Evaluating Your Career Goals

The pandemic led many people to evaluate their career goals as they were either laid-off, furloughed, or just had more time while working remotely. Taking a step back to evaluate your career path and goals periodically is helpful though to ensure that your job and company are the right fit for where you want to go in your life. There may be signs from both your job fulfillment or treatment from the company that signal it’s time to evaluate your current career trajectory. It can be challenging to know what to do if you feel stagnant in your career and you’re looking for a change. We’ve outlined steps that you can start to take today to evaluate your career and determine if you are on the right path.

Identify Your Passions and Skills
Taking time to reflect on your passions and skills is a great first step if you feel that you need to evaluate your current career path. Start by listing out all of your passions whether they relate to a career or not. Then continue to list out your strongest skills that both pertain to your career and other skills you have outside of the office. According to Forbes, self-reflection and introspection is key in developing new goals and ideas. While some of the items on your list may align with your current career, it can be helpful to discover new paths you may not have considered before.

Research Other Careers
Exploring new career paths through research and networking conversations will allow you to expand your mindset. For example, The Balance Careers suggests job shadowing to give you a first hand look into other careers. By spending time in the actual work environment and learning about day to day tasks, you can get a better sense of the career and its challenges. Before making a drastic decision like leaving your job doing in depth research and having conversations with people already in the field can be extremely valuable.

Think Long Term
As you begin to evaluate the current career goals you have set for yourself, it’s important to consider long term goals you may have for yourself as well. Ensuring that these two things align is key as you begin to evaluate where you would like to be in the future. The Wall Street Journal suggests determining the professional value in each goal by identifying if they’re actionable, measurable, and realistic. Following that, you can then make any changes needed so that your short term and long term career goals are aligned. By taking the time to evaluate all of your goals, you can ensure that you're on the right track for a fulfilling career.

Evaluating your career goals is a powerful way to take control of your future and ensure that you’re achieving the most fulfilling aspects of your work. It is never too late to reconsider your career and make adjustments if you feel that your current path is no longer right for you. By following these steps, you can revise your goals and determine if you need to make any changes or adjustments. As you begin to evaluate your career it’s important to remember that you won’t have all the answers overnight and you can take as much time as you need to identify new goals.