A thousand-mile journey starts with the first step. A lifetime career starts with the first job. I've been starting my career for a few decades, so I know what I'm talking about.

Plan up
There are two kinds of careers: planned and unplanned. And there are plenty of people who believe that there's a direct correlation between the kind of career you choose and the kind of retirement you wind up with.

It isn't that they don't want money or a comfortable retirement. It's just that planning is so . . . predetermining. So confining.

But compared to what? I mean, some pretty basic things can't be planned. The family you're born into, for a start. And for most people, where you go to high school. If you're lucky, you get some choice about where you attend college, but it isn't exactly something you plan for much ahead of time, unless you come from one of those families where the last eight generations went to Yale or cornell and the previous one helped found it. Let's just hope that wherever you went to college, you spent your time there wisely, took courses that matched your interests, got decent grades, and clicked with a few professors who will write you glowing reference letters.

Let's say you did, more or less, and now it's time to choose that all-important next step. You can do one of two things. You can choose in accordance with some guidelines-that is, make a plan-or you can drift into life without a rudder.

So your plan will have to change, even if you've planned every detail. Especially if you've planned every detail. In fact, the single most important thing about a plan is that it's changeable! You may find that your plan doesn't work. Okay; you change it. In doing so you learn something about what you want and don't want. That's a gain you might not have realized without a plan to measure yourself against.

Bottom line: Take your best shot at a career plan now, and refine it later, as you go. Think you want to work with people? Plan to be a teacher or a salesperson or a social worker or a management consultant. Think you want to work with numbers? Plan to be an accountant or an engineer or an investment banker. Research the industries you're interested in. Find out where the jobs are and what qualifications they require. Map out the steps that will lead to your first job in a field that appeals to you.

Referring to the advertised position
This could also fall into the standard category if not done properly. Instead of mentioning the usual " With reference to your advertisement for the position of.." you can try an alternative approach which at least is less cliched -" You may find my experience suitable for the position of..' according to what was mentioned in your advertisement. "

Whatever approach to the opening lines you find suitable, the important thing to remember is that you need to GET TO THE POINT QUICKLY!