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How to Set New Career Goals And Plan For Success

Building a rewarding career to last a lifetime requires a well-considered approach, no matter the industry. You need to regularly set both long-term and short-term goals. Of course, you also need to modify them as you progress through your career and situations change. Self-analysis also plays a critical role in defining the right goals for your professional hopes and dreams.

So let’s take a closer look at how to set career goals to lead to a successful professional life. Leveraging the advice of a mentor and manager also helps. However, your success ultimately depends on the effort you make to turn those dreams into reality.

Perform Some Self-Analysis Before Setting Goals

As noted earlier, regular self-analysis helps inform any goal-setting process. Ultimately, determining your skills and aptitude in addition to your career dreams leads to more accurate goals. Set both long-term and short-term goals at this point. Longer goals typically require a few years to achieve, while shorter ones generally get accomplished in less than a year. That’s not a rule set in stone, so use those timeframes as a loose guideline.

In addition to self-analysis, some advice from your manager or a mentor provides useful insights on your goals. A manager might understand your skill set better than yourself. Their encouragement helps you set and achieve larger goals than you thought possible. In short, a few outside opinions are definitely useful.

Take a SMART Approach to Your Professional Goals

The SMART acronym provides a helpful framework when setting professional goals. In this case, SMART stands for:

  • Specific: Each goal needs to be sharply defined. For example, instead of becoming a successful professional, set a goal to become a technology manager.
  • Measurable: Ensuring each goal is measurable helps you track your progress towards achieving it.
  • Avoid Negativity: Setting a goal not to be fired isn’t the right approach. Instead, focus on tangible positive goals, like earning a degree or promotion.
  • Realistic: Ensure every goal is a realistic one. Let your manager or mentor offer insights on each.
  • Tie Actions to Each Goal: Once every goal is defined, create an action plan for each one. This makes it easier to work hard towards achieving them.

Following these simple steps makes it easy to set the goals you need for a successful career. Treat each day as an opportunity to make progress towards achieving each one!

If you need help building a successful career, reach out to the expert recruiters at Venteon. As one of the top staffing agencies in Michigan, we know the companies looking for talented candidates like you. Connect with us soon! Explore opportunities here!

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