Are Career Goals Worth Setting?

Are Career Goals Worth Setting?

Another important aspect of your job search is goal setting.

This is especially important at a time of economic crisis when you might have to take unanticipated detours and can easily lose your way. You will need to have a clear picture of where you want to end up, as well as the steps you need to take in order to get you there in the best and fastest way possible.

It’s crucial to have both short-term goals and long-term goals.

If you have just lost your job and are desperate to earn some money to pay the bills, that will be your short-term goal. But it is very likely that the kind of job you would be prepared to accept to meet that immediate need, would be very different from the type of job you want to be doing in five or ten years’ time.

If you aren’t clear about your goals and the things you need to do to reach them, it’s all to easy to achieve the first goal of getting an emergency job and then find yourself stuck in it years down the line.

So have a brainstorming session and decide what you want for now.

How much do you need to earn right now, rather than how much you would like to earn. Then write down all the useful skills and experience you already have, that is, the things that make you most employable. Next you need to start searching for companies who are currently hiring people with your skills.

Take a close look at all of your soft skills and be sure to note which skills are transferable, that is, can be used in a wide range of different jobs. You will have to look beyond the industries you have already worked in and the job titles you’ve already had.

This could involve stepping outside your comfort zone, but if the skills are transferable, it won’t take much to adapt them for a different setting.

Once you have a temp job, you need to start doing some long term planning.

Write down your dreams and career goals and work backwards from the end goal to today. This will enable you to see what you need to do to reach your goal.

You should do plenty of research – look at different ways of achieving your goals, for example, part time study rather than full time. Look into related careers which you might not have previously thought of.

Talk to people already doing the jobs you are interested in and get their views of the job and their advice.

Be open to new ideas.

If your goals seem too difficult or expensive, make a list of all the skills you want to use and the things you want to do in a job. Then look for other jobs which could be just as satisfying.

Remember that it is the feeling that you get from doing the job which is what you really want, not the job title.

And don’t foget that new jobs are appearing all the time – nowadays there are lots of jobs out there which weren’t even though about fifty years ago.
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