SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series: Setting Goals
You Can Achieve Any Dream You Desire
(
21 pages )
Setting
Career Goals
One of the toughest
issues in making a good career choice and career goal setting
is identifying what it is that you want. Even when it seems
that you know what you want, you may still have doubts on
if your career choice is the right one for you.
Reaching clarity
in those issues may be the most important thing you can do
in your career planning and goal setting. Here are a few
career goal setting guidelines that can help.
Most people,
even very successful ones, have some periods in their career
path when they seem unsure about their career choice and
goals. It is totally human to feel that way.
Often, such periods
just come and go. For example, they come when you face some
overwhelming obstacles on your way. It is all over as soon
as you get through these obstacles.
That situation
by itself is not a problem of choosing a career, only a test
of your perseverance in seeing it through but what if those
doubts persist, or if they always live somewhere in the background
of your thoughts? If it just does not feel right?
If this is the
case, then it is time to look more carefully at your career
choice and overall career objectives.
Often we choose
or are placed in a career because it just seems like the
right step to make or that is what your studies have focused
on.
The only problem
is that sometimes that passion that we once had as a young
adult are now gone, or the realism of the job has taken the
interest and joy out of it.
That is when it
is time to set a new career goal or objective. Choosing
the right career goal to sink into requires a great deal
of soul searching. You need to ask yourself these questions
beforehand:
- Am I making
the kind of money that I want to make?
- Do I want to
make more money?
- Does money
even matter to me?
- Do I like what
I’m doing right now?
- What am I
passionate about?
- What could
I be doing that would make me happier than I am right now?
- Would I be
happier simply switching positions or getting a promotion;
or would I be happier changing careers all together?
- Why am I still
working here?
- What is stopping
me from leaving this job or getting that promotion?
- What is stopping
me from leaving this job?
These are all vital questions that you have to ask yourself
before deciding what your career goals are going to be. If
you are honest with yourself, you will know exactly what
direction you should be going in.
Without being
honest with yourself you can’t expect to better your life,
you can only expect to have to ask yourself these questions
all over again until you find happiness.
Career
Goal Setting Plan
The following
table provides you with a simple outline of the factors you
may want to consider and identify when setting and analyzing
your career goals in a step by step format.
|
Career Goal
You must Define and write them down in order of priority.
|
Benefits
and Advantages of achieving this goal. Listing these
may help to motivate you. |
Key
Steps That you Need to Take. |
When
Will I do This? Give Yourself deadlines. |
Support
and Resources (What support and from whom do I need,
what resources, such as time, money, contacts). |
Outcomes
and Reflection (Record whether you achieved the goal
and what worked or did not work along the way for future
reference) . |
The above table
sort of shows you the who, what, where, when, and how of
career goal setting. It is just like finding the facts for
a story. Journalists have to answer all of these questions
in order to get the full story.
That is the same
thing that you have to when setting career goals. Let me
show you in exact detail in the next diagram.
| Who |
What |
Where |
When |
How |
| Who
will I ask for help? |
What
do I want the outcome to be? |
Where
should I start? |
When
should I begin? |
How
should I begin? |
| Who
will benefit from my career goal? |
What
will I do to get started? |
Where
will my career goal put me in 10 years? |
When
Do I want these goals to be reached? |
How
will these goals affect my future? |
| Who
will I work with to accomplish my goal? |
What
will really make me happy? |
Where
will I apply my resources? |
When
will I apply my knowledge to begin attaining my goals? |
How
do I really feel about the goals that I have chosen? |
Do you see what I’m talking about now? All of these questions
have to be directed before you can begin to work on your career
goals.
They will take
some real thought and honesty to set them properly. When
you have answered these questions you next have to begin
to prioritize them. Let me show you an example.
John Smith wants
to be the President of his company one day. Right now he
is a mere data entry clerk. His company is a large corporation
that works with computer repairs and security. John knows
everything there is to know about computer repairs and can
fix almost any computer he will ever look at.
He is efficient
at using and finding hackers and securing computers are not
hacked into. His boss is currently ignoring his advice so
John is not so sure how to go about getting his dream of
being president of the company someday which he is more than
capable of doing already. What should he do?
This is a time
when John should begin to prioritize and decide how he can
get to his goal. His ultimate goal is to be company president
and he wants to accomplish this in 10 years.
John is currently
26 years old. Since he knows the what and the when; he must
decide everything else. I opted to show you his possible
steps in an easy to read table……again.
|
|
Steps
for How
|
Steps
for answering what
|
Steps
for why
|
Steps
for When
|
Steps
for where
|
|
1
|
I
will make a to-do list
|
I
will put my ideas for improvement in it
|
I
want to move up the next position at work
|
I
will do this today!
|
I
will do this in private
|
|
2
|
How
can I get noticed
|
I
will make a presentation showing my idea for improvement
|
Because
I can’t move up if no one knows I’m there
|
I
will do this the day it is finished
|
I
will do this at work
|
|
3
|
How
can I let my work be seen
|
I
will now show my superior my presentation
|
I
know my work is good and strong
|
I
will do this when I know my boss can’t ignore me
|
I
will do this in my bosses office or invite him to my
house
|
|
4
|
How
can I get the higher ups to see my work?
|
I
will schedule time with a major company player to give
my ideas
|
I
can’t move up until I make friends with higher ups
|
I
will invite colleagues and higher ups to a cocktail
party this weekend
|
I
will do this during a meeting
|
|
5
|
How
can I keep moving up?
|
Now
that I’m getting closer to higher ups I will share
my ideas verbally & get impression
|
|
I
will do this after 3 months of making friends with
higher ups
|
I
will bring these up at meetings with backup presentation
ready if requested
|
This is just a
sample of the first 3 months of John executing his goal to
get higher in the company.
Naturally becoming
president will take a lot longer than 3 months but getting
closer to superiors and colleagues at work is a great start
as long as you don’t step on anyone’s toes and build their
trust. Over time, you can introduce your ideas and present
them in a professional manner at the right time.
When you see that
your company needs help on something work in secret and bring
in a finished product at the right time or schedule private
meetings with your boss.
This shows that
you are not only ambitious but also motivated and determined.
It is a great way to move up in the company. In order to
do this properly, you must take the steps in succession and
not try to become a president in 1 year. That is unrealistic.
Although John
will want to begin working for his long term goal of being
company president, he should also begin by setting short
term goals that will lead him there.
The first goal
can start with moving up one position at work and continue
on in this method. That way he can celebrate each promotion
and advancement separately rather than focusing only on his
inability to make president right away.
From here, John
should just follow the step by step methods mentioned in
the above sections for exact steps to attaining and setting
goals. Just remember that you have to develop an action plan
if you are going to succeed.
Four strategies
can help you to develop an effective action plan.
• State your goal
in very specific terms that you can accept
• Plan backwards from your goal for the best results
• Confront your fears and expectations immediately and progressively
• Put your plan on paper and into action as soon as possible
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