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It’s your career.Own it.
Your guide to a great career at Transport.
Introduction
Across Transport, we place the customer at the centre of everything we do, to deliver better services to communities throughout NSW.
But it’s our people who are at the heart of everything we stand for.
We can’t deliver great things without great people, which is why we strongly believe in supporting you to develop your career and achieve your goals.
We created this guide to help put you in the driver’s seat of your career by providing you with helpful tips and strategies to proactively manage your development.
Taking ownership of your career starts right here. You’ll need a clear view of what you’re good at, what you need to work on and where you want to get to.
Then, it’s all about having a plan to attain the skills and capabilities you need to get there.
You’ll also need to prepare for an effective development conversation with your manager to get their support and help make it happen.
No matter which role or agency you are working in, use the simple steps in this guide to put yourself on the path to achieving great things.
How to use this guide
This guide is a tool to help you plan your career. It will take you through a series of questions to get you to reflect on where you’re at now and where you might want to go, and provide resources and activities to help you develop a plan to get there.
It’s up to you how you use it. You can complete some of it or you can complete it all. It all depends on where you’re at in your career and how much support you think you need.
Contents
Know where you’re headed 5
} Where are you at now? 6
} Where do you want to go? 8
} What do you need to get there? 9
Develop a plan to get there 11
} What development opportunities are available to me? 12
} My development plan 16
Prepare for your development conversation 19
} Conversation starter 20
Know where you’re headedYou can only create a meaningful plan if you know where you’re headed. Answering these questions will help you define a career path that builds on your strengths and interests. You don’t need to share this with anyone else if you don’t want to. It’s simply a tool to help you uncover the best path for you.
1.
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Where are you at now? Thinking about your career so far:
What are the most important skills you’ve gained? Why are these important?
List three experiences that have had a major impact on your career.
Thinking about your current role:
Which best describes your current status?
Still developing into current role
Good performance, but still room to develop
High performance, ready for new challenges
What do you value most?
(Consider: autonomy, work–life balance, flexibility, location, type of work, management, collaboration, independence, creativity, recognition, diverse nature of work, influence, salary, security, stability, interpersonal relationships)
What aspects don’t you like or value?
7
What are you good at?
(Consider: what are you recognised for most often? What achievements are you most proud of? You can always ask your teammates or colleagues if you’re still unsure)
What are your three main development areas?
(Based on information from your performance development reviews and feedback from your manager and/or others)
What are your personal influences?
What non-work goals and priorities may influence your career decisions? In what ways?
(Consider: geographic constraints, personal timing, spouse’s/partner’s career, lifestyle)
Ideas and inspiration
To make the right career decisions, it helps to understand your strengths, interests, emotional intelligence, values, personality traits and motivations. Here are some readily available self-assessment tools you can use to explore this further.
Holland Code Career Test
This test assesses your suitability for different careers based on six occupational themes. The test identifies your top interest area and shows how it compares to other interest areas. This enables you to search for careers that match your interest areas.
My Plan Value Assessment
This assessment can help you identify your motivations and what’s really important to you in your career. It ranks different aspects of work, encouraging you to look at jobs or industries you may not have considered before.
MAPP Career Test
This online career test gives you an overall idea of where your career motivations lie and your top 10 vocational areas.
Keirsey Temperament Sorter
This personality assessment provides insights into how you communicate and the impact this tends to have on your actions.
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Where do you want to go? Consider the types of things you value and don’t value, the things you’re good at, your development areas and other personal influences.
What are your career aspirations?
Short-term (in 1–2 years)
In the same or a similar role, but more confident, performing better or more consistently than I am today, or with additional experience and capabilities in these areas:
In a new or more senior role, in the same team or same area of expertise:
In a completely different role and industry (If you’ve selected this option, consider why you want to do this – what’s motivating you?):
Longer-term (in 3–5 years)
In the same or a similar role, performing consistently at a high level, with additional experience and capabilities in these areas:
In a new or more senior role, in the same team or same area of expertise:
In a completely different role and industry (If you’ve selected this option, consider why you want to do this – what’s motivating you?):
9
What do you need to get there? What skills, capabilities, knowledge or behaviours do you need to develop to fulfil your career aspirations?
(Take into account your current development areas, and also consider what skills, experiences or capabilities you currently lack that people on a similar career path have.)
To achieve my short-term goals (1–2 years)
I need to gain this experience or knowledge:
I need to develop or build on these skills and capabilities:
To achieve my longer-term goals (3–5 years)
I need to gain this experience or knowledge:
I need to develop or build on these skills and capabilities:
Ideas and inspiration
If you’re unsure what specific experience, knowledge, skills or capabilities you need to develop:
} Do a job search for roles that you aspire to or are interested in. Make a note of the experience, knowledge, skills and capabilities that you don’t already have.
} Make connections with people who are already in roles you aspire to. Talk to them to understand exactly what these roles involve.
Develop a plan to get there
2. Now it’s time to consider which development opportunities are going to help you achieve your goals.
And it’s not just about going on training courses. It’s about getting the right mix of on-the-job learning, coaching and formal learning to help you succeed.
There are a whole range of activities you can explore, including things you can do right away to help you grow in your role.
12
What development opportunities are available to me? Development opportunities are much more than just training courses – in fact, the most valuable development happens through on-the-job experiences (70%) and exposure to others (20%), e.g. through feedback or mentoring. Formal training makes a smaller contribution (10%). The best learning occurs when we engage in a combination of activities.
Here are sample activities you can undertake in each category. Review and highlight at least one activity in each category (70%, 20% and 10%) you think you will benefit from most. Then, work collaboratively with your manager to agree on the most suitable development activities.
70% on-the-job experience
Easy to action now. Things you can do in 5 minutes to half a day:
Exposure to other teams, business units, or senior leaders
No cost.
} Meet with someone in another team or business unit who is in a role that relates to your career aspirations. Ask them what a typical day in their role is like.
} Visit the work area of another team, business unit or division that you currently work with or aspire to work with but have never seen – or offer to host a visit from another team or workgroup.
} Do a presentation on your area of expertise in another business unit’s team meeting.
} Start a conversation with a senior leader in the lunchroom.
} Become a mentor to someone outside your team, business unit or organisation.
Shadowing – Observing someone more experienced as they work
No cost.
} Observe a teammate or colleague while they undertake a work task involving skills you want to develop.
13
Stretch assignments or tasks – Taking on more difficult tasks or assignments
No cost.
} Chair a committee or team meeting to develop your project management and communication skills.
} Champion a change – become the expert and share your knowledge and experience with your team and other teams.
} Ask your manager or teammate to delegate tasks to you that align with your development areas.
More planning required. Things that you may do over a period of days, weeks or months.
Short-term project – Working on a short-term project within or outside your team
Low cost.
} Undertake an internal project that enables you to develop skills in your development areas – e.g. improve a process, system or workflow; join or lead a committee or working group.
} Volunteer with a community organisation to develop new skills and experience.
Short-term secondment – Temporarily working in a new team or area
Low cost.
} Backfill for someone in another team or business area while they are on leave.
Increased responsibility – Taking on a new role or responsibilities for a short period of time
Low cost.
} Fill in for your manager or a senior team member when they are on unplanned leave or out of the office.
} Ask your manager or senior team member to delegate some of their responsibilities to you.
‘Act up’ in another position – Temporarily filling a more senior or complex role
Low cost.
} Go on secondment in a more senior role or a role which you are not familiar with.
14
20% exposure to others – feedback and relationships
Easy to action now. Things you can do in 5 minutes to half a day:
Internal mentoring or coaching
No cost.
} Seek support and advice from a mentor or coach within your organisation.
} Brainstorm ideas or seek advice from a more senior colleague, or a subject matter expert in another team or business unit, about a work-related problem you are trying to solve.
Seek feedback from others
No cost.
} Ask a teammate or colleague to review your work or observe you undertaking a work task, and to provide feedback on your performance – and offer to do the same for them.
} Ask others for more regular feedback during day-to-day work.
Build and participate in internal and external networks
No cost.
} Set up a LinkedIn profile and connect with people you currently or have previously worked with, and find and connect with people you would like to work with in the future.
} Find and join groups relevant to your career aspirations, and participate in discussions, meetups or other networking events. Look for internal events via your agency intranet. Find relevant external events via websites for professional bodies, meetup.com or social media platforms.
} If you have Transport Equip access, make your profile visible so that others can see your capabilities, or search for someone in Equip with capabilities matching your development areas.
Knowledge-sharing relationships with others
No cost.
} Share information with others using technology or existing forums.
} Share an interesting and relevant article to your network on LinkedIn.
} Read and comment on an intranet blog post from a senior leader.
} Create a resource (e.g. a user guide, video or instructions) for a new process, system or work task and share it with your team or other teams.
15
More planning required. Things that you may do over a period of days, weeks or months:
Set up a formal mentoring or coaching relationship
No cost.
} Use the Mentoring Implementation Pack and Toolkit on the Transport for NSW intranet to set up a formal mentoring relationship.
10% formal learning – training and education
Easy to action now. Things you can do in 5 minutes to half a day:
eLearning, books and research
Low cost.
} Complete online learning or read up on a particular topic.
} Complete short online courses related to your development areas, via your internal Transport agency Learning Management System or external websites related to your career aspirations.
} Read articles, journals, books, research or information about best practices related to your career aspirations.
} Sign up to professional bodies or online reference portals.
More planning required. Things that you may do over a period of days, weeks or months:
Training workshops
Medium cost.
} Undertake training related to your development areas or career aspirations.
} Learn and practise new skills in a safe environment by attending a training workshop.
Qualifications – Undertake study to gain a relevant qualification
Medium cost.
} Investigate what qualifications match your career aspirations and enrol in a course.
Ideas and inspiration
You may be able to get support for development activities through your agency. Contact HR Advisory to find out what support is available in your agency.
HR AdvisoryPhone: 1800 618 445 Email: [email protected] Hours: Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm (excluding public holidays)
16
My development planWrite down the development activities you selected from the previous section and any others that you think you can undertake. Incorporate these into your formal Performance Development and Review Plan you create with your manager.
Identify potential development opportunities
70% on-the-job experience
Possible development activities to undertake:
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20% exposure to others – feedback and relationships
Possible development activities to undertake:
10% formal learning – training and education
Possible development activities to undertake:
Prioritise your potential development activities
Use the following questions to help you decide which of the development activities listed above will be most effective in meeting your specific development needs.
1. How relevant is this experience to my day-to-day work?
A. Not at all B. Somewhat C. Very relevant
2. Is it clear how this experience aligns with my development goals?
A. Not at all B. Somewhat C. Very clear
3. Will this opportunity help me radically improve in my targeted development areas?
A. Not at all B. Somewhat C. Yes, very much
If you’ve answered ‘C’ for two or more questions, this learning activity is a good option.
If you’ve answered ‘C’ for only one or none of the questions, you should consider if this learning activity will help you to achieve your goals.
Prepare for your development conversationUse this conversation starter to share your career aspirations and development plan with your manager, get guidance and feedback on your ideas, agree on development activities, and get the support you need to make them happen.
3.
20
Conversation starterStrengths
I believe my strengths are …
} Do you agree?
} What would you change or add?
Development areas
I believe my current areas for growth and development are …
} Do you agree?
} What would you change or add?
Career aspirations
My career goal for the next 1–2 years is to…
In 3–5 years, I aim to be doing …
} Do you think these goals are realistic?
} Is the timeframe I have in mind reasonable?
} What advice would you give based on what you know of my skills and capabilities?
Development opportunities and activities
These are the development opportunities and activities I’ve identified to meet my development needs and broader career goals …
} What are your thoughts on these?
} What am I missing?
} Are there any other development opportunities or activities that you think would help me to meet my goals?
} What other on-the-job development activities, tasks or short-term projects can I consider?
} Which other teams or business units across the cluster do you think it would be relevant for me to get exposure to, or who I should contact for shadowing activities?
} Who would you suggest I contact for mentoring, coaching or feedback to help me meet my development needs?
Wrap up
We’ve decided my development activities will be …
} What is the approval process or next steps I need to undertake to make these development activities happen?
Sometimes you or your manager may need to get further information or approval on the types of activities you are looking to undertake.
} Schedule in a time to follow up on these actions or check in at your next meeting.
Additional resources
Transport cluster job opportunities
Search for job opportunities across the Transport cluster.
Careers at Transport
Access resources and information about careers at Transport.
I work for NSW
Search for job opportunities across the NSW public sector.
Mentoring at Transport
Check out this guide to self-directed mentoring at Transport, with links to useful resources like the mentoring toolkit and implementation pack to get you started.
Department of Education and Training Career Development
Access Australian Government resources to help you plan and make informed decisions about your education, training and career choices.
Public Sector Commission Capability Discovery Tool
This online tool allows you to assess whether you have the capabilities (skills, knowledge, abilities and behaviours) for public sector roles. Note, many public sector roles are not currently aligned with these capabilities, but in the future many more will be.
Careers Online
This online job seekers’ workshop offers resources to help guide career planning.
