How To Set Work Goals For Career Growth [With 10 Examples]
You’re aware that if you’re the one steering your career in the right way and with intention, you need to consider professional goal setting.
Work goals are just like a North Star, which gives you clarity, direction, and purpose.
But if you’ve exhausted all professional goals examples or simply don’t know how to set career goals, I’ve prepped a guide for you that includes:
What are work goals?
Work goals, aka professional goals, are mental targets or milestones that keep you focused and on track and give you a nudge to evolve in your career path. Work goals come in many shapes and forms, from hitting a performance target to refining your communication skills, becoming a team lead on a project, or earning a promotion.
When it comes to the length of professional goals, these can be short-term or long-term goals, depending on what you’re looking to accomplish. Short-term goals can typically be accomplished in a relatively narrow timeframe, such as a few months. Long-term goals take longer to achieve, requiring at least six months or up to several years.
Here are two examples of goals based on length:
🎯Short-term goal: Interact with industry professionals/experts: Reach out to 5 experts with the technical skills you’re aiming for, get the hang of it, and ask for a pro-bono mentorship session. (You’ll be surprised how willing people are to help!)
🎯Long-term goal: Become a project manager: Take your professional growth to the next level by obtaining your PMP certification, learning people management, gaining time management skills and presentation skills, or setting realistic and achievable goals for a project. (As you see, this is a bigger goal that requires more time to achieve).
Still, need clarity on the differences between short-term and long-term goals? The article mentioned expands more on the topic.
Why do professional goals matter?
Setting career goals is vital for professional development, as they help you find a purpose and stay focused on a direction.
In a study testing the impact of different motivational techniques on group performance, psychologists found that goal setting was one of the most effective. Over 1,000 studies have consistently shown that setting high and specific goals is linked to increased task performance, persistence, and motivation.
Career goals contribute to personal fulfillment, too, among others:
They give you meaning: Meaningful, intentional career goals give you purpose and fuel you. Otherwise, you’d be lost and would just mechanically go to work on a daily basis. By setting professional goals, you are prompted to think about what you truly want to pursue in your career and fulfill you.
They help you quantify and evaluate your career development: With goal setting, you can grasp this broad career path concept much more easily. The SMART goal method (which we will talk about later) is one of many ways to track if you’re successful or falling short on goal setting.
They provide clarity and vision: Most people have a list of daily, weekly, and monthly goals, especially at the beginning of new cycles, like a new year or a new month. But life is messy, and your goals can be easily forgotten or pushed aside by external factors. (If that’s your case, too, focus on your goals; try using a whiteboard or online platform to outline your goals, and always check them.)
They help you stand out: Let’s face it, so many of us have high career aspirations, and we sometimes define our lives around our careers. If you want to become a high performer, professional goals are a no-brainer. Plus, when you hit your goals, you’ll be more confident and feel much better.
How to set work goals
1. Stop and think about where you’re at in your career path
Ask yourself questions like:
What fires me, and what do I want to learn more about?
Where do I want to head next to?
Does it make sense to upskill in the same field?
Do I need a career change?
What gives me energy in my role that I want more of?
What do I want less of?
What area of my job do I want/need to excel in?
Have I reached a cap in my career development?
This list can be endless, but you need to carve out some time to do some internal work and distill what’s important and makes sense for you.
Reiterate until you get a crisp, clear answer.
2. Write your professional goals down
The next step in achieving professional goals is setting them up with a structured framework. Remember, career goals combine both personal and professional goals alike, and they contribute to skill development overall.
I’ll introduce you to two methods to use in setting your goals. I’m convinced you’ve heard about the SMART framework, but it’s unlikely to have heard of the second one 👀.
The SMART goal-setting method
The SMART acronym comes from the following:
- Specific (S) – Your career goals ( as well as personal goals) need to be as specific, unambiguous, and as clear as possible. Are they vague aspirations? Reiterate them until they’re concrete objectives.
- Measurable (M) – Skill development sounds cool, but how will you know when you get there? How do you measure progress? How do you measure success? Make sure your career development goals enable objective progress tracking.
- Achievable (A) – Even if your career aspirations are high, setting yourself attainable goals with manageable tasks can sustain your motivation. There are people (like me) who need to achieve goals that seem highly unlikely or impossible targets (BHAGS), but we’ll touch on that later on. 🙂
- Relevant (R) – Is your smart goal in line with your professional life? Does it match the career growth you’ve set yourself up for? Your new career goals can definitely match a new professional journey ( aka career change), but make sure they’re relevant to your path forward.
- Time-bound (T) – Once you’re adding a time structure to your work goals, you’re primed to work harder and smarter. A pre-set time frame aids in seeing whether or not you’ve achieved your professional development goals and allows you to recalibrate as needed. The time-bound trait comes as a source of motivation, too.
The BHAG goal-setting method
I found out about the BHAG method in a workshop on entrepreneurship. As you can imagine by its name, it’s not on the safe side as the SMART goals method is. In fact, it aims for monumental outcomes, rather than measurable goals, and it was created and mostly applied for reaching a company’s objectives, rather than individual.
For me, it works, as it helps me stay focused on high enough ambitions that keep me fueled, and not bored.
Tip: If you ever start a business, keep in mind the BHAG method – it might work very well.
The Big Hairy Audacious Goal needs these five characteristics:
Inspiring: BHAGs are audacious goals that push the boundaries of your organization ( above what normally seems achievable )
Long-term goal: These goals typically span over years and even decades ( applied to my own career transition example, I needed a few years to grow into the new role, and the same works for a company’s objectives)
Memorable: BHAGs have to be resounding and memorable for all stakeholders involved
Encouraging team spirit: BHAGs always foster and entice collaboration and cooperation, as they’re big enough to require more people.
Nurturing a growth mindset: In the BHAG philosophy, failure is a natural part of the process, asotherwise there won’t be any goal progress. BHAGs strive for extraordinary achievements, so a strong and evolving mindset is highly needed.
10 work goals examples
1. Boost your time management skills
If not time management, then I don’t think there’s a different asset that’s as important at work but also for personal development. Your professional growth depends a lot on how you manage your time, and honestly, every project or task is time-bound. So you can’t escape it. Work goals examples for improving time management skills:
As, at the core, we are time management geeks (@ Timeular), I can recommend some tips:
A. Use an automatic time-tracking app that reflects how you’re spending your time without any effort from your side. It won’t spy on you but act as an objective report.
B. Use time management techniques such as the Pomodoro technique into which you’re breaking tasks in manageable chunks of 25 minutes, with a 5-minute break. Another technique is timeboxing, which is frequently used in the Agile methodology.
We have lots of resources on time management that can help in finessing your time management skills:
2. Become a good communicator
So many of us struggle with our communication skills, so improving them can be a work goal in itself. Work goals examples to improve your communication skills:
A. Participate in in-house training on communication skills and present a project pitch at the end of the training. The trainer should help with feedback. (Medium-to-long-term goal)
B. Send a message with the details of a new initiative you’re working on and ask coworkers for feedback on how clear it is. (Short-term goal)
3. Pick up or improve leadership skills
You know the saying, leadership is not thought, is practiced, but if it’s on your “want to grow professionally list,” here are work goals to grow into a leader:
A. Expose yourself in small doses to coordinate a team, project, or event – set time-bound smart criteria for it, such as 3 months. (Short-term goal)
B. Take on a conflict resolution course to solve at least 5 conflicts among your team members in the next year. (Long-term smart goal)
4. Improve your work-life balance
Though overlooked, as it’s not on your job responsibilities list, taking care of building a balance between personal life, physical health, and professional life is instrumental. Work goals for a good balance between work and personal life:
A. Add a timer at every 50 minutes of work to have a 10-minute break. Being glued to your computer all day long won’t contribute more to job satisfaction, but it can mess up your overall well-being and performance. (Short-term goal)
Tip: I used a free app called Tadama to help me with this. It’s great, I promise.
B. Leave work at 5 PM every single day for the next quarter or even the next 6 months. Those unexpected challenges can wait until tomorrow. (Long-term smart goal)
5. Get better at daily task management
With deadlines looming on us, we’re all overwhelmed and under pressure, and even more when we don’t manage to finish tasks on time. So, having a higher completion task rate contributes a lot to your well-being at work. Work goals for a good task management:
A. Read an article on how to prioritize tasks, pick one prioritization technique, and apply it this week. Analyze your results, reiterate, or apply another technique. (Short-term goal)
B. Make a time management plan and stick to it for 6 months to get into the habit of building and managing tasks and your time better. (Long-term goal)
- Read about Warren Buffet’s 5/25 rule that helps to prioritize tasks.
6. Master your craft (career progression)
Your professional goals list would not be complete without leveling up in your career. Work goals to progress in your career:
A. Enroll in a 3-month training program that enhances your job-specific skills. (Short-term goal)
B. Enroll in a 1-year certification program to develop your skill set and take it to the next level. (Long-term goal)
7. Pick up on new skills
Continuous learning can give you an edge in anything you do at work. You don’t know what the next project can be about, so broaden your skill set. Work goals to learn new skills:
A. Set a call with a colleague from another department to learn what their job entails. (Short-term goal)
B. Go to a 6-month workshop on something different than your current job responsibilities but maybe complementary. (Long-term goal)
8. Enhance your public speaking skills
Oh – public speaking – one of the most common fears, often found ranking higher than the fear of death in some surveys. However, once exercised, it’s just like a muscle that becomes stronger. Work goals to be a better public speaker:
A. For the next month, spend 5-10 minutes a day visualizing yourself, giving speeches confidently in front of an audience. At the end of the month, give one short speech in a casual setting. (Short-term goal)
B. Join for 1 year a public speaking program or club, such as Toastmasters International, where you can regularly practice and receive constructive feedback. (Long-term)
9. Become a thought leader in your niche
Here are work goals’ examples of how to become a thought leader:
A. This month, write a blog or LinkedIn post about the latest trends in your industry and share insights and ideas to showcase knowledge. (Short-term goal)
B. For the next quarter – 1 year, host a webinar series on the latest industry trends in your field. Conversely, post the trends on LinkedIn and share your stance on them. (Long-term goal)
10. Foster relationships with coworkers
Depending on your work environment, you’ll need more or less relationship-building or some politics applied at work. They influence career advancement and collaboration. Work goals examples of how to foster relationships at work:
A. This month, set a (virtual or in-person) coffee call with a team member you feel you haven’t talked to in ages or you would need to have a closer relationship. (Short-term goal)
B. Set a reminder to consistently ( every month) check in with different colleagues you’d like/need to nurture a better relationship with or offer mentorship for a few months.
I could go on about goals, but I think you have an idea of professional goals that you could consider at work and what a short versus long-term would look like. If you still need some ideas, here are some:
Enhance your soft skills (giving feedback, teamwork, creativity, critical thinking, or problem-solving)
Get a master’s degree in your field or in a totally different one ( for career re-conversion)
Expand your portfolio as an independent professional or not
Networking ( Participate in industry events )
Start looking for new career opportunities
Do professional mentorship sessions
Personal growth goals ( financial goals, mindfulness practices, emotional intelligence, volunteering, etc. )
Get to see our work goals
Leveling up in her career
This year, my professional goal is to improve my technical SEO skills and delve into the nitty-gritty of tools like Google Search Console. As a content manager, I’ve spent many years on the creative side of SEO – writing content, creating strategies, and developing briefs. As my role has evolved, I feel the urge to dive into the technical aspects now. – Karolina Matyska, Senior Content Manager @Timeular
Pursuing a new career
After a couple of years in sales, I felt the need to follow a different career path: to be a copywriter. The sales role was no longer fulliflling my needs, so I started making the change within the company, as there was a need for this role in the team.
At the time, I made up a plan with my manager, decided the objectives to achieve in a few months, and I (luckily) received a great and skilled mentor to help me grow into the new role. The most important aspect of this challenge was to pass on my transferable skills from sales, and not only to my new role. – Madalina Roman, Copywriter @Timeular
Choose your career goals and path
Hopefully, all the information on how to set work goals, and the examples of professional goals helped you untangle this process. It’s not easy to start grasping new skills, while managing your current job, and also prepping for future opportunities, but it’s fulfilling. It is even more satisfying if you’re choosing the the right goals for you, with intention, and these contribute to your work life balance, too.