Transcript Tips on Career Goal Setting

Tips on Career Goal Setting
By Clarke Cagingin,
SOSC 125W student
What is a Career Goal?
• A goal in general is a result one wants to
achieve.
• Goals require varying amounts of effort,
depending on how much work is to be done
and how much time there is to do it.
• Career goals pertain to one’s career and
improvement in its quality.
Components of an Effective Goal
• Goals must be specific, measurable, and
realistic.
- Specific means that the conditions are
concretely defined. For example, “I want to
sell more product isn’t specific enough, but “I
want to sell at least 25% more product this
month than last month” is much better.
Components of an Effective Goal
(Continued)
• Measurable means that there is a way to
measure your progress. In the example stated
in the previous slide, the salesperson can see
how much they sold (20 more cell phones, for
example) by keeping track on something like a
document.
Components of an Effective Goal
(Continued)
• Realistic means that the goal is attainable within
one’s abilities, position in the workplace, and
time.
• An unrealistic goal would definitely be “I want to
be CEO in three months” by a new, low level
employee. There are too many things to do in so
little time for that to happen.
• A more realistic goal would be “I want to get the
promotion one week early” by an employee
who’s been there a while and has been
consistently doing great work.
Goal Scope
• There are long-term goals and there are shortterm goals.
• Long-term goals tend to take a year or more
(maybe even a decade) to complete. These
goals are major.
• Short-term goals take about a month or less to
complete, and mainly consist of minor tasks.
• Some long-term goals can be broken up into
several short-term goals.
Goal Priorities
• There are different levels of priority in goal
setting.
• Some goals are classified as “must complete”,
where there are highly negative ramifications for
not completing them. Usually they relate to
overall finances or retention of a job, especially a
good one.
• Other goals are not as important, and vary in
importance. The less important ones could be
unfinished and not negatively affect one’s career
much, if at all.
Goal Updating
• You should check on your goal progress
regularly. At least once a week or two weeks is
good for most medium-sized goals.
• Checking on your goals allows you to make
small changes if you need to, or perhaps it’s
not the right goal for you, so you can also
cancel (as long as there aren’t any
consequences that are too negative).
Why are Career Goals Important?
• Career goals allow you to find opportunities to
push yourself and advance your position in your
career.
• Successfully completing goals can lead to more
work enjoyment, allowing you to do a better job
because you feel good about it.
• Without goals, you could be stuck in the place
you’re in. Perhaps it could be fine if you really like
it and you can make enough to support the
people you need to support (like family), but it’s
good to try to become better.
Ways to Stay on Track
• Remember the reasons why you set the goal,
and the positive effects it will have. Perhaps
you want more respect from working harder.
• Share some of your goals with friends and
family. They can remind you about your goals
and help put you in the right direction.
• Overcome temptation to procrastinate and
become distracted. Physically separate
yourself from distractions if you have to.