How far do you actively manage and monitor your career?

[CareerQuestioner]

Just interested in how other people approach this.

When I started work in my early 20s I did not actively manage my career at all, so was lucky to be in a profession with a clear-cut path of progression. In fact, the idea of actively managing and planning (having a 2 year and 5 year plan, say) struck me as a bit cringey. I certainly wouldn't have considered any sort of career coaching or read a book about careers or soft skills. Having said all that, I did work extremely hard and a huge number of hours, but my focus was just on doing my work well, not on advancing my career, and to the extent I advanced it was just because I was in an industry where that happened naturally.

Since having kids, I've had periods working FT and working PT and have made career choices which have allowed me a bit more balance (no more 100 hour weeks!) I'm now returning to a bigger role and have found that my approach has completely changed- I'm far more interested in actively managing my career, have made various quite ambitious plans for progression and worked out the steps needed to achieve them, I intend to monitor my progress towards these goals weekly and quarterly etc etc. Basically running my career as if I'm running a business. I think it's partly that I'm more aware of what I want and the fact I have limited time to get it, and also that I've found ways of organising my life that work in my domestic life and want to bring them into my work life (as much as 23yo me wouldn't have written a 5y career plan, she also wouldn't have written a shopping list).

Just wondered how other people have approached this, how actively you try to manage your career or just go with the flow, what has worked for you etc?

When I look back I was incredibly fortunate to fall into a job with a company that took people and career development seriously (one of the High St banks).

I don't think "we" appreciated it at the time but I had excellent training on how to take opportunities and how to promote yourself. Also about goal setting and aiming high.

I've never really done it consciously, but definitely that training went in and has been used.

Shamelessly following for tips!

I think I had a similar experience, I wandered into an entry level civil service role at 18, and was lucky enough to work my way up, just by virtue of working hard and it happening naturally. I took a substantial career break to live abroad though, and moved into the private sector when I came back. I also had two children.

Now I'm focused much more on progressing my career. I have a loose goal in mind for my next step, at the moment I'm a business analyst and I want to make the move into product owner as my next sep, so I am working on the gaps in my knowledge to allow that. I've also been set up by my employer with a mentor, and she is helping me to plan and develop in that direction.

I think it matters more to me now than it did in my 20s, then work was work, it paid thebills. Now it's more about my life and what I want to do with it.