A new year is here, which means many of us resolve to make changes in our lives. Maybe you’ve resolved to lose weight, exercise more or change other lifestyle habits that you’ve been putting off for some time. Why not also make a resolution to move your career forward? Now is the perfect time to set some career goals to help take your career to the next level. Not sure where to start? Consider these ideas for setting and achieving career goals so that this time next year you’ll be saying, “Look what I’ve done!” instead of “Why didn’t I …?”
Envision Your Future
Take your lunch hour and spend it on your own, envisioning your future. Where do you see yourself a year from now? Five years from now? Ten years? What kind of work do you want to be doing? What do you not want to be doing? Your goal doesn’t have to be a big one, but it can help you think big and plan small steps to get there.
Maybe there’s not a specific job title or position that you’re after, but what kind of experience do you hope to gain? Do you want to be given an assignment to travel to another country? Or work on a team with a leader you admire?
Set Developmental Goals
A goal is more than a single task. It’s great when you accomplish something on your “to do” list, and it can help you on your path to a goal, but to make real progress you may need to add skills, gain experience, or modify a behavior to get you there. Start by setting some goals and identifying a series of tasks that’ll help you achieve those goals. This is a great way to help turn your vision of the future into a reality. Mind Tools has some great tips for personal goal planning that may be helpful as you plot your course.
Put Your Goals Into Action
Once you’ve identified what you hope to accomplish, put those goals into action. Become a leader in your organization, even if it’s not the leader. (After all, not everyone can be CEO!) Volunteer for positions on advisory councils or committees. Think beyond your current job to opportunities and experiences that could take you further. Doing this may spark ideas for something you hadn’t even considered.
Volunteer for a position on the board of a professional society. That can also be a great way to gain experience to prepare you for your next role at work, and it can help you brush up on leadership, marketing and communication skills.
Do the Job Before You Get the Title
You may not have your dream job … yet. And chances are your title may not be the one you’re striving for, but don’t let that hold you back. Demonstrate your willingness to learn new things, take on new tasks, and do the work for the job you want — before you get it. You’ll prove yourself to be a valuable resource who adds value to the organization. And your management team is more likely to see you as a candidate for a future role if they already see you doing that role.
Read!
The most successful people in the world have one thing in common: They never stop learning! Reading is a great way add perspective to your career without actually having been there yourself. Does your company publish a list of books your CEO recommends? If so, check it out! They likely didn’t get to the top by mistake. If not, ask people you respect or who work in your field to share their recommendations for books that have had an impact on them. Need more ideas? Check out the Huffington Post’s Top 10 Greatest Business Books of All Time.
Network
Still not sure what you see for yourself in the future? Or maybe you do, but you’re not sure how to get there? Talk to people about their jobs for inspiration. Ask what they like about their job, what they would do differently or who has been the most influential in their professional lives. You never know where your next opportunity will come from. So whether you’re standing in line at the coffee shop or riding in the elevator with someone at work, take advantage of every opportunity to network. If you’re not a confident networker, try these conversation starters for a way to kick off the conversation.
Write It Down!
The most successful people not only have goals, but they write them down and share them with others. Harvard conducted a study in which participants were asked if they had clear, written goals. Interviews 10 years later showed that those who wrote down their goals were earning twice the amount of their classmates without written goals. Now that’s an incentive!
With a little bit of planning, this might just be the year you make that big career change or learn a new skill to help you advance. What things will you do differently in 2015 to grow your career? I’d love to hear from you!
Sue Maden is Education & Training Manager for Burns & McDonnell. She oversees Burns & McDonnell University, providing professional growth and development to move employees’ careers forward. Sue creates resources for instructors to improve the course development process, simplifies access to learning for employees and looks for ways to increase benefits of collaboration and informal learning at Burns & McDonnell.
The post Setting Career Goals for the New Year appeared first on The Burns & McDonnell Careers Blog.