The holiday season is finally upon us, which means that professionals around the world are beginning to reflect upon their achievements from the past year, as well as their career goals for 2021.
2020, as we all know, has been a year unlike any other. The COVID-19 pandemic has radically transformed virtually every business norm and best practice that was once taken for granted. Even now, in December of 2020, the nation’s business landscape is continuing to change in profound and enduring ways as a consequence of the ongoing public health crisis.
The pandemic has also had enormous implications on the priorities and career trajectories for individual professionals. In the span of ten months, millions of Americans have either shifted to a remote position or found themselves without work for an indefinite period of time. This has left millions of professionals feeling anxious about the year ahead. So if you’ve been struggling to cope with feelings of uncertainty and insecurity during the latter half of 2020, you’re absolutely not alone.
Tips for Establishing Career Goals in 2021
One of the most effective ways to remedy uncertainty and anxiety is to set goals for the future. This will allow you to concretize some of your short-term professional aspirations, and also to begin to hone in on the immediate steps that you’ll need to take in order to level-up in your career.
Here are three tips for setting practical and realistic career goals for 2021:
Be specific in your intentions.
When it comes to setting career goals, it’s important to be precise. With that in mind, make sure you’re making your goals for the new year as specific as possible. Here are some considerations to help your thought process:
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- What specific position or company would you like to be hired into?
- What are your exact salary goals for this time next year?
- Are there any specific promotions within your current organization that you’d like to aim for?
Give each of your goals a deadline.
Establishing a deadline for each goal will greatly reduce the chances that you’ll procrastinate or miss a limited time window for success. Before you set a goal for yourself, be sure to find out whether or not it has any predetermined time constraints (an application deadline, for example). Even if it doesn’t, you should still be sure to impose deadlines for yourself.
Write down your career goals.
We all know the feeling of setting a New Year’s resolution for ourselves, only to forget about it in early January and disregard it throughout the rest of the year. In many cases, our inability to live up to our goals and resolutions can be chalked up to our failure to articulate them in writing. The acts of thinking about a goal or talking about them with a friend are usually not enough to motivate us to follow through. In order to make our goals a reality, it’s crucial to write them down in a clear and organized manner.
Luckily, there are tons of apps and other online resources out there that can help you to write down and track your goals. Check out this article to learn more!
Start Connecting with Top Employers in Your Area
Are you looking to boost your job search and get the pursuit of your career goals started off on the right foot in 2021? If so, contact TekCom Resources today, and we’ll pair you with an expert recruiter who can provide you with the guidance and resources that can help lead you to success in the new year!
