Advice for Employers and Recruiters
#1 Professional Goal for 2013 Is Developing New Skills
Long after all of the presents have been unwrapped and the ball has dropped, a lot of attention is paid to resolutions — the most common ones being losing weight and drinking less — that most people won’t keep past the middle of January. LinkedIn surveyed more than 7,100 professionals around the world and found that 74 percent of people globally made a professional goal for 2012, and of that number, fifty-six percent of those professionals said that they actually achieved their goal last year. In the United States specifically, 70 percent of people made a professional goal for 2012, and 56 percent of those people succeeded at accomplishing that goal.
Here are the top five professional goals people in the U.S. said they want to achieve in 2013:
- Professional development through learning new skills (48 percent)
- Network more/build more professional relationships (46 percent)
- Get a new job/career (29 percent)
- Get a raise (28 percent)
- Get promoted or move into a leadership role (25 percent)
“Since so many people achieved the professional goals they set out to achieve last year, it’s crucial for them to continue raising the bar in 2013,” said Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s career expert. “As you build your business plan of attack for the New Year, keep in mind the skills that you accrued in 2012 — and continue to build on them. Don’t rest on your laurels. Keep striving to differentiate yourself from the competition.”
For people in the U.S., “financial security and growth” (55 percent) was the one thing they said that they most wanted to achieve with their professional goal this year. “Better work/life balance” (24 percent) was the second most common response followed by “stronger workplace performance” (16 percent).
The No. 1 professional goal globally for 2013 is, “professional development through learning new skills.” Out of all the options, survey respondents could chose from, these countries had the highest percentage of professionals who wanted to achieve each of these specific goals we asked them about:
- Professional development through learning new skills: Brazil (61 percent of professionals selected this choice)
- Network more/build more professional relationships: France (55 percent)
- Get a new job/career: United Arab Emirates (42 percent)
- Get promoted or move into a leadership role: Singapore (39 percent)
- Start my own business: Indonesia (37 percent)
- Get a raise: Indonesia (36 percent)
- Be more confident and engaged in client, customer and/or team meetings:India (34 percent)
- Retire/prepare for retirement: United States (11 percent)
“Given the sour economy and the tough job market, some people may be surprised to hear that ‘network more/build more professional relationships’ ranked higher than ‘get a new job/career,’” said Williams. “In reality, ‘network more/build more professional relationships,’ is probably one of the savviest goals a professional can make. Knowing someone is the easiest way to get your foot in the door. When done properly, cultivating new business contacts can open up not only new job opportunities, but also help you land new client accounts and even strategic partnerships. LinkedIn makes building those crucial contacts easy.”
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