Goals for professional development are those that will help you move up in your career. Setting goals helps you decide where you want to go and the steps you need to take to get there, in addition to giving your work a direction and a purpose. In this article, we portray how to make proficient objectives you truly care about and offer genuine objective models from different representatives.
What comes to mind first when planning a road trip? The destination is typically where most road trips begin, with the exception of fast food and gas mileage. After all, before you turn the key in the car, it helps to know where you are going.
Your career path follows the same principle. Because clear objectives give you a direction and a path forward, it is easier to advance in your career at work. Professional development goals are crucial because they provide an opportunity to deliberate over what you want and how you will achieve it.
You have a 1:1 gathering with your director or an exhibition survey coming up and you realize your expert objectives will be on the plan. But then, setting isn’t as easy for managers or direct reports.
Understanding and setting professional goals may be one of the most crucial steps you take to build your career, in addition to being a common interview question. Prioritizing work efforts becomes simpler and more purposeful when goals are clear, measurable, and attainable.
Your professional goals are specific goals you want to accomplish in your career. They are ordinarily a mix of transient objectives (like taking a course this month) and long haul objectives (like turning into a chief in the following two years).
Short-term goals break down the work into more immediate and actionable steps, whereas long-term career goals provide a direction to work toward.
Setting goals for your professional growth is a great way to build the career you want. You actively decide what you want to do and how to get there when you set goals, allowing you to feel good about your progress every day. Even though change can be scary, professional goals give you peace of mind knowing that you have a clear purpose and path to achieve your career goals.
Why do professional development goals matter?
It can be simple to stick with what you’ve always done or to just take any chance you get without really thinking about what you want. But that can quickly lead to feeling unfulfilled and lost in your work.
You can pursue a position or career that truly satisfies you by setting clear goals that force you to consider what it is you want. Because you know you have an action plan and are working toward something you actually want to achieve when you set professional goals, they give your work direction and purpose.
Objectives additionally assist with difficult work and inborn inspiration. At the point when clinicians tried the effect of various inspirational methods on bunch execution, they found objective setting was one of the best. The participants’ performance increased to the 80th percentile by simply setting a few specific, ambitious goals.
Why are professional development goals important?
Let’s look at why having professional goals is important before moving on to examples and advice. During the course of our professional careers, many of us will encounter the following three scenarios and questions:
Preparing for your next career move. You might be questioned by your manager about your goals for the company. In five years, where do you see yourself?
Preparing for an interview for a job Your interviewer might inquire about your top strengths. Tell me about a time when you changed a crucial procedure and the key success factors you used. What qualifies you for this position?
Arranging profession change or retirement. You might think to yourself, “What should I do next?” How can I exert influence? What should I do with my retirement years?
As per Kyle LeBlanc, individual brand specialist of Resumoxie, having thoroughly examined and clear profession objectives is the most important phase in planning for this multitude of situations. Instead of reacting to questions, you can maximize these discussions with preparation by standing in confidence in your vision.
“Clear professional goals anchor your value proposition,” according to LeBlanc. By incorporating objectives into the narrative, you move beyond merely describing accomplishments to establishing the significance of that work and the methods by which you will generate value in the future. You can control the conversation no matter what questions are asked with this strategy.
What makes an effective professional goal?
When you set goals for your career, you want them to be interesting and challenging but not too hard. The SMART framework, in conjunction with these parameters, is useful for setting goals that you are enthusiastic about and that lead to company goals and objectives.
There are many different ways to break down SMART and what each letter means, but the most common breakdown is as follows:
- Specific: You, your manager, and your team know exactly what you want with a specific goal. When this objective is very clear, making a plan to achieve it is also easier.
- Measurable: Measurable professional goals are essential. If you are still working toward your goal, this is the easiest way to test different approaches and determine whether you have achieved it.
- Attainable: Metrics that are challenging but doable should be chosen to keep you motivated and keep your goals grounded. Know where you and your company are now and where you want to be in the future. By picking steady jumps inside this section, your objectives ought to stay reachable.
- Relevant: The most effective work objectives relate to team and business goals. It is essential to link your goals to these larger visions and objectives because the work you are doing should be supported by these larger goals.
- Time-bound: It’s important to pick the right time frame for a goal. You want to give yourself and your teams enough time to accomplish the objective without sacrificing momentum.
How to set professional goals?
Before you can set the best goals, you need to think about what you want. How to narrow down your career goals and choose which ones to pursue is as follows:
- Identify your values
- Picture your ideal work role
- Write down your goals
1. Identify your values
You will experience greater day-to-day fulfillment if your professional development objectives are based on your core values because you will be working toward something that truly matters to you. You are more likely to stay motivated and less likely to burn out if your goals and values are in line with one another.
So first, you’ll have to recognize your qualities. Asking yourself what is most important to you and what kind of work has fulfilled you the most in the past is a good place to start. Be sincere and make an effort to distinguish your personal values from what you “should” want or think would look best on a performance review.
Try these exercises if you get stuck:
- Create sentences in the present tense that describe who you would like to be in the future. For instance: I’m sincere, “I assist others in growing,” or “I create new ideas.” Try to come up with roughly three statements, then break them down into their respective values (such as honesty, leadership, and creativity, for example).
- Make a list of the things you’re proudest of and pair them with the values they represented. For instance, if one of your most memorable career moments was revamping and streamlining the onboarding procedure for your team, efficiency and organization may be two of your values.
2. Picture your ideal work role
You can begin to focus more specifically on how your core values might manifest in your career now that you have identified them. Try asking yourself these questions to get you started:
- What would you like to engage in more of?
- What would you prefer to avoid?
- What kind of work brings you the most happiness?
- What do you think constitutes an ideal workday?
- What are your strengths?
Give yourself an opportunity to thoroughly consider this — you don’t have to nail everything down simultaneously. Remember that iterating is a part of the process because it is normal for you and your goals to change over time.
3. Write down your goals
Setting career goals should be easier now that that internal work has been completed. You now know what you value and how those values might help you in your work life. Let’s now use that knowledge to set short- and long-term objectives.
Set your long-term objectives first, then break them down into more manageable short-term objectives. Your short-term career objectives should be considered the steps you need to take in order to reach your long-term objectives. For instance, your long-term objective might be to become a manager that people can rely on and trust if you place a high value on honesty and interpersonal connection. That could mean taking a people management class or looking into leadership opportunities at your company in the short term.
Ensure that your goals are SMART, regardless of whether they are immediate or more distant. Not in the savvy sense, but rather in accordance with the acronym and framework for SMART goals: specific, measurable, doable, attainable, attainable with a time limit. For instance, here are some possible short- and long-term SMART professional development goals:
Long-term goal:
- In the next 15 months, become a manager with at least one direct report.
Short-term goals:
- This week, meet a manager you admire for coffee and ask them for advice.
- Talk to your manager this month about possible leadership opportunities in your current position and three things you can do to help you grow.
- Attend a course on people management in the next two months.
25 professional goals examples
If you’re feeling stuck, here are some examples of specific types of goals that you can achieve:
- Boost your time management skills
- Find new challenges in your role
- Learn a new skill
- Improve your work-life balance
- Foster team collaboration
- Expand your professional network
- Take on leadership responsibilities
- Consume content from thought leaders in your industry
- Become an expert in the latest tech
- Learn from those above you
- Become a thought leader
- Broaden your skill set
- Track your success
- Go above and beyond with your deliverables
- Limit distractions
- Nurture relationships
- Be vocal about your goals
- Identify your weaknesses
- Prioritize self-care
- Learn constantly
- Help your teammates
- Improve communication skills
- Be vocal about your opinions
- Give the best feedback
- Create new responsibilities for yourself
1. Boost your time management skills
Long-term goal: Over the next six months, incorporate up to four hours of sustained focus work per day.
Short-term goal: This month, put away an hour and a half of devoted center time every morning.
2. Find new challenges in your role
Long-term goal: Deal with another task or cycle this year.
Short-term goal: In the following five weeks, take an undertaking the board course.
3. Learn a new skill
Long-term goal: Within the next six months, learn Javascript.
Short-term goal: This month, complete all practice problems and read an introduction to Javascript.
4. Improve your work-life balance
Long-term goal: This year, draw clear lines between your work life and your personal life.
Short-term goal: Sign off completely each day by 5:30 p.m. this week.
5. Foster team collaboration
Long-term goal: Over the next year, look for two opportunities for cross-functional collaboration per team member.
Short-term goal: Make a weekly team standup this week where everyone can share what they’re working on.
6. Expand your professional network
Long-term goal: This year, connect with 50 new LinkedIn connections.
Short-term goal: You can improve your communication skills and meet other professionals in the industry by attending a conference next month.
7. Take on leadership responsibilities
Long-term goal: Organize six monthly lunch-and-learns for your organization’s members over the next year.
Short-term goal: This month, offer to give a 30-minute presentation to your team on a subject related to your field.
8. Consume content from thought leaders in your industry
Long-term goal: Peruse 15 books composed by industry pioneers in your field this year.
Short-term goal: Read a relevant article from a publication that covers your industry each day for a week.
9. Become an expert in the latest tech
Long-term goal: For six months, learn one new tool each month.
Short-term goal: On your next project, give a tool you’ve never used before a try.
10. Learn from those above you
Long-term goal: Over the next six months, look at how people in positions above you on the team work and pick one trait from each person that you want to use in your next project.
Short-term goal: This month, schedule a 30-minute meeting with a high-ranking employee to discuss career advancement strategies.
11. Become a thought leader
Long-term goal: Spend at least two hours a week over the next quarter writing articles about industry trends.
Short-term goal: This week, write a LinkedIn post with your thoughts on something that interests you in your field.
12. Broaden your skill set
Long-term goal: Take a class in a subject that is different but relevant to your field within the next six months.
Short-term goal: This month, schedule a 30-minute meeting with a person from a different department to learn more about their work.
13. Track your success
Long-term goal: Make a list of what it takes to be successful in your field, and then try to increase it each month by a sizeable amount.
Short-term goal: Think about one “speedy win” you can set for the current week and achieve it up to support your inspiration.
14. Go above and beyond with your deliverables
Long-term goal: Deliver all work in the following quarter at least two business days before its due date.
Short-term goal: Offer to help the next time your manager asks for help, even if it’s not something you normally work on.
15. Limit distractions
Long-term goal: This quarter, spend up to $500creating a work area and schedule that improves your concentration and discourages interruptions.
Short-term goal: Throughout the week, turn off your phone’s notifications during the workday.
16. Nurture relationships
Long-term goal: The following time you shift occupations, distinguish three associates you need to keep in contact with and set up month to month talks with them.
Short-term goal: This month, get in touch with a person in your field to learn more about their day-to-day activities.
17. Be vocal about your goals
Long-term goal: This year, use a work management tool to communicate your work goals to your team and manager, and send monthly status updates.
Short-term goal: In your next 1:1, share your goals with your manager and ask for their guidance on how to get there.
18. Identify your weaknesses
Long-term goal: Volunteer to work on at least two projects over the next six months that require professional skills you lack.
Short-term goal: Spend a week working on one soft or hard skill that you need to improve.
19. Prioritize self-care
Long-term goal: Keep up a routine that includes at least two healthy non-work-related habits like exercise, meditation, and healthy eating for the next three months.
Short-term goal: Consider yourself responsible to getting seven to nine hours of rest every night for seven days.
20. Learn constantly
Long-term goal: In the next six months, take one online course to improve your skills.
Short-term goal: Sign up for a weekly newsletter that discusses important issues in your field.
21. Help your teammates
Long-term goal: This year, make a plan to improve a process in your organization that could use some improvement.
Short-term goal: In your next one-on-one meeting with your manager, ask how you can simplify their work.
22. Improve communication skills
Long-term goal: By the end of this year, take a presentation class and lead one all-team presentation.
Short-term goal: When you send an email the next time, read it several times and note two areas where you can improve your language.
23. Be vocal about your opinions
Long-term goal: Share your perspectives about parts of your industry on LinkedIn once per month for a very long time.
Short-term goal: Participate in your next brainstorm or team meeting by voicing your opinion.
24. Give the best feedback
Long-term goal: Practice and master the COIN feedback model by the end of this quarter to make sure you always focus on the “why” when giving project recommendations.
Short-term goal: During your next one-on-one meeting, share one constructive feedback.
25. Create new responsibilities for yourself
Long-term goal: Establish regular office hours at your company about a subject in which you are an expert by the end of the year.
Short-term goal: Set up a 60-minute brainstorming session with your team during the following month.
Real life professional goals that can help you excel your career
Even though there are plenty of real life professional goals examples, there three common career goals that are almost can be seen in every organization. These goals help you to be more productive in your career lives.
Here are such three real life professional goals:
- Changing roles within an organization
- Seeking new challenges within a role
- Pursuing a new degree
1. Changing roles within an organization
“I set a professional objective of moving from a risk management position at a technology company to the legal field. After seeking advice from paralegals and attorneys in my network, I realized that I could transition without leaving my company. At first, I was concerned that I would have to leave technology and join a law firm.
I began volunteering for projects where I could learn more about the work of our in-house legal team and collaborate with them. I closely monitored open positions in the legal department, and two positions that seemed appropriate for my skills eventually became available.
I applied for both positions, highlighted my transferable skills during my interviews, and documented those skills in my application. I was offered the two jobs, chose one, and have been in Lawful from that point forward!”
2. Seeking new challenges within a role
The development of any organizations anatomy of work index has been one of my most significant professional accomplishments. Our landmark industry report and one of our most prominent annual campaigns began as a smaller goal to produce a topical thought leadership piece. It has allowed me to develop my own skill set for full-funnel campaigns and storytelling for internal and external audiences as well as work cross-functionally across our entire organization.
3. Pursuing a new degree
When I worked at a science museum, I once attended a meeting where every leader had a master’s or doctoral degree. That same month, I began researching master’s programs and applying to them.
I had previously avoided further education beyond my BA due to imposter syndrome, but now that I had more than 20 years of work experience under my belt, I felt ready to take on this new challenge. In addition, I had the honor of delivering the commencement address at my graduation from USF in May with a Master’s degree in organizational development.
The process of working toward my goal, rather than achieving it, was what was so incredibly transformative. I gained a profound understanding of who I am and what I can accomplish by attempting something challenging. I had the audacity to daydream about a career centered solely on Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging work while I was enrolled in the program. And before my program was over, I was doing exactly that at any organization!
4 tips to keep your goals on track
Setting professional goals is an important step, but following through is just as important. Try these four strategies to maintain your professional goals once you have established them.
How to keep your goals on track?
- Create short-term goals
- Schedule regular check-ins
- Use goal tracking software
- Grow with intention
1. Create short-term goals
If you have more general long-term objectives, this will be most helpful. For instance, the long-term objective to “Set clear boundaries between your work and home life this year” lacks in terms of specificity or quantifiability.
To support what “clear boundaries” mean to you, it’s a good idea to set more measurable short-term goals like “This week, sign off every day at 5:30pm.” If you set these smaller milestones, the work will feel less overwhelming to you and you will be less likely to put it off.
2. Schedule regular check-ins
Determine in advance how frequently you will check in to see how you are progressing toward each milestone, rather than simply setting goals and forgetting about them.
You could, for instance, schedule time at the end of each week to monitor your progress if you have set the goal of writing ten blog posts this month. Staying on track and avoiding procrastination is made easier by establishing a consistent check-in schedule in advance.
3. Use goal tracking software
When they are connected to your day-to-day work, goals work best. As a result, Asana links projects and tasks to the goals they support, making it easy to see why your day-to-day work is important. If you use any goal tracking software, you can set a due date and set up automated reminders to keep track of your progress toward your goals.
For instance, you could set up a reminder at the end of each week to remind you to update your progress toward a monthly goal. Additionally, you can establish sub-goals within each goal to assist you in organizing your work into manageable chunks.
4. Grow with intention
One of the best ways to build the career you want is to set goals for your professional development. When you set goals, you actively decide what you want to do and how to get there, so you can feel good about your progress every day. Professional goals give you peace of mind knowing that you have a clear purpose and path to achieve your career goals, even though change can be scary.
How to set professional goals that you can achieve?
There are no wrong or right professional goals; only the ones that are right for you. We mentioned the SMART method as one of the best practices. Setting work goals that help you clarify your objectives and provide a framework for tracking your progress will also help you achieve greater success.
- Gain insight by looking at past successes
- Start with your “why”
- Take some time for Inner Work
- Write down your goals
- You can use the SMART methodology
- Compare your goals to your “why”
1. Gain insight by looking at past successes
Think about how you feel about the accomplishments you have made in the past and the skill sets that have served you best. How did they make you happy? What was the significance of those goals back then? Since then, what has changed in your life, your business, or the market?
2. Start with your “why”
Give yourself time to think about your professional development in a different context. How does it relate to your overall set of values? What are your own objectives? Not “what might have always been important to you,” “what you should” want, or “what other people want for you,” but rather what is most important to you right now should be the focus of your goals. Answer the question, “What is most important to me right now?” with a straightforward values exercise.
3. Take some time for Inner Work
Consider what you want to do more of, what you want to do less of, and what you truly enjoy doing in your professional life once you have a clear understanding of your “why.” Instead of attempting to compel clarity, look at what is crystal clear to you and what appears to be a little hazy or unclear. Don’t worry if clarity doesn’t come right away. Since setting goals is an iterative process, you can revisit it at any time.
4. Write down your goals
It’s time to set some goals now. Your objectives ought to reflect what is essential to you at this moment, considering your superpowers and what you love to do. Your superpowers are those things that you do easily, that you are known for and that others go to you when they need your particular abilities or mastery.
5. You can use the SMART methodology
Structure and evaluate your goals with the SMART approach. The most crucial step is to be clear about your goals, including where you want to go, what is most important to you, how you will get there, and how you will measure success. Using SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-Bound, is an easy way to help you set goals and track progress.
6. Compare your goals to your “why”
I mentioned that setting goals is not a one-time, fixed task but rather an iterative process. After you have written the SMART goals, go over them with yourself to make sure they are in line with your “why,” use your strengths, and represent what you want, where you want to go, and what is important to you right now.
Getting started with effective work goals
A crucial skill for becoming a successful and effective leader is the ability to set effective goals. You probably wouldn’t be where you are today if you hadn’t set and achieved goals, but we can all benefit from periodic review of our professional objectives. True leaders constantly seek growth and improvement and are learners.
Hey, I am Sachin Ramdurg. I run and manage futuredecider.com website that helps students, graduates, and professionals, to find and decide on their future career with ultimate future career advices and future career guides. I have an overall 12+ years of career guidance experience in multiple domains which has helped multiple students, graduates, and professionals to find the best career path for their future.