How to Develop Career Goals

Career Planning MUST Include
Realistic Goal Setting

Developing career goals that make sense for you is an essential step in successful career planning.

Goals are the foundation to any plan. They give your career development plan focus and help you specify what you are shooting for. In essence, career-oriented goals are the whole point of a career development plan. Besides focus, a goal is a sort of target that shapes the direction of a written plan.

You simply can't ignore this step!

But you're probably wondering where to start with your career goal setting, right?

Don't worry... I'm here to help, as usual!

1 - Keep Goals Short, Sharp & Tightly Focused

Setting specific and realistic career goals is crucial

When starting out with career goal setting, it's crucial to set short-term, incremental goals. Work your way up to tougher, more complex goals in your career development plan later on.

Don't set the bar so high you can't succeed, or you'll just end up disappointing yourself. And that won't get you where you want to go.

Also, keep your goal time fairly short-term. Short-range goals are very important. Set a goal you can achieve in the first month and then add on new short-term goals a little bit each month thereafter. Don't give up too early on... give yourself a chance to succeed.

2 - Set Reasonable and Reachable Goals

You MUST make sure that the goals you set for your career are reasonable. Same goes for your career development plan. So often, we act as though more is better. While it is perfectly OK to stretch yourself and your abilities, if you expect to achieve total career success right away, you're bound to feel like you failed when it doesn't happen.

So, forget about being a superstar for now. Dreams definitely have a place in career planning, but remember that career success always takes hard work, determination, and maybe a little luck.

Shoot for achieving career success in small bites. As you move step-by-step through your career development plan and achieve each of your career goals, your confidence builds.

If you fall down... get back up. Miss the target and make the correction with new career goal setting. Go back again into the job hunt with renewed enthusiasm and determination!

In Summary...

A plan without goals rarely works... because how can you make a plan, if you don't know what you're shooting for or where you're going? Without goals, a plan is meaningless. So, make the first step in your career planning the setting of career goals... and you will have a much better chance at career success!