by: Roger Clark
Goal Setting & Research
You can only set informed career goals if you acquire plenty of information about the career choices open to you. This will require research which can be conducted online or through a local library. You can also visit professional career planning offices to find out about the services they offer.
While goal setting, you should consider all possible alternatives available to you
Maybe some career that you never thought of before, will appear as the right choice for you.
Goal setting can give you the direction that ultimately leads you to achieving your desired career goals.
Job seekers looking for a transition into a new career need to take time to begin their goal setting process.
Types Of Goals
There are two types of goal setting, short term and long term. Short term goals are the things you want to accomplish before three years. Long term goals are the things you will be working to accomplish through many years.
Besides your professional goals, you should also take into account the personal goals you want to accomplish over a period of time.
Your personal goals may involve your family, relationships, travel, education you want to complete and leisure time you want to set aside. Your personal and professional goals are intertwined and are an important part of the goal setting process.
Decision Time...
After your research, you will have to make a decision. The decision should take into account not only the end goal but your path towards achieving that goal. You should write down the goals so you can map your way to achieving them.
Your goal setting exercises should help develop well defined goals, instead of general and imprecise ones
It is important that you realize your commitment to the goals you have set for yourself. You will be highly committed if the goals you set are something you really want to accomplish.
Make Your Goals Realistic
If your goals are too hard to accomplish, you will be constantly falling short.
You probably want to become CEO the first year you start working for a company. The goal might be highly tempting but probably not realistic.
You also need to set you goals to be fairly challenging, rather than just sticking to simple and easy to attain goals.