Career Goal Setting: Your First Step in a Job Search

 Career goal setting is your very first step for a successful and fruitful life and your first step in your job search. Success, though, is subjective; it depends on your definition on what it is. You might already have thought of a goal at the beginning of your career and have a vivid vision of where you're headed exactly.

Or, perhaps, you’re already in the middle of your career, and you feel that you seem not to be going anywhere, or you’re always in doubt if you have chosen the right career.

Do any of these sound familiar to you? This is a sign that a career goal setting plan is in order. But, before you begin, be sure to figure out first what you want to happen in your career. Take the time to sit down and list all your goals and aspirations, and craft a chart to see whether you are near or far from any of these goals.

For others, career goal setting is no more than a few minutes of talking it out with some friends, or silently thinking about it, albeit melancholy, over a bottle of beer. But the best way of setting your career goal is during your most rational periods. After all, what you are about to set is a career goal that either will spell disaster to your life, or will bring endless blessings.

Here are some suggestions on how you should go about it with your job search.

1. Be clear on what you want to be.

There’s nothing more annoying than a person trying to tell you something, yet you can’t understand what he's talking about. The same goes for your inner self. Being indecisive is frustrating and feeding this habit will only be futile to your quest of searching for job answers.

The more detailed you are with your plans, the better. Instead of writing down "Own a car in two years", you will find that writing "Buy a Silver Ford Escape by September 2008" is more helpful. Douse that inner critic at this stage. Just go on and write your goals down.

2. Verbalize your plan.

The more you talk about your plan, the greater self motivation you will get. If you want to discuss it with friends, do so. They will be able to help you make a decision. Just remember, however, that it is ultimately your decision because it is YOUR life. Don't let others decide for you.

3. Come up with alternatives.

You’ve got to have an alternative route in your job search for reaching your career goal. Sometimes, the road that you’ve decided to embark on is simply impassable. But this should not deter you. Instead, try to look for every possible angles to push your journey.

The most important thing you have to consider is that the process of attaining your career goal is a journey. When you are in a journey, you are open to almost everything, every stimulus, every possibility.

This in turn will enrich you during the job search journey. You can use all the information you get along the way to assess and re-assess your career, and review, from time to time, your earlier career goal, and make improvements, revisions, or additions, as needed.

The abovementioned guidelines should suffice, but there is something more that would help you more in your career goal setting plan:
You must learn to love yourself!