Is Your Career Where You Want It To Be? How to Set Career Goals

As the year advances, many Minneapolis-area professionals will be taking a look at their careers and asking whether they’re on track to reach their goals.  If you’re one of them, here is a “quick-start” guide for setting career goals that will move you closer to your dreams in the coming year.

Evaluate where you’ve been.

What were your goals this year?  How close did you come to meeting them?  If you met your goals, what helped you get there – and if not, what hindered you or held you back?  The more carefully you think through where you’ve been, the easier it is to identify obstacles and opportunities going forward.

Get SMART.

Setting SMART goals is essential for success.  A SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Based.

Non-SMART goals can be tough to reach.  An example of a not-so-SMART goal is “I will get a promotion.”  What sort of promotion?  How will you know when you’ve received the promotion you want – will it involve a new title, a new set of responsibilities, higher pay or all three?  What do you need to do in order to achieve it?  Can you do it in the time you have and with the resources you have?

A SMARTer way to phrase that goal might be “I will earn the title of Department Manager by the end of the year.”  This goal is Specific: It identifies exactly the promotion you want.  It’s Measurable: You’ll know whether or not you reached it if you are Department Manager by the time 2018 arrives.  A conversation with your supervisor about the specific steps you need to take to get there will tell you whether or not it is Achievable and Realistic.  And it’s Time-Based: You know you have a year to get it done.

Talk to your recruiter.

Staffing firms specialize in helping job seekers and career professionals reach their goals.  If your goals aren’t in line with your company’s plans for you, or if one of your goals is “find a great new job in the Twin Cities as soon as possible,” talk to a staffing firm today.

At THE RIGHT STAFF, LLC, our recruiters specialize in helping you set goals and meet them in your job search or career.  Contact us today to learn more.

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