How do you compare feedback sources for Career Path Planning?

I disagree with how feedback sources have been categorized. A mentor, for instance, is someone who is higher up in the organization (as otherwise their role as a mentor has limited impact) rather than a peer. But aside from the details of categorization, the main source you should be looking at is yourself: understand what is it that you are looking for first. You can define a seniority level that you'd like to reach, a specific field or company to work in, etc. But it's important that you define your career goal and then identify who is best to support you in reaching it. You see, different people will offer different insights and knowledge, so you need to know what you are looking for first.

What needs to be added to this AI-generated article is an introduction. Two considerations before gathering information is defining the what (your target or goals) and they why (your motivation) as you embark on career progression activities. While the categories are defined well enough, I have nuances I would adjust for a published article. For example, it can be argued that a mentor could be internal or external and formal or informal.

From my point of view, I believe that when you need a reference or feedback for a task, you truly, truly need responses from various perspectives to have the most comprehensive and complete overview. This could include feedback from different classified sources as suggested earlier and even more. Particularly if you need suggestions for newly emerging career goals (for example, due to the advent of AI), these suggestions become relative as there are no established references. At this point, advice from more experienced experts or self-assessment from an internal perspective is what truly helps you shape your own decisions

When comparing feedback sources for career path planning: Self-Assessment: You are the best judge of your skills, interests, and aspirations. Family Feedback: Parents, siblings, or cousins in the same field can provide valuable insights, like a doctor father guiding a doctor son. Close Friends: Friends who know you well and understand your field can offer rare but invaluable perspectives. Professional Input: Your boss and close colleagues offer practical feedback, while a career counselor who has known you for 5-10 years can provide deep, personalized guidance. These varied sources ensure a well-rounded view of your career prospects and opportunities.

As a career coach, I'm a big advocate of gaining as much feedback from you can from diversified sources. It never hurts to get feedback from managers, peers, mentors, and HR in your current company, and otherwise recruiters and career coaches who can help provide consolidated guidance and get you to your career goals.

Not all feedback is valuable and relevant to you. Before jumping into action, changing course, or letting the feedback inform any other actions, stop and reflect. Ask yourself: Who is giving the feedback? What is their purpose of giving the feedback? Does it serve value to you? Are there takeaways?

1. Expertise & experience: Does the feedback giver understand your field, role, or goals? 2. Trust & openness: Do you trust the feedback giver to be honest and objective? 3. Timeliness & specificity: Is the feedback recent, relevant, clear, and actionable? 4. Consistency & alignment: Does the feedback align with your self-feedback and other sources? 5. Alignment with goals: Does the feedback match your career objectives and strategies?

I agree with Samara Elkins. What I would add is consider from above, taking a 360 approach to who is informing your career path. Diverse perspectives will give you a clearer picture of the whole. However, it would help if you considered who is giving you input and feedback. You must also consider that each person will have a biased perspective based on their own experiences.

Based on my experience, if you are committed to pursuing a new career, you will always look for reliable feedback (as suggested) and support in making decisions. However, at this point, these responses are only meant to provide you with broader perspectives on risks (mostly), challenges, and opportunities that you must face, without influencing your decision. They can indeed help you prepare more thoroughly and realistically. On the other hand, if you are still unable to determine your new career goals and are uncertain, too much feedback can lead to a dilemma because you still don’t understand what you want. In this case, you need to go back to the part about defining your goals

Each piece of feedback has its value, coming from the perspective and point of view of the person giving it. They are truly precious because they have spent time to respond to us, so we should thank them. If there are many conflicting sources of feedback, it's more of an opportunity than a challenge for you. If all the feedback is positive, then the career you're aiming for will likely be very competitive, right? But if you receive a lot of varied feedback, it indicates that many people might find this career challenging to approach. This shows that you have more market opportunities. However, fundamentally, thorough and complete analysis through valuable feedback will better prepare you for the career change you wish to make.

Feedback has different value depending on the experience of the source and how well his or her perspective aligns with your goals. Gaining feedback from a career coach is one way to help organize the feedback from all sources and develop a plan to achieve your next career goal. Try finding a career coach who is experienced in coaching people in your field, but more importantly one who has worked in your career path or industry and has real-life experience there. This gives the coach a unique perspective and understanding of your career.

When you receive feedback from different sources, look for common themes or patterns. If multiple people mention the same strengths or suggest similar areas for improvement, pay special attention to those points. Common themes can help you understand which aspects of your career and skills are consistently noticed by others and deserve more focus.

In my experience, feedback is subjective. So, it's important to take it with a grain of salt and make informed decisions based on your own assessment and goals. -gather feedback from both internal and external sources -internal sources such as performance evaluations and self-assessment provides valuable insights into strengths & areas for improvement. -external sources like mentors, coaches, and industry experts offer fresh perspectives and guidance. -Then compare the feedback by considering factors such as consistency, alignment with personal goals, and the specific skills or areas of improvement highlighted. By utilizing a mix of these feedback sources, you can gain a well-rounded view of your career path and make informed decisions.

Career planning is not a one time thing, but an ongoing process. Analyzing your career path and interests, adjusting your goals, and gaining feedback from resources on your career interests as you progress through your career is important to keep momentum.

For me, this is a classic example of risk management. Feedbacks serve as input data for you to assess and shape the risks or advantages you may encounter in your career journey. Be mindful that these advantages can also turn into risks if you do not understand their nature. Reviewing feedback and risks, updating them from the sources you have, and regularly supplementing plans to mitigate risks and enhance advantages will help you develop appropriate and effective strategies.

Feedback shouldn’t be a one-time event. Make it a habit to seek ongoing feedback from your network. Regularly check in with those who have given you feedback before and update them on your progress. Ask for additional advice or insights as you work towards your goals. This continuous loop of receiving and applying feedback helps you stay on track and continually improve.

Based on the suggestions across many topics, I believe that understanding project management will greatly assist you in your career transition. Most of the tasks you need to perform are essential issues of a project that needs to be executed, and obviously, you can refer to it and use it as a ready-made foundation to easily apply in your life. If you are interested, consider learning about project management using Agile methodology.