Setting your career goals

There are many people who are dissatisfied in their current jobs. Causative factors for workplace related disgruntlement. Generally are inconvenient timings, frustrating company of an odd coworker and low perks and entitlements, etc. One of he reasons why these factors come into play is that people do not give serious thought to their career goals.

A career is the manner in which a person wants to spend a major part of his life. Irrespective of what career a person selects, he or she ought to be setting goals for furthering own prospects. A clear idea about career goals and objectives is essential if ultimate satisfaction is to be derived. If job contentment is absent, true career advancement cannot take place. 

 Career goals are goals that a person sets for his career span and may include each and everything associated with it. Identification and enunciation of career goals is a significant step in life and so is working to attain hem. The procedure involved in doing so is quite methodical and features a step-by-step approach to attain individual aspirations.

In the above context, some important issues that ought to be kept in mind are:

·         Augmentation of resources:   Be it a routine chore or a specific pursuit, the only unvarying aspect is change. Businesses, trade and other professional activities are experiencing intense change. This calls for an inescapable need to regularly improve and increase awareness and wherewithal that can be made available to both customers and businesses alike. Therefore, up-gradation of skills and augmentation of skills is essential to make progress in any career.

·         Monetary considerations:   This is the most important issue because if an employee is not remunerated adequately, discontentment will set in as a result of which work productivity will be adversely affected. On the other hand, if an employee is paid excessively, lassitude is bound to set in vis-à-vis his initial stages of employment and again work productivity will be negatively impinged upon. Hence it is essential that pay and allowances should be commensurate with the job profile.

·         Contentment:    No person will ever indulge in any activity without a motive. And this has an across-the-board application. Being satisfied with one’s job should be any individual’s key requirement. But this does not imply that one should not try out newer projects and theories or slow down one’s development progression. It should be ensured that absolute   contentment is derived from whatever work one may be doing.

·         Familiarity with the environment:  A man spends nearly seventy per cent of his life working for his livelihood. Therefore it is commonsensical to have a peep into occupational pursuits and move forward. This would entail gaining fresh experiences, from which new lessons need to be learnt. Experience is the most brutal of all teachers and the only source of knowledge. Considering this, there is this need to learn more about people and their culture because in doing so, tolerance levels increase manifold. What follows is a change of outlook, viewpoints and attitude.

·         Constancy and steadiness: Every person standing at his or her career threshold ought to be looking for permanence and stability. As and when he or she gets an employment with a stable establishment, issues related to daily requirements or petty needs should be relegated to a lower priority. Efforts should be directed to achieving individual progress and emerge as a thorough professional. An attitude and mindset like this will make the organization prosper.              

Career goals can be of two types – short-term and long-term:

·         Short-Term Goals:    These may appear to be trifling in nature and the benefits accruing from them smalltime. But they are of immense use as they rally round for long. Required to be set and pursued on a daily basis, their advantages have long-term ramifications. Some relevant examples that warrant consideration are:

ü  Prompt acknowledgment of and reply to mails.

ü  Acquisition of new skills.

ü  Boosting work productivity.

ü  Good time management.

ü  Maintaining cordiality with fellow workers.

ü  Having a positive attitude.

ü  Keeping surroundings clean.

ü  Punctuality and meeting deadlines.

·         Long-Term Goals:  As the name suggests, these extend into relatively long periods of time. But the pertinent aspect is that various related factors work themselves out. Long-term goals facilitate assessment of own devotion and seriousness towards current job or career. They are easily identified by individuals who have a clear insight of the future. Novices in a particular field may not be in a position to visualize things, just as they would not be able to respond to their perception of own position or status a couple of years hence. In actuality, they are based on short-term goals but warrant long-term consideration. Some examples are as follows:

ü  Balance workplace schedule and personal life.

ü  Generate sufficient savings for a comfortable post-retirement life.

ü  Carve a brand image for oneself.

ü  Grab an appointment where leadership prowess can be displayed.

ü  Increase own knowledge bank to the maximum. 

ü  Increase organizational profits in a phased manner.

ü  Gain experience and thereafter quit to launch own business.

Career goals help us to remain in control of our lives. It is worth the effort to ponder over where one needs to be in the times to come and then make a road map for being there with the help of the career goals explained above.