By Caroline Forsey

“Where do you see yourself in five to ten years?”

Of all the job interview questions out there, this has always been one of the most difficult.

These days, the next steps in your career aren’t always linear. The age-old corporate ladder model of putting in a few years as an associate contributor, becoming a manager of a small team, and climbing your way to the senior management or director level is not right for everyone.

And considering you’ll spend roughly one-third of your life at work, it’s critical you take the time to reflect and choose the best career path for you.

To help you figure out your short and long term career goals, I spoke with four career coaches. Here, we’ll explore how you can determine your own career goals for long-term professional fulfillment. Let’s dive in.

What are career goals?

Career goals are any short or long term milestones you hope to achieve throughout your career to get you where you want to be. While your personal goals might include starting a family or buying a house, your career goals are entirely focused on the trajectory of your professional life.

Your long term career goals are the adult answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Perhaps you hope to become CFO, business owner, or VP of Marketing. Alternatively, maybe you want to become a lecturer at a college, open your own private practice, write a novel, or own a yoga studio.

Once you’ve identified your long term goals, you’ll want to create a strategic vision for how to get there, which is comprised of lots of short term goals. For instance, maybe in your short term plan, you’d like to get your MBA, speak at conferences, take a writing course, or get your yoga certificate. All your short term decisions should be made, at least in part, with your long term career goal in-mind.

Let’s dive into the difference between short and long term career goals, now.

Short Term Career Goals

A short term career goal is any professional goal that will take you a few months or few years to achieve. Your short term goals should fit into the roadmap you need to follow to eventually reach your long-term goals.

Short term goals can relate to education, professional development, personal development, or leadership. For instance, a few short term goals might include:

• Taking an Excel course to become more proficient in data analysis
• Signing up for your company’s professional development workshop to master new skills related to management
• Enrolling in a Toastmasters class to become a more confident public speaker
• Increasing your monthly sales by 30%
• Collaborating more efficiently across departments

From these examples, you can begin to see that short term goals are not the end-all, be-all of your professional development — they’re just a …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron