Short and Long Career Goals: How to Achieve Both for a Successful Career
In today’s fast-paced working world, career success is not typically an accident. It is the product of careful planning, methodical action, and having a sense of direction. As a student, as an early career professional, or as a career changer, short-term and long-term career goals can be the key to your success. Both types of goals play different but complementary functions in creating a successful and fulfilling career.
This post speaks of what makes short-term and long-term career goals different from each other, why you need both, and illustrates how to make them so that you are centred, energized, and on course.
Knowing Short-Term Career Goals
Short-term career goals are the small, shorter-term tasks that you perform in the direction of achieving your long-term career goals. These goals typically take from a couple of months to two years or thereabouts. They are measurable, quantifiable, and gain momentum.
Short-term career objectives are:
- Mastering a new technology or computer program
- Certifying in your career
- Pursuing an internship or entry-level position
- Developing a professional portfolio or resume
- Learning communication or leadership capabilities
- Webinars or business conferences
Short-term goals are important because they enable you to direct your energy currently. They provide you with immediate excitement that enhances confidence alongside refining the competencies you need for better rewards.
Understanding Career Goals over a Duration of Long Time
Long-term career goals are your long-term objectives. They are generally a few years of hard work and planning. They will continue changing as you grow and learn, but they give you a rough idea of direction for your working career.
A few examples of long-term career goals are:
- becoming a manager or executive in your working career
- starting your own business or starting your consultancy company
- Acquiring international work experience
- Obtaining a master’s or Ph.D.
- Becoming extremely influential in your profession or society
- Creating genuine financial freedom through avenues of your profession
Long-term goals keep you engaged with your vision and mission. They get you energized when you’re facing challenges, and remind you of the bigger picture in which you’re working.
The Key Differences Between Short-Term and Long-Term Goals
While both are important, it’s interesting to note that they are quite different:
- Timeout: Short-term goals are within reach and typically require two years or less to be completed. Long-term goals require three or more years to accomplish.
- Scope: Short-term goals are specific and task-specific. Long-term goals are general and strategic in nature.
- Purpose: Short-term goals assist you in gaining skills and experience. Long-term goals announce your entire career aspiration.
- Flexibility: You are able to easily alter short-term goals. Long-term goals can be altered but are more established in the long term.
Why You Need Both
Too much emphasis on short-term goals forgets the larger perspective, and too much emphasis on long-term goals results in procrastination and frustration. It is only when you use both of them together that you can visualize them at their best potential.
Short-term goals are stepping stones towards your long-term desires. They keep you motivated, productive, and always improving. Long-term goals give you the inspiration and support to persist even when you’re only going at a slow, glacial pace.
Both kinds of goals give you a roadmap for your career. You’re not flying by the seat of your pants—you’re charting your course in life.
How to Set Effective Short-Term and Long-Term Career Goals
Now that you have a grasp on short-term and long-term goals, let’s move on to setting them.
- Begin with Self-Reflection
Sit down and consider your interests, strengths, values, and 5 or 10-year vision. Ask yourself:
- What do I most genuinely care about?
- What kind of thing do I most enjoy applying my talents to?
- Where do I want to be in 5 or 10 years?
- What kind of work-life balance am I looking for?
Self-awareness will enable you to create goals that are authentic and in line with your real wants.
- Set Your Long-Term Vision
Consider where you’d like to be career-wise in 5 to 10 years. Think optimistically but realistically. Don’t concern yourself with the exact details—your long-term vision will change as time goes by.
Examples:
- “I want to be a senior marketing manager at a multinational company.”
- “I want to have a successful freelance design business.”
- “I’d like to become a data science career.”
You now have your vision, and it is easier to work backward by creating short-term goals.
- Deconstruct Long-Term Goals into Short-Term Milestones
Your short-term goals are next. You now have your goal, and ask yourself:
- What are the things that I need to learn so that I can do this?
- What training or experience am I lacking?
- What do I need to achieve within the next 6 months or year?
For example, if your long-term goal is becoming a software engineer at a top tech company, your short-term goals might be:
- Attending a coding bootcamp within the next 6 months
- Developing a personal project that you can put on your GitHub
- Seeking internships at tech start-ups
- Getting to know professionals in the industry
- Use the SMART Goal Framework
To make sure that your objectives are actionable, apply the SMART system:
- Specific: Know what you intend to do.
- Measurable: Make sure you have something you can quantify.
- Achievable: Have them be accomplishable in the present situation you find yourself.
- Relevant: Have them be relevant towards your future goal.
- Time-bound: Set time constraints such that there exists some urgency.
Rather than “I want to enhance my resume,” a SMART goal would be “I will enhance my resume with some additional certifications and projects this month.”
- Write Down Your Goals
There’s power in putting your goals in writing. It turns vague ideas into clear commitments. Use a journal, digital planner, or goal-setting app to track your progress. Revisit your goals regularly to assess how far you’ve come and whether any adjustments are needed.
- Celebrate Small Wins
Each time you achieve a short-term success, pause and commend yourself. Reminding yourself that you’ve done a good job keeps you optimistic and instills confidence. Small victories are giant leaps toward your bigger objectives.
- Be Flexible
Life is unpredictable. Your passions can change, fields can change, and new opportunities can arise. Don’t be hesitant to go back and redefine your goals if necessary. Adaptation isn’t the same as quitting—it’s about changing to stay focused on what’s most important to you.
Mistakes to Steer Clear of
Life is unpredictable. Your passions can change, fields can change, and new opportunities can arise. Don’t be hesitant to go back and redefine your goals if necessary. Adaptation isn’t the same as quitting—it’s about changing to stay focused on what’s most important to you.
Mistakes to Steer Clear of
In developing short-term and long-term goals, avoid these pitfalls:
- Too general: Goals such as “be successful” or “have a better job” are too general. Determine what success is to you.
- Unrealistic objectives: Reach high, but in reality. Attempting to accomplish too much in too brief time frame will result in burnout and letdown.
- Not planning for the long term: Don’t become so caught up in the here and now that you won’t plan. Consider where your work today is headed.
- Not monitoring progress: With infrequent check-ins, it’s simple to lose momentum or veer off course.
- Comparing yourself to others: Every journey is different. Concentrate on your own development and goals.
Example: A Career in Digital Marketing
Let’s say you’re a student aspiring to build a career in digital marketing.
Long-Term Goal: Become a digital marketing strategist for a leading international brand in the next 7 years.
Short-Term Goals might include:
- Completing an SEO online course within 3 months
- Founding your learning on a content marketing blog
- Getting an internship in digital marketing within 6 months
- LinkedIn networking by reaching out to 50 industry professionals
- Participating in a minimum of 2 digital marketing webinars or events this year
All these are short-term objectives that build relevant skills and experiences which will form the foundation of your long-term objective.
There is no such thing as overnight success. It is a product of meticulous planning, sheer hard work, and an ability to continue learning and developing yourself along the way. Short-term and long-term career objectives are similar to the compass and the map when driving—short-term is similar to the compass, which you see every day, and long-term is similar to the map, which outlines your overall path.
When you map out both types of goals with purpose and intention, you not only improve your chances of career success, but you build a career that works for you as a person and a professional.
The key is to begin where you are, with what you have, and keep going. Your dream career is not a destination—a journey, and it starts with the goals you set today.
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