stagnating for some time in his first job, Leon's career took off when he took greater charge of it, and he now works for Adserve, a leading provider of in-house computer systems to the advertising industry.

"I didn't really plan my career initially. Although I had a lot of responsibility with my first employer and was in charge of two people, I didn't see that there was any further way for me to progress, and I wasn't using some of the skills that I wanted to develop, such as my Unix skills. So I found a job that exploited these skills, was able to spread my wings, and found that my learning curve shot up dramatically. Since then, I have always made a point of planning my career, asking myself where I want to be in a few years and identifying the skills that I want and need to develop to reach my goals. This has occasionally meant changing employer and going somewhere that could offer me the opportunities, skills and environment that I was looking for.

For example, one of my future goals is to build up more software and server skills, and the best and quickest way I see of doing this is through formal training. I am mainly self-taught and have learned on the job, and I recently met an ex-colleague who has had a lot of formal training and got to the same level much quicker. I'm also planning to get back into supervisory management, and hopefully enjoy the higher status and rewards that come with it."

Gretchen Owen, 28, general manager, DB Incorporated UK Ltd
Gretchen has always planned for a management career in fashion, and now works for this Japanese clothing manufacturer.

"Since an early stage in my career, I knew that I wanted to work in management and fashion, and everything that I have done has led toward that goal. For instance, my degree is in fashion and management, and the positions I've held have built up my management experience and knowledge of the industry. The same goes for the future: I am planning to do a masters degree with the intention of becoming a managing director of a fashion company - perhaps my own.

Of course, not everything can be perfectly planned. Some things happen by accident and I have found that networking has often opened up unexpected opportunities for me. Having a career plan and a clear idea of what I have done and where I am going has helped me make the most of these. Also, it lets me see what areas I may need to improve on, and this is another benefit of networking. As well as seeking the expert opinion of agencies, I always try to surround myself with people I know and respect. It can often be difficult to know exactly where you're going on a journey; having good people all around you can be vital in keeping your career plan on the right track."

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