How can we create a personal development plan to stay relevant in the localization industry for a longer period?

There's not much new to say here when commenting that last year, the AI tsunami with chatGPT and its various variants took over all our conversations during 2023. It entered strongly early in the year, and the hype grew more and more each month. This post doesn't delve into whether AI is a threat to Localization industry professionals or a blessing, but what I want to highlight in the following paragraphs are some observations that caught my attention during the year.

I remember a LocDrinks event in Barcelona around spring, which is when I had the first opportunity to talk with industry colleagues about this thing that had appeared called "chatGPT." In general, I was surprised that many people hadn't tried it, but I thought it was normal; after all, this has been on the market for a short time, and we're all busy with business-as-usual activities to start playing around with everything that popped up. Then, the AI topic continued to grow, dominating conversations on LinkedIn and being the most relevant topic at LocWorld, which I had the opportunity to attend in Malmö, Sweden.

There was a session where an online poll asked attendees if we had interacted/tried AI on a regular basis—every day, every week, once a month, or never were the possibilities as possible answers. I was surprised that the percentage of responses for once a month or never was so high. I, who had been experimenting with bots and AI capabilities for a few months on personal projects, thought the penetration and use of AI tools would be higher.

I commented on this during the coffee break, and one person's response caught my attention. They argued that they weren't using AI because " I'm doing well at the moment”.

" Hmm, I don't know, " I'm doing well at the moment." absolutely doesn't guarantee "I'm doing fine tomorrow," I thought. And that's the core of this post. As a Localization industry professional, I believe we must constantly renew our skills to remain relevant. It's crucial to have the determination and proactivity to own our Localization career, and that's where a Personal Development Plan (PDP) comes in.

 What is a Personal Development Plan?

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) is essentially a roadmap for our self-improvement journey. It's a way to identify our goals, strengths, areas of interest, areas for growth and then create a plan to enhance our skills and achieve those objectives.

The problem, in many cases, is how to create it, so in this post, I want to provide some guidelines that can help you create it. It's based on the model I've used in my work in the last 2-3 years, and it's one of the best models I've used in my life to make me reflect on where I am vs. where I want to be (and take actions to close that gap!). I hope this model proves as useful to you as it has been to me.

Now, let's discuss the main ideas for creating a PDP.

1.    Who am I?

 The first step in building our Personal Development Plan (PDP) is getting to know ourselves better. To do that, we should take a good look at what really drives and motivates us. Understanding our motivations sets the stage for a solid plan to grow and improve.

How to do that?

We have to answer this question with total sincerity: To bring out our best, what are the top 10 things that truly matter to me? (If 10 seems like a lot, we can start with 5 to unleash the brainstorming creativity.)

Once we have these answers, we must prioritize them and evaluate how much of that we currently have in our career.

For example, "spending more time with our family" might be in the top 3 on our list, but the score might be low when we rate the time we have for our family.

Or, for instance, in the list of the 10 things that truly matter to me, "Getting budget support for continuous learning" might appear among our top priorities. Then, when we rate it, we may give it a high score because our employer subsidizes learning actions for our personal development.

Identifying our priorities and how aligned we are between our priorities and reality is an excellent first step toward creating our PDP.

2.     "Where do I picture myself?"

This section of the PDP will help us figure out our wishes and aspirations for our future role. To do that, we can think about our ideal position. That’s all about looking ahead a few years into the future, envisioning how we'd ideally want our life and career to be.

Questions that can help us find answers:

1. What level of responsibility do we want in our future roles?

2. How much say do we want in decision-making in our positions?

3. What kinds of projects or activities do we want to be a part of?

4. What experiences do we hope to gain?

5. What opportunities do we want our roles to offer?

6. Where would we like to work?

7. Are we open to traveling for our jobs?

8. How do we see ourselves balancing work and personal life in the future?

9. What skills or abilities do we want to develop in our future roles?

10. Are there specific industries or areas we're particularly interested in working in?

11. Are there specific challenges or problems we're excited to tackle in our future roles?

12. How important is flexibility in terms of work hours and location?

3.- Where am I now?

Once we've taken the time in the first section to get to know ourselves a bit better and reflect on where we want to be in the future in the previous section, it's time to do an assessment and know where we are now. For this assessment, we can reflect on the following areas:

1. What are my current job responsibilities, and how do they align with my desired level of responsibility?

2. Do I currently have the influence I want in decision-making processes at work?

3. In terms of freedom and autonomy, how much control do I currently have over my decisions and actions in my role?

4. What types of projects and activities am I currently involved in, and how does this compare to my ideal projects?

5. What kind of experiences am I gaining in my current role, and do they align with my aspirations?

6. Are there opportunities in my current position that align with what I hope my role can offer?

7. Is the location of my current workplace in line with where I'd prefer to be based?

8. How much travel is currently involved in my role, and does this align with my willingness to travel?

By reflecting on these questions, we can gain insights into our current situation and identify areas where adjustments or improvements may be needed to align ourselves more closely with where we want to be.

4.-Next Steps – Executing our vision

Now, let's figure out what we want to achieve and plan the steps to make it happen. It's time to set clear goals and map out the path forward for ourselves. To determine the next steps, we need to do the following:

• List Necessary Actions: Here, we need to break down our aspirations into actionable steps. The key question here to answer is “What specific tasks or actions will move us closer to our objectives identified in the previous section?”

• Set a Timeline: Assign deadlines to our learning actions will be essential. A timeline adds structure and helps us stay on track.

• Seek Support: We should identify people or resources that can support us in achieving our goals. This could be colleagues, mentors, or additional training.

We need to explore available learning resources for the additional training, such as online courses, books, webinars, or workshops. We must identify which resources align with your learning objectives.

Then, for the finding of colleagues/mentors piece, we might consider reaching out to experts or mentors in the field. They can provide valuable insights and guidance.

This part of seeking support is also crucial for creating a PDP, as it helps us close the gap between where we are and where we want to be by training in certain areas and with certain resources. So, investing time in scanning the market to see what's out there and choosing the most suitable material for our development is fundamental. Don't rush when listing necessary actions, and take the time to evaluate different action alternatives.

Conclusion

January is always a month where, in a way, the counter resets, and it's a good time to think about what skills we can develop to continue growing as professionals. The goal is not just to do fine now but to do fine for much longer. I hope the points shared in this post can help you create that PDP.