Setting Career Goals
Still unsure of which career path to take? Looking for information to set career goals?
The career goals you may have in mind will depend on where you are in life, whether you're searching for a career, about to embark on one, looking to advance in one, or seeking change.
In all cases, here are useful tips that can help you set your goals and plan your career path.
1. Write down your goals. Writing meaningful goals can be difficult at times, as the goals need to be specific, and expressed in such a way as to allow you to measure your progress as you work towards achieving them. A certain amount of self evaluation may be in order.
An important ground rule - your goals should reflect what you want to do or become, what you believe you need to be doing, and what you have a passion for, not what someone else expects or wants from you. Goals address both the end result, as well the actions required to get there, e.g., performance goals.
2. Research, research, research. Whether you're starting a new career or trying to advance in your present one, your newly defined goals may take you into uncharted waters. Attempt to find out as much as you can about the path you're going to be taking. In almost every instance of successfully advancing towards a career goal, knowledge is power.
3. Have a plan. A plan for achieving a career goal isn't something you write down on the back of an envelope. As you research your chosen goal, parts of your plan should start to fall into place. Keeping a journal will be very helpful in this respect.
Even better would be a workbook, if one is available that is applicable to your chosen career or the type of goal you are setting for yourself. As your plan progresses in time, distant milestones may be difficult to define. Keep focused on your ultimate goal, and eventually they too will fall into place.
4. Establish a network and find a mentor. A network is not a group of working associates engaged in office politics. It is a group of people, each having specialized knowledge that you can tap.
Try to seek out those smarter than you, they have the most to offer, and often are most helpful. A good mentor not only possesses knowledge, but wisdom as well, and a good mentor will want you to succeed. Seek out someone who appears to have these attributes. He or she is worth their weight in gold.
5. Take action and stay focused. The first milestone in your career goals plan should be one that prompts you to take action right away. If you make a halfhearted effort towards the career goals you've set, you're unlikely to ever meet them.
Staying focused doesn't mean a single-minded effort. You're always going to have to be aware of the world around you, especially to changes that are happening, but you need to stay focused on meeting your goals as long as they remain relevant.
6. Be prepared for change and failures. Once you've set your career goals, and achieved them, hopefully you'll reap the rewards of your hard work and enjoy your life and your career as you've envisioned it. Along the way however, things will happen.
You'll undoubtedly hit some bumps or suffer some failures. Short of something catastrophic, failures can have their own rewards, as you learn from them and gain experience. At times, your end goals may seem to be moving targets, and some may even become irrelevant.
When planning your career path, be aware that change may be a constant visitor, sometimes welcome, sometimes not.
Perhaps the most important thing of all is to have a passion for what you want to be, and what you want to do. Having a passion for your career makes a rough road smoother, your performance better, and your career and life more fulfilling..It also makes setting your career goals easier.
The career goals you may have in mind will depend on where you are in life, whether you're searching for a career, about to embark on one, looking to advance in one, or seeking change.
In all cases, here are useful tips that can help you set your goals and plan your career path.
1. Write down your goals. Writing meaningful goals can be difficult at times, as the goals need to be specific, and expressed in such a way as to allow you to measure your progress as you work towards achieving them. A certain amount of self evaluation may be in order.
An important ground rule - your goals should reflect what you want to do or become, what you believe you need to be doing, and what you have a passion for, not what someone else expects or wants from you. Goals address both the end result, as well the actions required to get there, e.g., performance goals.
2. Research, research, research. Whether you're starting a new career or trying to advance in your present one, your newly defined goals may take you into uncharted waters. Attempt to find out as much as you can about the path you're going to be taking. In almost every instance of successfully advancing towards a career goal, knowledge is power.
3. Have a plan. A plan for achieving a career goal isn't something you write down on the back of an envelope. As you research your chosen goal, parts of your plan should start to fall into place. Keeping a journal will be very helpful in this respect.
Even better would be a workbook, if one is available that is applicable to your chosen career or the type of goal you are setting for yourself. As your plan progresses in time, distant milestones may be difficult to define. Keep focused on your ultimate goal, and eventually they too will fall into place.
4. Establish a network and find a mentor. A network is not a group of working associates engaged in office politics. It is a group of people, each having specialized knowledge that you can tap.
Try to seek out those smarter than you, they have the most to offer, and often are most helpful. A good mentor not only possesses knowledge, but wisdom as well, and a good mentor will want you to succeed. Seek out someone who appears to have these attributes. He or she is worth their weight in gold.
5. Take action and stay focused. The first milestone in your career goals plan should be one that prompts you to take action right away. If you make a halfhearted effort towards the career goals you've set, you're unlikely to ever meet them.
Staying focused doesn't mean a single-minded effort. You're always going to have to be aware of the world around you, especially to changes that are happening, but you need to stay focused on meeting your goals as long as they remain relevant.
6. Be prepared for change and failures. Once you've set your career goals, and achieved them, hopefully you'll reap the rewards of your hard work and enjoy your life and your career as you've envisioned it. Along the way however, things will happen.
You'll undoubtedly hit some bumps or suffer some failures. Short of something catastrophic, failures can have their own rewards, as you learn from them and gain experience. At times, your end goals may seem to be moving targets, and some may even become irrelevant.
When planning your career path, be aware that change may be a constant visitor, sometimes welcome, sometimes not.
Perhaps the most important thing of all is to have a passion for what you want to be, and what you want to do. Having a passion for your career makes a rough road smoother, your performance better, and your career and life more fulfilling..It also makes setting your career goals easier.
