The Second Step In Building Your Career: Where Is Your Career Going?

Now that you taken the first step in building your career by thoroughly defining where your career is today it is time to define where you want your career to be and in what time frame. Perhaps you want to be a partner at Goldman Sachs, a Big 4 audit or consulting firm or own your own business. 

Create A Clear Vision

Create a clear and detailed vision of your future career, roles and responsibilities and how it fits in with the rest of your life. This last step is particularly important because failure to do so will create conflict between the different areas of your life, likely resulting in failure in one or more areas.

Start by list your job title and then move on to writing the job description, just as you might see it in a job posting. Then, move on to expanding the job description to write a page or more on what's involved with the job on a day-to-day basis.

Describe other parts of your life too. How do they fit in with your career vision? Family, friends, leisure activities are all part of your life that need to be considered as well.

Set a Time Frame

One of the keys to achieving your vision or any goal that you have is to set a time frame for achieving that goal. Without a time frame as part of your vision it could happen years later or never at all. Including a time frame within your vision also helps you create a sense of urgency for bringing your vision to life. Otherwise, tasks that are urgent but not important will be placed ahead of your vision, further delaying you getting where you want to be.

How clear is your vision for your career?