Career Planning – Setting Goals and Achieving Them

Have you asked yourself lately - "Am I doing what I really want to do?"  I talk with clients every day, and that seems to be the question on everyone’s mind. The real question should be – “Am I achieving my career goals?" 

Think about it. You may just be starting your career, or you have been in the workforce now for over 20 years, and this first question usually comes up from time to time. For those who are just starting out, you are still trying to “find yourself” and make sure your work is fulfilling; however, for those who have been in the workforce for a while, many of you truly believe that you are doing what you want to do, but you feel stagnant in your current role. It does not excite you as it used to do, but you do not know what to do about it. Most of my clients in this situation believe that getting a new job is what they need to do, and maybe that is the case, but when I ask them about the type of role they want to pursue, it usually aligns with what they are doing now. Why? It is because they know their role in their current position and they know it well. If they get a similar position with another company, they believe that the excitement will return. It usually does, for a time, but then you find yourself doing the same things as always, it is just with a new company – so the first question pops up again.

I get my clients to ask themselves the second question – “Am I achieving my career goals?” About 85% say no, but they cannot tell me what their goals are. That is because they are just too busy to set goals – “Life took over, the job is demanding, the family is demanding, there is not enough time in the day to take care of all of the things that need to be done. I do not have time to think about career goals – I have tasks to complete, and those are my goals.” I help them refocus.

I interviewed a candidate many years ago, and when I asked him what his career goals were, he told me, “I want to do what you are doing – VP of Operations.” I chuckled and said that was a great goal. I looked him up the other day and saw that he was still doing what he did 15 years ago, an account executive for an IT managed services company (and he had done this role for five different companies during that time frame). It looks like he did not achieve that goal he told me – he probably does not even remember the conversation. What happened to his dream, his drive? Maybe he found his niche and really likes what he is doing (I hear that from some of my clients), or perhaps he just dropped the goal and settled, which is what I hear from my clients as well.

Setting goals is not a hard thing, but it does take thought, action, and follow up. Maybe your goal is to be a business owner, an executive, the best salesperson in the company, or your goal is to serve people in a way that betters their lives. Whatever the ultimate goal is, there has to be a starting point – a starting goal, and it needs to be one that all other goals can build upon.

Career Goal #1 – Identify a Role and Build Your Peer Connectivity

The first career goal that needs to be set is the identification of the position that you want to pursue and then get to know people who are doing that role now. This is a goal for the new graduate and the seasoned professional. I ask my clients daily – “Who do you know that is doing the exact same role that you are doing or a role that you want to do, they are just doing it for another company?” The most common answer I get is – “I don’t know anybody that does what I do, or want to do, outside of my company.” 

People who are just starting out in their career should research the role they want to pursue, and, as I have blogged before, they should be talking to people who are actually doing the role so that they know what they are about to get themselves into. People who have been working for a while need to do the exact same thing. This is called peer connectivity – connecting with people who are doing a position that you know you can or want to do. Some folks call these people “mentors,” and mentors can be peers; however, a peer is someone that is doing a role that you can or want to do. They are peers because once you get into that role, you are doing the same thing. Some examples would be professors talking with other institution professors, project managers talking with other company project managers, business analysts talking with other business analysts, and so on. 

When these conversations happen, information is shared – information that can be very valuable in one’s own career progression. Skills are identified, and this helps you determine what you already have and what you need to pursue. For seasoned professionals, new technologies, methodologies, processes, and ideas are shared and can be implemented to help a person do their job better. This is why LinkedIn was originally created – it is for peers to connect with each other and share ideas. It was not created as a job board. It became a job board because it makes a lot of money. Companies pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars a month to post jobs. There are over 7.6 million jobs posted on LinkedIn today – you do the math.

How does this help your career? It helps you identify people who are your professional peers who are working for a variety of companies – some companies you may know, and most you will not know. When you connect with these people, you will now know a person in a company that you just may be interested in pursuing, and better than that… a person in that company now knows you. 

Why is this important? LinkedIn did a survey a couple of years ago and found that over 70% of the job postings that are on job boards today already have someone picked for the position before the company posted the job. That means that three out of four job postings already have their person. The job posting is real to the person who was selected, but not to the job seeker world. How do these companies identify a person before they post a job? When a position comes available, whether it is created or vacated, internal management will look at their peers, colleagues, and employees and they will ask them – “Who do you know? Who do you know who can do this job and do it well?” I am sure you have heard this throughout your career and have done this exact thing yourself. It is nothing new. This has been going on for decades and within every industry.

Sadly, most people do not have peer connections. I hear this every day, and I talk to about 100 clients a month. By building your peer connectivity, you will get to know a lot of people out there that know about you, your skills and accomplishments. There is one fact in the working world – everyone who is working knows when a position is open in their department. They know when a position opened up because of a fellow employee leaving or a new position was created. Often the company will add the duty of this open position on the existing employees until the position is filled. Have you been in this situation? The same will be with each of your connections. They know when a position is open, but they do not know anyone who can fill the role.  However, if that person is a peer that you reached out to, then that person may refer you for the position.  Statements are made like, “have you thought about our company as an opportunity, we are always looking for great people,” or “we just had an opening in our department that I think you would be a great fit, are you interested?” If you say yes, then what they will say is, “Apply for the position, and when you finish, let me know and I will go pull your information.” Now you are being pulled from the dozens or hundreds that apply and become the person in mind! 

This is why it is important to create a goal of increasing your peer connectivity and continue this activity throughout your career – it not only will help you do your job better, it will generate job opportunities down the road.

Want to learn how to do this? Connect with me and let’s talk.

About RTG Enterprises

At RTG Enterprises, we specialize in assisting our clients in the full career search process – which includes career assessment, building a brand and resume, how to research occupations, employers, and geographies, networking, interview techniques, salary negotiations, and onboarding.  All professional people have mentors and coaches. Whether you are a new graduate, a seasoned professional, or an executive, RTG has a Career Coaching Plan or Professional Resume Writing Package for you. Contact us to be your coach today for your success tomorrow. RTG customers include executive management (C-suite), information technology professionals, engineers, teachers, professors and administrators, accounting and finance professionals, human resource professionals, business development and sales professionals, marketing and communication professionals, law enforcement professionals, and transitioning military personnel. Find more information at https:rtg-enterprises.com.

About Richard Glass

Mr. Glass has been connecting talent with employers for over 25 years. For six years, he led the career center of the largest non-profit university in the United States, which had over 265,000 students and alumni and over 11,000 employers using its services, and before then he helped corporate and government employers find the talent they needed to meet their needs. He has helped thousands of students, mid-career professionals, and executives learn what it takes to brand themselves and stand out amongst their competitors professionally. He has trained dozens of recruiters, account managers, account executives, business development professionals, employer relations coordinators, and career counselors to provide professional development to job seekers, and staffing and solution expertise to employers. His expertise includes strategic relationship development, business development, entrepreneurship, career counseling and coaching, networking, resume and cover letter writing, personal and business branding, and philanthropic giving. He has worked with employers in both the public and private sectors, including higher education, public and private K-12 schools, federal, state, and local governments and agencies, Fortune 1000, mid-size and small businesses, non-profits and ministries.