Topics - Strategies for an Effective Job Search

Topics - Strategies for an Effective Job Search - Set Goals

Personal Appraisal | Career Exploration | Strategies for an Effective Job Search

Interviews | Reviewing Job Offers | Deal with Stress

3.1 SET GOALS

What to Know

Now that you have done a personal appraisal and some career exploration, you need to make some career decisions to provide direction for your job search. You need to establish realistic goals, then figure out the best way to achieve them.

There are three types of goals:

Short-range (6 months to 1 year)

Intermediate-range (1 to 5 years)

Long-range (5 to 10 years)

You may need to make realistic career goals for each time range. What you want to be doing in five years may not be feasible now, but you can work toward that goal. You may need to find a short-term, stopgap job before you can obtain the appropriate, long-term position you really want. You may need to obtain a position or training in the short-term in order to qualify for the long-term position you would like to pursue.

You need to have some consistency between your short-term and long-term goals. Each job along the way should be a step toward your long-term goal. You have already started the process of personal appraisal. This is an important step in goal setting.

You might also want to refer to your individual transition plan from preseparation counseling.