How important is having a career goal?

Hi Tiffanie! In my opinion discovering what your interests are and becoming self aware are critical pieces in creating a life that works for you. The things we are interested in are so much a part of our lives that we don't even realize what they are like sports, kinds of sports like swimming, music ie; singing, dancing or playing an instrument. Outdoor activities like hiking, skiing, jogging physically active activities vs reading, or tech gadgets, quiet and alone vs being social. These are all personal preferences and interest. The list is endless. Do you like dogs over cats or both or neither?

I personally like to do things my way, at my pace and am not a team player. Knowing that is very important because I make a lousy employee. So I would suggest exploring, paying more attention to your tendencies like being more people oriented, data oriented, or working with your hands fixing things, making things writing, painting even texting. Take the Self Directed Search 0n line for about $9.00. Read What Color Is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles. Google 16 Career Clusters and see what your top three picks would be. Then put them in priority order of interest 1 2 and 3 . The truth is we know what we like. The issue is most of us avoid knowing because we don't believe we can have, do or be something unless we fix ourselves first. As far as job skill are concerned the truth is you probably don't have any yet. The question is what skills would you like to have? Some of my skills are typing, writing, public speaking, teaching, consulting, sales, sales management, sales trainer to name some. Public speaking is offered in school, or drama or choral, band. DECA and Distributive Education groups exist in school, intern jobs are available. All of these are ways to explore, experience and discover what "lights your fire". I didn't have a clue about what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was 35. Some people never know. Self employed works best for me. That discovery and the process of getting there included a lot of pain, confusion, uncertainty and personal growth. I say go forth and mess up more, have more fun on the journey. I personally think to much structure, to much focus on picking goals and "doing it right" is a hinderance to self awareness and creating a life that fits you best. To much certainty is an illusion and a trap.

Hi,

Thanks for the Question.

Setting a Career goal is very important as you are going to step your foot in the world of Technology and Customer Service. Identifying your interest and developing on that in a systematic way is a very important part in your career. If you already have the required skills, you will just have to choose the right Job to excel in your career. If you are not able to identify your interests, then you would have to push yourself in Area's which interests you most and you can gain the required knowledge from Google, Youtube, etc.. If you do not have the required skillset, you can develop the same by doing Certificates and other courses. For example:- If you want to acquire skills in Networking, you can start with a CCNA course.

Career planning is the continuous process of thinking about your interests, values, skills and preferences, exploring the life, work and learning options available to you and ensuring that your work fits with your personal circumstances.

From an employee’s perspective, having a defined projected career path within an organization means that your employer is behind you and believes in your success.

A career development plan will give you ownership over all aspects of your career.

You will begin to know your strengths and weaknesses inside out. You will decide on meaningful targets and set a realistic plans to meet them. You will know what you want to accomplish, and how far you’ve already come. You will find yourself going to work each day with a sense of purpose. New motivation for your work will seem to grow out of nowhere.

When performance review time rolls around, you will no longer have to struggle to list your strengths or outline your achievements. You will be able to confidently prepare for assessment and promotion meetings. You will be able to update your résumé with ease, and not choke up at the thought of going on a job interview.

Creating and maintaining a career development plan will place you firmly on your path to success.

Setting up your goal is very important to go forward in your career. You will have to plan your goals which includes:
Plan forward. Put on paper where you see yourself going in your career, and plot each step that you will need to reach, in order to get there.
Self-assessment. Routinely assess your skills, your potential, your strengths and weaknesses and your ability to fulfil your aims.
Self-development. Once you have assessed yourself, always ensure that you pay attention to any loopholes that you may have identified in your self-assessment, and ensure you come up with an action to correct and fill these loopholes.
Work on getting the right experience. Try to gain as much experience as possible in your job, take on additional projects and work if possible, in order to be able to gain new experience.
Make yourself indispensable. Remember that in the work place that all moves and promotions are based on high levels of competencies and job performances. You need to be the best you can possibly be, to ensure that you are not overlooked for promotions and future roles.
Find a mentor. If possible and your company offers this facility, find a mentor. A mentor can help you in obtaining essential knowledge and information that will enable you to quickly learn what is required in your job, and help you succeed. A mentorship program forms important relationships with those that can help in your career progression.
Training. Keeping up to date with training is essential particularly in the highly competitive and every changing mining industry. Take advantage of any opportunities for training that come your way.
Succession Planning. Succession planning is a process where employees are recruited, trained and developed to fill each key position within a company. Actively pursuing succession planning opportunities will ensure you are constantly developing and progressing in your career.

I hope I answered your question and this will definitely help you to plan you goals. All the best !!

personally I feel it’s extremely important. You don’t want to get stagnant. Give yourself a goal daily, weekly, monthly that challenges your

mind and forces you to strive for greatness! Life is amazing when you challenge yourself.

Hi Tiffanie!

You asked a very important question.

Here are some fun ways for you to get an answer:

https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-most-useful-personality-quiz-youll-take-this-week
https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-11-best-career-quizzes-to-help-you-find-your-dream-job
https://www.themuse.com/advice/14-free-personality-tests-thatll-help-you-figure-yourself-out