Kate Jacobs originally posted this several months back…. The economy will get better. Be ready, have your Goals and Objectives ready and have your resume job ready.
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Your Career Path for future employment consists of many activities: writing a resume, locating lists of potential employers, reviewing job openings, typing application letters, making contacts, interviewing, dealing with rejections, negotiating job offers, making many personal and professional decisions. Where do you start? Start with a goal, an objective. It may be helpful to ask yourself questions like: What do I want to be doing? Where do I want to be?
How Social Networks Can Kill Your Future
Your career objective is a personal statement which defines the specifics which you wish to attain with respect to your professional work.
It’s personal. Others may share similar goals, but your objective should state your goals in terms that you are comfortable with. Do Not Use Others Reponses
It’s a commitment. Stating a goal is a form of identifying who you are and what you want to achieve.
It’s action-oriented. It’s you taking control of your life and communicating what you can do and achieving realistic goals.
It’s directional. By focusing on your future, you can then identify the next step to take, which resources to seek. The more completely you examine your future, the better able you will be to evaluate potential work situations.
It’s specific. It clearly identifies some facts or elements about a work situation. Broad terms such as “successful” or “challenging” may mean something to you, but they convey no facts to an employer.
What Do You Include In A Career Objective?
Deciding what to include in a career objective is often a difficult task. This guide will review possible elements of a career objective to help you decide what to include. Remember, a career objective is personal, so deciding what to include is your decision.
Career Fields
Career Fields are general areas of work which include many different job titles that require similar kinds of work activities.
You may be considering several different job titles within a career field. Identifying the career field category allows you to specify a broad area you are interested in without limiting you to specific titles. This course has basic to more advanced computer skills. You have to realize that even if you want a job in a specific field like Computer Administration that all aspects of this course overlap and you may have to start out at one level to achieve another.
Position Titles
Position title, occupational title, or job title is the name of a specific position one holds. While some organizations may have their own reference names, most position titles are generic to many organizations.
Listing a position title on your career objective is appropriate if you know you will be applying basically for a specific position either in many different organizations or targeted for one organization.
Examples: “To obtain a position of Accountant with a public accounting firm and
eventually become a partner.”
“To become a Community Organizer where I can use my human
relations, administrative, and research skills.”
Categories of Organizations
Category of organization is really identifying the setting in which you might like to work. In the broadest sense, organizations are categorized as either service producing or goods producing. In the IT world it is mostly a “service” category. Which is good meaning alot of jobs in this field require a person present to do the work. Even though more and more help desk jobs are going overseas which I view as a “bad trend” there are still plenty on jobs to be had close at hand.
Identifying a category or industry group helps you identify specific employers within that group. In your objective, you narrow your focus and demonstrate interest in a specific setting without naming individual employers. So, your research can be more productive.
Examples:
“To work within the Cable T.V. Industry as a technical advisor.”
“To secure a position as an editor for a mid-size publishing firm.”
Skills
Skills describe your ability to perform various functions or tasks. Skills identify actions you exhibit. Skills can be identified generally or specifically.
You have probably developed many skills through academic, work, and leisure experiences. Some of your skills may cover all three areas. The same skills might be used, or transferred, to several different occupations. They are usually referred to as transferable skills. Skills identify what you can do, what actions you can perform, without limiting you to a specific career field or organizational category. Most jobs require a combination of skills. Identifying your combination lets the employer know where you might fit into the organization.
General skills are broad areas which encompass related specific skills. Identifying general skills in an objective identifies which combination of skill areas you prefer to use in your work.
Examples:
“To use my scientific and human relations skills as a Nursing Supervisor.
“To work for a government agency using my management and communica-tions skills.”
Possible skill areas that you may want to use in your work:
communications management mathematical
human relations administrative scientific
creative clerical technical
athletic mechanical artistic
Specific Skills are specific actions or behaviors used to perform tasks. Identifying specific skills in your career objective allows you to highlight your strengths or specializations within a general skill area.
Examples:
“To use my artistic skills especially doing layout, graphic design, and lettering for an advertising firm.”
“To work for a rehabilitation agency and use my group and individual counseling skills.”
Other Factors
There are other factors which can also be included in your career objective. These would include any limits, conditions, or personal criteria which would affect your work situation and which you feel are important to identify.
By identifying other factors, you can further focus your goals and communicate them to potential employers.
Examples:
“To work outdoors in a supervisory capacity for the United States Forest Service.”
“To obtain a secondary teaching position in the Southeast United States.”
“To work in law enforcement and pursue additional specialized training in forensics.”
Other factors regarding your own limits, conditions, or personal criteria for employment might include:
Geographical Area
Fringe Benefits
Training/Education
Working Conditions
Promotion/Advancement
Size of the Organization
Travel
Goals
Short-term goals are those goals you wish to achieve immediately or in a short time.
Identifying short-term goals provides a focus of where to begin your professional career. Also, they will help you identify the next step of organizing your career plath.
Examples: “To obtain an entry level position of Weather Observer.”
“To begin employment in a variety of beverage management positions which provide opportunities for advancement to a top, policy-making position with a beverage organization.”
Long-term goals are those goals you wish to achieve in a longer period of time. This worksheet you will identify your long term goal you wish to achieve soon after graduation.
Having long-term goals can be beneficial to you in several ways:
(1) Many organizations have staffing plans or forecasts regarding where they want their employees to be in the organization in the future. By having your plan, you and the employer can evaluate if there is a good match, not only with respect to where you might start, but where you may advance and in what time period.
(2) Our society is constantly changing and likewise, careers change. No doubt, as you’re working, opportunities and problems will occur. Long-term goals give you a yardstick to evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions.
Making A Choice
As you review the above information try to include it in your career path plan. Having a complete plan will help you keep on track. But, remember you can change you career path and it need to be reasonably flexible.
For your written career path, you may wish to have different career objectives for different work situations or environments that you are considering.
How Good Is Your Career Path Plan?
To help evaluate your career path goal worksheet check to see that it is:
Personal
A Commitment
Action-Oriented
Directional
Specific
When you complete your career path plan worksheet turn it in. Make sure you have a copy for yourself. Now would be a good time to purchase a portfolio document holder. They have nice ones at Wal-Mart or OfficeMax in several styles. Find a professional one and keep your career on track with a start in being organized.
To hit a target you have to aim.
Career Path Goals
Guide sheet
Type up your answers on a separate sheet of paper
Section One
Career Field
I wish to work in the following career field. Name and describe the field you have chosen. “working with networks” is not acceptable. I want a career field that is known.
General Skill Area
I expect to use the following skills in my work. I want at least 7 skills listed. Putting “work” is not acceptable.
Position Title
I wish to be considered for the following positions. List at least three.
Specific Skills
In my work, I expect to use the following specific skills. Again list at least seven you may use “Soft Skills” too. But you must include at least 5 skills relating to your specific work.
Section Two
Short Range Goal (End of the Semester)
What conceptual, practical and hand-on skills will you gain?
The following element is important to me and I wish to have it in my first job:
Other Factors (other skills you want to achieve in your short term goal)
The following are other factors important to my career
Personal Commitment
Putting “study harder” is not acceptable. Too generic, I want specific steps.
Steps you will take to achieve your Short range goal:
Section Three
Long-Range Goal (Upon Graduation)
The following element is important to me and I wish to achieve shortly after my graduation:
Other Factors (other skills you want to achieve in your short term goal)
The following are other factors important to my career
Personal Commitment
Putting “take better notes” is not acceptable. Too generic, I want specific steps.
Steps you will take to achieve your Long range goal:
Section Four
Your Career Objective
To the best of your ability write your career objective:
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