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Know your career goals

Career Goals

by Charlotte Gurney

It is now the ideal time to review your career goals. How do you feel about where you are right now in your career - and where do you want to go next? Having an awareness of your goals can make you feel empowered to start working towards them, help you focus on areas for improvement and generally motivate you to make progress. So, what do you need to do to know your career goals this year?

Assess your current situation

The first step is always going to be to look at where you are right now. This is the starting point from which you’ll be able to determine what you want to gain from your career this year; whether that’s a promotion, pay rise or moving roles completely. One of the simplest ways to assess your current mindset is to focus on how you feel day to day. Are you engaged with what you’re doing? Do you feel appreciated and rewarded? Are you getting what you hoped for from the job? If you feel things are starting to stagnate, then it may be time for change.

Stay on top of the cutting edge of your industry

What are the most recent emerging skills in your sector? Given the speed of digitization and the way many industries have changed in recent years, staying on top of the latest skills you’ll need to have to make your career objectives a reality is going to be a vital part of establishing the right goals.

Set realistic long and short-term goals

The goals that you set should be achievable and realistic and divided into those that you want to make happen in the next 12 months and those that could take a lot longer, say up to five years. It may help to have the input of your manager when it comes to defining your goals, from the perspective of what’s available in the industry, as well as what your performance so far indicates you can do.

Ensure that you know what you’re worth

Any career goal is probably going to involve a financial incentive, so it’s well worth looking into salary benchmarks within your industry, including whether you’re being paid what you’re worth now and what you could aim for in the future.

Do you have more in you?

Now is a great time to review the kind of role you’ve always played within teams and whether it’s time for this to change. For example, have you always been a follower, but know that you could thrive in a leadership role? Are you ready to take on more responsibilities? This is the time to be honest with yourself and decide whether you’re currently delivering with respect to the role you’re in. If you think you have more in the tank, then there are goals you could set around productivity and growing your existing skillset that would improve your experience and in turn the likelihood of you stepping up to a more senior role.

Consider the culture and people

Your career goals should also take into account how your workplace makes you feel - and whether that needs to change. Think about whether you feel properly supported, whether you have access to mentors and coaches who can steer you and what kind of atmosphere there is in your workplace - does the culture there breed positivity and proactiveness or negativity and unhappiness?

How we can help

Taking the time to evaluate your current skillset, frame of mind and where you want your career to be heading over the next few years will help you to find clarity around what steps you need to take to achieve your goals. To find out how the team here at Volt can help you on this journey, please visit the ‘Candidates’ page on our website for more information.