How can you identify your career goals?

A career map is a great way to write out your previous and current roles alongside completed development and projects as to what you have achieved to date you can build on and leverage as you go forward.

Start with an end in mind. So ask yourself what you would love for your career in (Say) 12 months' time. This could be a goal such as learning a new skill, something the company needs/has asked of you, or an area you want to improve. Once you've identified this you can work towards identifying how to achieve this. Whether this is via tools such as ALSWOT (Achievements, Lessons, SWOT), manifestation (Remembering to put actions in, there's no attraction without action) the more likely you are to achieve.

The SWOT analysis works exceptionally well when you are truthful with it. For example; I am adding a succinct perspective and receiving a red flag that my input has to be 125 characters.

Taking the potential actions found above (Looking at what you love, as well as what your employer asks of you) you can look into what paths are open to you. These could be promotion within a department, inter-department or even maybe a new job in another company/industry. These are all valid options for your goals. Always circle back to what you'd love, how that would feel on top of any logical processes you use. This, alongside actioning the steps you take towards achieving the goal, massively increases your chances of success.

You want short and long-term goals. I use quarterly and annual with most of my clients. I use Quarterly and Monthly for those less used to goal setting. With career goals, you may also want to think in terms of 1 and 5 year goals. I think 5 years goals need updating more regularly as a lot changes in 5 years, but this is a career and therefore a marathon, not a sprint. 3-4 long term very juicy goals are a great target. 5-6 shorter term ones that show progress towards the bigger goal also means you can see progress towards the primary aim. This can help keep the ego in check when you question if your goal is possible. I find it best when you keep the (long-term) goals juicy, and the short-term goals/actions achievable.

We have annual appraisal processes, how often do you conduct a personal career review? Possibly not ..Careers are marathons, not sprints. While you may have set long term goals at the start of your career, there is a need to re-adjust and realign, considering opportunities taken or lost. Changing technological dynamics are disrupting jobs and professionals across industries have to re-skill faster. In this dynamic environment, it's helpful to have mentors and coaches who'll help you review, adjust and accomplish your

With my long-term goals, I set my short-term ones based on these. Therefore, they become checkpoints. EG If the goal is a multinational company, my short-term goal may be to have a second local location. The action points to that may be to hire a staff member. Action points -> short-term goals -> long-term goals. They automatically become each others check-ins. Allowing you to adjust as required. E.G. "Launch in 3 US states this year." However, circumstances mean you change which states you look at first. This is a change you may need to do frequently. Sometimes the goal may no longer be suitable. Family circumstances, or outside factors such as a pandemic, could forcibly change plans. Always review, always check-in with yourself regularly.