COVID-19 has impacted many workers’ careers and career planning. Nevertheless, it’s still a fact that continuous learning and development are important to your career advancement goals and growth, particularly if you want to transition into a new role or get a promotion.
A Sharp Corporation survey found that 63% of workers under the age of 30 feel that opportunities for upskilling had become more important to them during the pandemic. Yet with many companies cutting budgets, you might be less likely to enter your employer’s formal training.
However, you don’t have to wait for in-house training. You can set your own development goals and create a strategy to ensure you achieve them.
Outline What You Want to Achieve
Having a clear idea of what you want to achieve will make it easier to lay out how you are going to get there, so begin with your end goal in mind and work backwards from there.
Then you can outline what steps you must take to accomplish these goals. Are there any skills you’ll need to acquire first? Is there something specific where you’ll require more experience? Will you need a professional certification?
Examine Your Recent Performance
Unsure of what you’ll need to work on? Reviewing your recent performance will help you target what areas could use an upgrade.
If your employer holds regular performance reviews, you should be able to find everything you need in your last one. If your firm doesn’t hold performance reviews, you might want to ask your supervisor if there’s anything that they think you could improve upon.
Don’t be discouraged if there are multiple areas that you need to improve upon but be realistic about what you can achieve immediately and prioritize the things that matter most to you.
Set SMART Goals
If your objectives aren’t focused, then it will be very difficult to come up with an action plan and your to-do list will be challenging. Get organized by using the SMART method to define your goals. This means they should be:
Specific: Any goal you set should be specific. This means you need to know what you want to accomplish, what you need to do to complete the task and what resources you will need.
Measurable: You should be able to track your progress by some measurement. This will let you to see how far you have come and keep you focused on what you still need to do.
Achievable: Your goal must be realistic. Setting a goal that is impossible to complete, no matter how much you would like it to be, is setting yourself up to fail.
Relevant: Your goal should be something you care about and be relevant to your long-term plan.
Time-bound: Your goal should have a deadline because this will give you a time frame to work within and keep you focused on the task. Just be careful to allocate yourself enough time when you set your deadline.
Develop A Strategy for Reaching Each of Your Career Advancement Goals
Breaking down your goals into smaller, individual tasks will make things more manageable and realistic. Once you complete a task you can check it off your list. This will give you a sense of achievement along the way and continue to motivate you.
Reserve Time to Work on Your Goals
No matter what your goals are, you’ll need to make some time in your schedule to put in the work. How you do this will depend on what time of day you feel you can focus most.
For some, getting up an hour earlier in the morning and getting some work done before you start your job might be ideal. Others might prefer to use their lunch break or take some time in the evening.
You might find you have to sacrifice an hour or two of personal time, but it will all be worth it once you accomplish your goal.
Regularly Check Your Progress
Set up a weekly or monthly reminder to review how you are progressing with your career advancement goals. Take stock of how things are going and how much progress you’ve made. If you feel that you’ve gone off track or have had to slow down your pace, go back to your plan and come up with a strategy for getting yourself back on track.
Flexicrew Support
Flexicrew prides itself in working with candidates to set their goals and to find opportunities that fit their career path. Why not contact us and get some help with your career advancement goals Today.