Career Planning Template NAME DATE Copyright Vivek Asija

Career Planning Template [NAME] [DATE] Copyright Vivek Asija 2016 www. vivekasija. com

Introduction In today’s gig-economy, professionals are responsible for their own career development. Everybody should have a career plan. This is a living document and can change depending on the author’s need to revise. Use this template as a starting point for thinking about, and regularly updating, your career plan. I recommend you use this as part of review sessions with your personal board of directors, your boss, and to revise at least once a year. [Feel free to delete and add sections as needed for your own use] 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 2

How to use this template¹ This template is meant to guide you through a self-reflection journey to help you articulate your career plan. Although most successful people will tell you that there is no straight-line path to success, it can still be helpful to think about what got you to where you are now in your career, especially when articulating your future goals and a game plan to get you there. There are four parts: 1) V-S-E-M (Vision-Strategy-Execution-Metrics): We begin with the V-S-E-M model to frame the entire career plan and set our high-level goals and envision your future. 2) Where I am Today: Take stock of where you are today, especially in terms of cataloging the skills and capabilities you’ve mastered in your current role. If there’s a skill or experience gap you still need to close for your current role, try to describe it here as well. 3) The Next Few Years (Career Plan): These are your next steps. What are the next 2 -3 or even 3 -5 job experiences you want to create for yourself that build upon one another and get you closer to your envisioned future? At a high level, outline the moves you will make to accomplish the goals defined in step 1 (V-S-E-M). 4) How I Got Here: The last step is thinking through your work history. Trace through your job experiences and identify what you took away from each experience, either a skill or something more intangible that gave you insights about what makes you tick. This is an opportunity to do a retrospective. 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 3

V-S-E-M The V-S-E-M model is popular at Cisco and offers a way to structure your goals and construct a high-level strategy to achieve them. This is more than just a lofty vision statement, because it requires you to also think through how you will get there by identifying strategy (the “how”), execution, and metrics. Vision: Think about and define your career goals. Ask: what am I working towards? Who do I want to be? A specific title or position? A certain kind of company? What line or type of work? Strategy: What is the “how”? At a high-level, what will you do to get there? Execution: Get more granular. What specific actions will you take for each strategy? Metrics: How will you measure yourself? Things that are valued have to be measured, and metrics over time serve as benchmarks to demonstrate that you are progressing on your goals. 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 4

V-S-E-M (example) Vision Be Chief Marketing Officer in a $500 M+ technology company by 2024 with a minimum compensation package of $350 k/year (salary + bonus) and significant equity upside Strategy Grow my personal brand Grow my network Round out my marketing and leadership experiences Execution Develop and promote Cognizant Internet of Things Po. V in personal channels (Twitter, Linked. In) Focus on quality, not quantity and single-out a list of people that you want to get to know that can help you accelerate Create a list of “must-learn” skills and demonstrate new achievements in current and future jobs Metrics • Get 1, 000 Twitter followers in 2016 • 2, 500 Twitter followers by 2017 • One lunch per month for the remainder of the year with notable contacts – 7 total in ‘ 2016 • 12 more in 2017 • Take 2 classes per year o 2016 – Data Science o One programming language (TBD) • Leadership (TBD) 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKSASIJA. COM 5

Where I am Today (example) Director of Solutions Marketing • Responsible for creating and leading the implementation of marketing strategies for a portfolio of ventures; responsibilities include: o Product positioning and messaging o Sales enablement o Go-to-market strategy o Collateral development o Integrated marketing plans o Consultant and advisor for product-marketing related questions, overseeing and integrating with Field Marketing and Sales Support initiatives. • My portfolio currently includes Cognizant's Internet of Things (Io. T) practice, EMS (Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions), and Intelligent Automation (Artificial Intelligence) services. • I have also supported new ventures in: o MLEU (Manufacturing, Logistics, Energy & Utilities) o Managed service offering in the ERSS (Enterprise Risk and Security Services) group. 11/28/2020 SOLUTIONS MARKETING Internal Positioning & Messaging Sales Enablement Solution Packaging Internal Promotions External GTM Strategy Thought Leadership Lead Gen COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM Analyst Briefings Web/Social Events Marketing Partners 6

Career Plan By creating a career plan that sets specific goals and defines a series of future positions that build on one another, you can make purposeful career choices that align to a vision for yourself that you believe in. Even though your career path will likely evolve over time, having a plan can provide structure and give you clarity as you are presented with forks in the road. Good career plans are flexible, but provide a framework for the possible next steps in your career, creating awareness of how your day-to-day activities are getting you closer to your goals. 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 7

The next 8 years (example) 2023 -2024 and Beyond 2020 -2022 2014 -2016 2017 -2019 SVP of Marketing (CMO) Director of Senior Director Solutions Marketing VP Marketing Io. T/Saa. S Company – SF/Oak Cognizant Io. T/Saa. S Company – SF/Oak Product Positioning & Messaging Hire and Manage a Team Go to Market Strategy Thought Leadership Content Sales Enablement Pipeline Development Integrated Marketing Campaigns 11/28/2020 Lead Marketing for a Portfolio of Solutions or a Product Division Emphasis on Setting Goals, Providing Mentorship, Managing to a Result Prioritize Large Amounts of Incoming Demand for Marketing Services Exercise Soft and Hard Power Own Product and Solutions Marketing as a Function Team of Product Marketers with their own Portfolios and direct reports Rollup to me Emphasis on Creating a Vision and Bringing Team through a Strategy-setting Process with Execution Plans and Metrics Manage up to Executives Manage down to Team so they can Execute COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM Owns the Entire Marketing Function (Corporate and Brand, Field, Product/Solutions Marketing, Web, Social, Pipeline Development) Has Done Most of the Jobs of the People Rolling Up Reports to the CEO or COO and owns the Marketing Pillar of the Company Business Plan Acts as the Brand Ambassador and Public Spokesman of the firm Emphasis on Hiring and Developing Talent 8

Retrospective: how did I get here? Career Story: As you reflect on your career thus far, think about the various jobs you’ve had and what drove you to choose those employers and roles. Catalog the skills you gained in each position and think about how you marshalled those into your next position, or how you built a body of experience over time. As you write your career story you will probably begin to notice common threads: interests, skills, and motivations that have propelled you. 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 9

Retrospective: big fish/small pond → small fish/big pond to get large, global enterprise exposure (example) 2008 -2016 2006 -2008 1999 -2000 Assoc. Dir/ 2001 -2006 Marketing Director Senior Manager e-Business Analyst VP of IT IT Business & Engagement Marketing Cognizant Palm PCSNetworks 22 Employees Did solution sales, consulting, and relationship management for VAR reselling hardware and software to Small Business (Microsoft, Novell, Cisco, Citrix, Compaq, Sonic. WALL) 11/28/2020 Mc. Guire Real Estate 1, 200 People; Iconic Silicon Valley Brand 225 People Led IT and Marketing for a traditional brand that wanted to adopt the Internet in its business Led the comprehensive update of company systems Created modern, customercentric consumer website and back office systems; brought brand into the 21 st Century First large scale IT experience Worked with Product Marketing, Engineering, and Business Development on Palm Web. OS Outsourced IT Applications to India Began re-pivot towards formal Marketing job roles COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 225, 000 People; $12 B Fortune 500 and Nasdaq-100 Business Solutions provider for largest global companies in the world Have done 5 major roles: o 2008: Program Manager o 2008 -2010: Account Manager o 2010 -2014: Web Editor/Director o 2013: completed Babson MBA o 2014 -2016: Director of Product & Solutions Marketing (*Promoted to Director in 2014) 10

Thank you! COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 11/28/2020 COPYRIGHT VIVEK ASIJA 2016 WWW. VIVEKASIJA. COM 11