The holidays are over, and the new year has begun.
For some people, January is a time of transformation and inspiration. For others, the new year blues can be a dangerous drain on their motivation. However, whatever you feel at the start of 2019, a new year represents an opportunity to learn, adapt and grow in your professional and personal life.
By looking at both your long and short-term goals for career-based success, you can start to chart a step-by-step map towards your goals. Whether you’re hoping to get a promotion by 2020, or you want to move into an entirely new part of the tech industry, here’s how you can use strategy and vision to improve your career plan.
Start by Clarifying What You Want
The best career plans begin with a clear vision of what you want to accomplish in the future. This means evaluating where you are today, and where you’d like to be within a specific time frame. Defining what “success” looks like to you will show you whether you’re making progress as you pursue your ambitions.
To start setting your goals:
- Analyse your current and future lifestyle: How happy are you in your career and personal life today? Is career burnout affecting your sleeping patterns? Do you feel frustrated with the lack of challenges in your current role? If so, how do you want things to change in the year ahead?
- Know your likes/dislikes: What do you enjoy about your current role, and what would you rather do less of? For instance, do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut in your HCM career? Did you start with a career in digital automation, but now you’re more interested in AI? Evaluating likes and dislikes will highlight the vertical and horizontal moves you’ll need to make going forward.
- Evaluate your strengths and weaknesses: Look at yourself from the perspective of an employer. What makes you an incredible asset to any company? Where can you benefit from improving your skills? Maybe you’re great at the technical side of your work, but you struggle with leadership and teamwork skills.
Set Long and Short-Term Goals
Once you’ve begun to determine the things that you want to change in your career, give yourself a schedule for development. Most goals fall into one of two categories: short-term, or long-term goals. Short-term goals might be something you want to achieve in 3, 6 or 12 months. Long-term goals usually take between 3 and 5 years to accomplish.
While it’s important to have a long-term idea of your future to guide your short-term targets, remember that achieving your ultimate ambitions often means accomplishing some smaller goals to begin with. For instance, if you want to become a Data analyst, then you’ll need to start by developing your Big Data skills, investing in training, and even networking with new people.
Splitting your big goals into short-term targets will make them seem more achievable. What’s more, short-term goals allow employees in the tech space to remain agile as new roles and ideas enter the sector. In a space as fast-moving as this one, your priorities can change faster than you’d think.
Establish a Plan for Successful Development
A strategic career plan often works best for people who adopt a growth mindset.
As you enter the new year, resolve to be more mindful and proactive about updating your skills, expanding your experience, and making progress towards your dream career. This means putting actionable plans in place to take you from where you are today, to where you want to be.
Begin by:
- Evaluating your skill gaps: Look at your current CV and compare it to the application of someone who has the role you want. What kind of skills and experience do they have? How often do they network with people in your space? Which behaviours can you mimic in your career plan?
- Working with a mentor: Often, successful long-term development is easier when you have some support by your side. A career mentor will keep you motivated when the going gets tough, and show you areas in your professional life that you need to work on.
- Finding your learning style: Work on becoming a devoted and consistent learner again. To do this, find out how you learn best. Do you prefer to work in your own time? Do you need one-on-one support? Your knowledge of your learning styles will support you in finding the best ways to gain your qualifications.
Commit to Constant Improvement
Finally, don’t leave your motivation behind when January is over.
As the beginning of the year ramps up and things get busier in your role, it’s tempting to fall back into old habits and forget about your long-term goals. However, the only way to accomplish great things is to remain devoted and determined.
Set aside some time for self-reflection at the end of each month, where you can celebrate your little victories, and learn from any mistakes you’ve made on your path to long-term goals. This process will keep you motivated as you make your way through your new career plan.
About Resource On Demand
Resource On Demand is Europe’s first specialist Salesforce Recruitment Company, now also focusing on growth Cloud markets.
We assist innovative and disruptive organisations to grow their technology teams. Supporting companies to fill Cloud roles that span across Digital Marketing, Marketing Automation, Human Capital Management and the growing Salesforce.com suite of skills.
The team at Resource On Demand have access to an extensive database of key talent, registering over 8000 Cloud professionals each year.
To find out how we can support you call us on 01322 272 532