A guide to developing career goals and accomplishing them

A career is a journey. Every job you have within a particular field can facilitate that journey and help you advance to higher positions. Advancement may come easily to some people, but many of us need direction and a deliberate mindset to rise in the ranks of our chosen professions. That's where career goals come into play. Having career goals is like following a set of directions. It can take away much of the guesswork from your career trajectory, allowing you to move steadily toward the finish line that you visualize.

However, developing career goals requires a deep analysis of your interests and abilities as well as an awareness of what it takes to achieve success in your industry. To help overcome the challenge, refer to the following guide to developing and setting goals for career growth.

What are career goals?

Career goals, career development goals, or professional development goals are targets you want to accomplish relating to your profession. Goals can be short term, long term or a combination of both. Some of the best-defined career goals are long-term objectives that require smaller short-term accomplishments to achieve. Such goals represent a step-by-step progression toward your idea of success.

Examples of major career goals

Here are some examples of long-term career development goals and the short-term targets that may lead to fulfilling them:

• Build a stable career: The desire to have a career, rather than just a series of jobs, is in itself an excellent career goal. Associated short-term goals might include developing the skills necessary to excel in your role, cultivating healthy and lasting professional relationships, and earning a higher salary year after year.
• Achieve personal development: Personal development is a broad idea that relates to continuous growth — improving so that you become increasingly more effective and valuable over time. Short-term goals for personal development include learning a new skill, taking on more responsibilities in the workplace, or learning from a mentor. 
• Achieve more academically: You can think of education-based career goals as an extension of personal development goals. Ongoing academic achievement is also a job requirement in many professions. Medical professionals, for example, must earn education credentials throughout their careers, so their short-term goals might be to finish medical school, earn a medical license, earn additional certifications, and take continuing education courses.
• Become a leader: Leaders are responsible for making high-stakes decisions and directing companies toward their organizational goals. Leaders often start from modest roles and climb their way to executive positions. If you aspire to leadership, some of your short-term goals might be to gain experience, earn strong performance reviews, take on more responsibilities, earn promotions, and oversee projects.
• Start a business: The desire to become a leader commonly extends to starting a business. For example, as a member of an accounting firm, you may not be content with being a partner and decide instead to build your own firm from the bottom up. That might begin with working as a partner at an existing firm before focusing on short-term goals, such as writing a business plan, securing funding, and choosing a business structure.

Why is it important to set career goals?

The importance of setting career goals lies in the sense of direction it can provide you. When you have a clear idea of your ideal career trajectory, you essentially have a road map to success, with each subsequent goal as a milestone. Completing each one gets you closer to your ultimate career destination. A step-by-step approach is usually much easier to manage than trying to go from start to finish directly. Goal setting also offers a set of mental and emotional advantages throughout your career.

Measurability

Your short-term goals can help you measure whether or not you're doing well in your career. If you've been able to check off a handful of milestones already, you know you're on the right path. If not, you may need to make some adjustments to correct your course. 

Intentionality

Intentionality means having and acting with purpose. Well-defined career goals can remind you of your purpose and drive you to make positive decisions. Even on challenging days, you can reflect on your goals and know that you're working toward something bigger and better. 

Perspective

Your goals show you what to accomplish to achieve success. So, when you realize a major accomplishment or experience a setback, you can view it within the bigger picture and use it to guide you toward the next milestone. 

Resilience

The ability to view your professional activities as milestones is important for building resilience. When you fall short of a goal, you're more likely to understand how to make changes to get where you want to go. 

"The importance of setting career goals lies in the sense of direction it can provide you. When you have a clear idea of your ideal career trajectory, you essentially have a road map to success, with each subsequent goal as a milestone."

How to set goals for career growth

Consider the following steps if you're ready to develop a cohesive set of goals to map out your career.

Define success

Success is your ultimate destination and where your career goals should lead, but the definition of success differs from person to person. Begin by defining what success means to you. Then, you can develop goals to foster your growth and professional advancement. For example, if you feel that success means rising to a high-level position, you'll probably have a different set of goals than if you define success as having enough security to enjoy personal pleasures.

Use the SMART framework

SMART is an acronym that stands for:

• Specific: What exactly do you want to accomplish, and what steps will be involved?
• Measurable: What criteria determine whether or not you've achieved the goal?
• Achievable: How realistic is the goal, considering your abilities and resources?
• Relevant: How does this goal relate to your idea of success? That is, why are you setting it?
• Time-bound: What's your deadline?

The SMART approach is helpful because it details what you hope to achieve, associates your goals with your idea of success, sets benchmarks that define when you attain your milestones, and offers a time frame for accomplishing your goals. 

Break your long-term goal down into short-term milestones

Your long-term goal is your destination, and your short-term objectives are the milestones. To develop your milestones, start with the destination and move backward. If your ultimate goal is to become a leader, for example, ask yourself what position precedes leadership, and then set yourself the goal of attaining that position. From there, define the necessary steps to rise to that secondary role, and so on, until you reach the point of describing your current point in your career.

Sometimes, realizing your career goals means moving on to a job with a different employer. If you need help advancing to the next stage of your career, upload your resume to CareerBuilder and begin your job search today. 

More tips about advancing in your career

You can set yourself up for career advancement even before you start your career. A summer internship, for example, is a terrific starting point for an aspiring professional.

People within and outside of your field can help you realize your career goals. That's why it's so important to learn how to network.

You may want to consider going back to school for further study. The challenge lies in juggling your career with your academic responsibilities.