Setting Goals before You Begin Your Job Search

Now it's time to roll up your sleeves and wrestle with what you want out of life. This article asks you to look inward, to identify your values and your roles, and to set realistic personal and professional goals for yourself. Until you have clarified what you are all about - what's important to you, what isn't, what motivates you, what doesn't - you won't be able to present yourself clearly to a potential employer. Remember, the interviewer is not a career counselor. The better prepared you are to answer the inevitable "Tell me about yourself" question you will be asked in your interview, the better you will come across and the greater the likelihood you will be offered the job. This requires some soul-searching and introspection on your part.

Many of us only grapple with existential concerns when something doesn't turn out right. When the quick fix is not forthcoming and the cosmetic overhaul doesn't work, we turn to introspection and goal-setting as a penance - and a last resort. Unfortunately, when the crisis passes, so often does the soul-search.

In The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, author Steven Covey explains that personal growth doesn't just happen; it's the result of an intense inward search. He says we must start with the inside first: "Private victories supersede public victories."



Covey's message is taken seriously by American business, in part, I believe, because it mirrors Tom Peters' and Robert Waterman's In Search of Excellence, which provided business leaders with a radical alternative to numbers crunching. As management consultants for McKinsey and Company, Peters and Waterman took a firsthand look to see how many, if any, excellent companies were left in America. Their bias, at the beginning of their trek, was that the Japanese had cornered the market on excellence and that American companies were only treading water.

Well, they did find excellence - in large corporations, small businesses, and even government agencies. Once they quantified excellence into objective data, they explored the characteristics and qualities of "excellent" firms. Sure enough, they all seemed to march to the same drummer. But instead of structures and rules, Peters and Waterman found champions, loyalty and innovation. Further, they learned that excellent companies had clear missions, a strong understanding of what they were in business for. The key to organizational excellence, they found, was the ability to articulate corporate values and act on them-unconditionally. Remarkably, corporate culture and mission statements became the battle cry of American business leaders in the '80s.

Covey's book takes this notion one step further. He says excellent organizations are made up of effective people. Effective individuals are principle-centered and live their lives based on those precepts.

Role Exploration

To help you clarify your values and principles, let's start, as Covey does, with your life roles. In one column, list yours - all of them. For example, you may be simultaneously a Spouse, Lover, Parent, Programmer, Reentry Housewife, Friend, Child, etc. When you're done, go back over your list and write in another column the characteristics and qualities you would like to possess in each role. For example, under Parent you may want to say: Nurture, Provide guidance, Foster a loving and open relationship with my children, Be a role model for honesty, etc. Later you will be asked to translate these "ideal" role characteristics into specific goals.

Focusing on You

In a few moments we're going to take a close, almost surgical look at your specific work goals, analyzing and itemizing them in detail. But first, to get in the proper frame of mind, answer some general questions about yourself and your future. Think of goal-setting as a good road map on which you have identified important destinations for all aspects of your life. Answer the questions below candidly and realistically:

1. Where do you want to be in five years? Professionally? Personally?
   
   
2. What do you already know you must do to realize your professional and personal goals?
   
   
3. What risks must you take to reach these goals? Is achievement of the goals worth it?
   
   
4. What jobs/careers intrigue you? What qualifications do you have for these occupations? (University and community-college libraries are great resources for career exploration. Large universities have hundreds of trade magazines in the Business Section of their libraries. Also, career centers of community colleges are generally open to the public and have current information on all sorts of occupations and the requirements for them.)
   
   
5. What do people always tell you "you should do"?
   
   
6. Aside from educational institutions, who can help you learn about a particular career or trade? To which organization do these people belong? How can you connect with them?
   
   
7. Is self-employment a realistic option for you? If so, what type of work could you do?
   
   
8. Is temporary employment attractive to you? (Many temporary agencies actively recruit older workers.)
   
   
9. What are your immediate career alternatives? Which, if any, are most appealing?
   
   
10. What research and planning must you do before you're sure of a successful career path?
    
    
11. How do you define success? Is it money? Status? Love of job? Time with family? Something else?
    
    
12. How much monthly income do you need to cover basic expenses? Maintain a comfortable lifestyle? Live in luxury?
    
    
13. What skills do you have that an employer will buy? What type of employer would be interested?
    
    
14. What attitudes do you possess that an employer might buy? Are you energetic? Reliable? Conscientious? Innovative?
    
    
15. How far are you willing to drive to work? Would you relocate across town? Across the country? Would you consider relocating if you were paid $100,000 per year?