A career goal is said to be an ultimate status or profession that any individual wants to pursue in their career. The importance of a career goal can be understood when it comes to seeking a job or profession. It is essential for a job seeking individual to explain their career goal clearly to enable themselves and others to come up with the right action plan. A career goal needs to be adhere to some guidelines to make it effective. Keeping unrealistic goals in mind can lead individuals to failure and disappointment. However, it should not mean that people cannot set a final goal from day one. A better way to motivate one is to create resolutions and follow them willingly.
Breaking Apart Goals
Goal setting regarding your career can be an easy thing to do. The main object is to target your goal for yourself so it will lead to achieving it by following your targets. What brings achievement to people are personal objectives.
To understand this, consider someone who wants to be a mobile app developer at a certain age. They must pass through different phases and platforms to reach their final destination. Initially, they are required to pass their college exams and later they would need to appear in an aptitude test for a software engineering degree or certificate program. To pass the test, they may be required to prepare for the test and interview. After passing the test, they need to study tirelessly to expand their level of understanding and learning.
Meanwhile, they should look for the opportunities and prospects for getting a good job as a designer. Mastering a specific skill or area may lead them to a better position in the market. The whole process shows that in order to reach a specific career goal, an individual needs to go through several steps and be determined to achieve their career goal.
Types of Goals
In obtaining a career goal, you set different sub-goals. Some of them are short term while others are long term goals. The primary objective in achieving a higher goal is the short term goal that leads to the final goal. In setting a goal, there is a group of some short term goals that combine to fulfill a larger goal. Short term goals are those goals that are achievable in a period of 6 months to the span of three years whereas to achieve a long-term goal, it takes a period of three to five years. Goals which take less than six months fall into the short term goal type while those which take more than five years come under the category of long term goals.
Related: 7 Smart Ways to Ask for a Salary Raise
Setting Career Goals
The first step in setting a career goal is to define a goal. A person needs to determine to accomplish the goals they set. If somebody does not outline their goal on a regular basis, it may become even more difficult for them to get there.
By using the SMART approach for setting goals, an individual may pursue their goal in a better and improved way. The SMART approach for goal setting calls for being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.
1. Specific
A person should not only focus on being successful while setting their career goal. What success means to them is crucial here. The meaning of success for one person may vary from another person. Success may be defined as attaining financial freedom for a person and another may decide that success is becoming a CEO of a reputed company. In summary, career goals should be specific for different individuals depending on their varying choices.
2. Measurable
Career goals need to be measurable. The individual must have a grasp on measuring the outcome of their goals. People should set a timeframe to get things done in a certain time period. When an individual is able to achieve their short term goals in their given time period, they get a better hold on their long term goals leading towards the ultimate goal of their career.
3. Achievable
Career goals must be achievable under normal human conditions and must not require some super human qualities to get to them. Therefore, goals need to be set on the criteria of human longing rather than something very demanding that is not possible to achieve under normal human circumstances. Also, a goal needs to be set upon the requirements of the person instead of something they want to avoid. For this very reason, people should not aim at leaving a particular position or job within a certain time period but they should focus on developing their required skills during the period of their job.
Related: 8 Ways to Show Your Boss You’re Ready for That Leadership Role
4. Realistic
To make your goals achievable, you need to set your goals in a realistic manner. It doesn’t make logic for a person to set a goal of winning an Oscar award for writing a great piece when they have never been into writing and reading. On the contrary, a goal must not be so simple that it doesn’t challenge an individual. A career goal should be outlined in a way that it must challenge a person and if the person can easily meet the short term goals, they must escalate the limits of their goals to make them challenging.
5. Time Bound
Every sub goal in an outlined career goal needs to be time bound. The goal maker must set a certain time to achieve every goal. Moreover, listing down the required actions with a goal can make it easy to achieve it in a defined timeframe. Defined action in a defined period of time makes the whole process of goal attainment easy.
Goals Tracking Mobile Apps
Here are some mobile apps to help you track of your goals.
- Strides
- Weekdone
- Goals on Track
- Click Up
These apps are available thanks to the mobile app development companies that developed them to help you achieve your career goals. Using these apps can help you keep a track of your goals and stay determined throughout the journey. However, the most important element is to stay resilient while completing your goal and take it to the final step.
Related: 8 Expert Tips to Ace Your Job Interviews and Get a Dream Job