Setting Career Goals

By Judy Baker

Staffing Consultant

Now that you've got your hard-earned diploma in hand, you may be tempted to dash out the door looking for that perfect job.

STOP!!

Now is the time to step back and really consider what it is you are looking for - not just in terms of a career plan but what you want from your life plan. What do you expect your life to look like in five, ten, twenty years from now? Remember, its not always about the money. In keeping those goals in mind, what type of employment and employer will help you meet those needs?

The kids and mortgage happen to the best of us and a place of employment which doesn't accommodate the need to balance work and personal life may not be where you want to invest your developing years. Are you looking for commitment and longevity or are you willing to play the field career wise for a few years, maybe squeeze in some international travel and employment? Are you going to need to keep current in your chosen field? Then you need an employer who puts their money where their benefits are for funding training and learning.

Do you operate best with structure or an anything goes environment? If it's the latter, then you need to know the down side - what is the accountability factor and where do you fit in. If it's the former, is the workplace so structured that you may end up stifled in creativity and career progression? Consider the hard lessons learned by employees at Enron and the dot.com companies. Keep an open and informed mind when looking for job opportunities.

This is also the perfect time to do a self-inventory. Although you have spent several years within the confines of higher learning, the learning isn't over yet - now is the time to learn more about yourself - your personal skills and behaviors. These are too often termed the “soft-skills,” but they are the critical success skills. Effective communication, interacting with others, team work and cooperation, dealing with difficult situations, initiative with appropriate risk taking, ethics and values, providing client service - the list goes on. Most work places operate in a team environment and if you don't listen and respect the opinions of others and they don't understand your communication then chances for your success are limited no matter how knowledgeable you may be. These competencies have long been identified as the makers or breakers for successful employment for your employment relationships as well as the building blocks for a progressive career.

Consider those individuals you've encountered who have lacked those necessary skills. No matter how knowledgeable they may have been, how easy and productive was it to work with them? Learn from those types just as much as you learn from successful role models. Take the time to do a self-assessment on your behavioral skills; get feedback from friends, peers, past and current employers and ask them to be brutally honest. Then be honest with yourself and determine what you need to do to fill those gaps. Behavioral skills are a work in progress and take time and experience to develop. Be patient but committed to your own personal development and look to employment opportunities that will help you develop those skills.

North American post-secondary graduates are in an enviable position in the job market. Employers have started to realize the huge impact of the impending retirements of the baby-boomers. What was traditionally a buyers market from the employers perspective has turned to a sellers market for the job seeker. However, few employers are desperate enough to resort to hiring unqualified candidates or keeping employees who do not meet the needs of the workplace.

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

Career Videos