How to Intentionally Build the Career You Want

Some time ago I attended a webinar. A key speaker mentioned they used their resume as their personal development plan. Once a year, they’d review it, spot the gaps, and spend the next 12 months filling them. That was it. No elaborate framework. No consultant. Just a Word document doing double duty.

Ever since, I’ve been doing the same. I use my resume as a living document, documenting my achievements and looking for areas where I want to improve over the next year. It completely changes the game. Turns out it’s much easier to update your resume when you are not under pressure to make a move.

The Art of Strategic Self-Assessment

Most leaders update their resumes only when they are job hunting. By then, it’s a frantic exercise in memory recall. When you make updating your resume at least once a year a standard practice, you eliminate the urgency and introduce strategic intent. You stop seeing your resume as a historical record of where you have been and start seeing it as a strategic map of where you are going.

The 3-Step Career Strategy: Curate. Map. Fill.

Here is how this simple practice can turn your resume into your strategic roadmap.

• Curate your ideal job description. Find three or four job postings for roles you would want in two or three years. Look at the language they use. What are the required “superpowers”? Is it turnarounds? Global scaling? M&A integration? You are not applying for these jobs, but you are using them to define the metrics you need to hit.
• Map your wins to their wishlist. When you complete work that aligns with your target job descriptions, document it immediately on your resume. Use concrete data and specific outcomes that prove you are capable of performing at that higher level. If you led a team, quantify it. If you managed a budget, put a number on it. This exercise forces you to articulate your value in the language the market is currently speaking.
• Fill the “white space.” This is the most critical step. When you try to fill in the gaps between your resume and that dream job, you will inevitably find a bullet you cannot write. Perhaps the ideal job requires experience with a specific digital transformation, or exposure to a certain board committee. When you notice gaps between your current achievements and the expectations of your future role, treat those gaps as your development priorities for the next 12 months.

The beauty of this approach is that it keeps your development grounded in something real and immediately useful. You’re not chasing abstract goals but developing your skills towards a version of yourself that the market actually wants. It also ensures that when the right opportunity appears, you already have the story written, and more importantly, you have been living it with intention.

Adeline (Addy) Maissonet is a senior advisor on contracting policies and procedures within the Office of the Secretary of War, U.S. Department of War (DoW) and the agency’s representative on the Department’s views on proposed legislation to Congressional members, their staff, and committee staffers. She leads the development and implementation of Department-wide procurement policies for commodities and services, within her portfolio. Prior to her current role, Addy served as a Division Chief and Contracting Officer with unlimited warrant authority for the U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) – Fort Eustis, Virginia. Prior to joining the MICC, Addy served as a Branch Head for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), Norfolk, Virginia, with unlimited warrant authority. She also held other procurement positions with the U.S. Navy. Addy holds an MBA in Management and Contracting Level III Certification under the Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act. She is a graduate from Cornell University’s Executive Leadership Certificate Program and Harvard University’s Business Analytics Certificate Program. In her free time, Addy enjoys hiking and overlanding with her family and friends.

Note: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of War.

Photo by Mikhail Nilov