Locking In The Perfect Job

We’ve all heard about how important goal setting is. Some successful people make it seem like a magical tool.

Well, it isn’t magic. But people talk about goal setting with such passion for a reason; because they find it very powerful to have absolute clarity about what they want, have a plan to get there, and to write it down.

In the article Choose Smarter I talked about the importance of carefully considering your career direction. To do this it’s important to look at your interests, personality and what you want out of work. Following this, do some research about what’s out there, and make an informed decision on where you want to go....

1. And the next step is to do your Career Goal Setting. Follow these steps;
Write your goal as a positive statement, with a timeframe.
An example goal for a new university student might be; Get a job as a Computer Programmer by March 2012.

2. List the action steps required to get there.
With the research you have done you will know roughly what you need to achieve this goal. These are your action steps. Examples may include;
a. Study for and complete Computer Science degree by November 2011.
b. Get holiday or part time employment in the computer industry during study.

This action step could be broken down even further. For example, initial steps could include;

• Apply to Student Job Search for computer science based part time jobs
• Join computer programming industry organisation and attend meetings regularly
• Approach Friend X and Friend Y about potential work

These initial steps may or may not work. But that doesn’t matter. If you keep looking at other avenues you will eventually find a way to get some experience. It may not be how or what you originally planned. For example, you may initially get some voluntary work, but the important thing is you are making positive steps toward your goal.

3. Keep your written goals and refer back to them

Once you have written your goals down put them somewhere safe, so that you can refer to them and modify them as you go.

And remember it is good to be open minded about you want, so that when new and different opportunities come up you can make the most of them.

Goal setting is simple, but powerful. It is motivating and empowering to have a firm goal that is written down and having identified action steps on how to get there. So do it, remembering to keep an open mind for the new and exciting opportunities that arise for people who are directed in their actions.