{"id":301,"date":"2022-03-18T12:48:30","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T12:48:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/?p=301"},"modified":"2023-06-26T14:57:55","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T14:57:55","slug":"what-are-your-career-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Answering the Question: What are Your Career Goals?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the most frequent questions an applicant may be asked in a job interview is about their career goals and aspirations. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The employer will want to know <strong>what direction you are looking to grow in<\/strong>. Since that can influence their decision about hiring you, you should be very careful about wording your answer to this question.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to see some tips from HR pros about career goals definition, setting career goals, planning how you can achieve them, and the best ways to tell the hiring team about all of it.<\/span><\/p>\n\n    <div class=\"builder-button\">  \n        <a href=\"\/goapp\/new-resume\" class=\"builder-banner__a\">Create your resume<\/a>\n    <\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\"><img width=\"768\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/career-goals.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Answering the Question: What are Your Career Goals?\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/career-goals.png 768w, https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/career-goals-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/career-goals-50x34.png 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69d1be044b870\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #2c1e39;color:#2c1e39\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #2c1e39;color:#2c1e39\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-69d1be044b870\"  aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#Why_is_it_important_to_set_academic_and_career_goals\" >Why is it important to set academic and career goals?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#What_types_of_career_goals_are_there\" >What types of career goals are there?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#How_to_set_career_goals\" >How to set career goals<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#1_Be_very_specific\" >1. Be very specific<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#2_Use_timeframes_and_numbers\" >2. Use timeframes and numbers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#3_Set_realistic_targets\" >3. Set realistic targets<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#4_Dont_set_anti-goals\" >4. Don\u2019t set anti-goals<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#How_to_tell_the_employer_about_your_career_goals\" >How to tell the employer about your career goals<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#Examples_of_career_goals_for_job_interviews\" >Examples of career goals for job interviews<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#Sample_career_goals_for_a_digital_marketer\" >Sample career goals for a digital marketer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#Sample_career_goals_for_a_manager\" >Sample career goals for a manager<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/what-are-your-career-goals\/#Sample_career_goals_for_a_designer\" >Sample career goals for a designer<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_is_it_important_to_set_academic_and_career_goals\"><\/span>Why is it important to set academic and career goals?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most obvious reason to set career goals is that it helps you stay on the right path that will help you advance faster. Having a goal lets you keep focused by choosing training and certifications that get you closer to achieving it. <strong>Your goal serves as sort of a guiding star for everything you do.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, you should also look at it from the employer\u2019s perspective. Doing things without an aim in mind can be considered unprofessional, and that\u2019s not how you\u2019d like to appear to your potential employer. So, you should <strong>pay special attention to finding a good answer to this question prior to going in for your job interview<\/strong>. Answering with \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, \u201cI haven\u2019t thought of it\u201d or \u201cI don\u2019t really have any goals at the moment\u201d is out of the question.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When the hiring manager asks you about your career goals, they want to see that your applying for this position is no accident. They want to be sure that you won\u2019t leave the company in a couple of months, especially if the position includes some on-the-job training the company will be investing in. Training a new employee can cost quite a bit of money, so it\u2019s only natural that no employer will want that money to go to waste and to have to keep hiring and training employees over and over. What does that mean to you? It means that when you answer the question about your career goals and aspirations, <strong>you need to demonstrate that your goals align with where the position you are applying for will take you<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No one would argue that in order to tell the hiring team about one\u2019s career goals, the applicant must first determine those goals for themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Also read:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/the-best-answer-to-sell-me-this-pen-interview-question\/\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"2244\">How to React to the \u201cSell me this pen\u201d Question<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n    <div class=\"builder-banner-top\">\n        <div class=\"builder-banner-top__title\">\n            You'll Never Find a Good Job\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"builder-banner-top__text\">\n            It\u2019s a job hunter\u2019s common fear, but we can help boost your chances!\n        <\/div>    \n        <a href=\"\/goapp\/new-resume\" class=\"builder-banner-top__a\">Click to use resume builder<\/a>\n    <\/div><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_types_of_career_goals_are_there\"><\/span>What types of career goals are there?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, what kind of career goals could you set? First of all, you need to think of both <\/span><b>short-term<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><b>long-term<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> goals. Short-term career goals are those that take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of years to achieve. Think of them as the stepping stones to the ultimate long-term goal you are looking to reach in anything from 3 to 10 years or longer. The \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What are your long-term career goals?<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d question is pretty much the same as the question \u201cWhere do you see yourself in 5-10 years?\u201d. Give it some good thought, as this is not just something you will be saying to the employer, but also the target that will be guiding you up the career ladder.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a look at a few types of career goals a person may have depending on the area they want to develop. In your career plans, you may want to:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li><strong>Grow professionally<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may aim to get better at what you do, <a href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/hard-skills-vs-soft-skills\/\">develop new skills<\/a> and do other things that will help you advance in your career.<\/span><\/li><li><strong>Advance in education<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Get additional training or certifications, or even another college degree, that will allow you to reach new levels and get closer to your long-term goal.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/li><li><strong>Focus on personal development<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may include developing soft skills like mastering self-organization or <a href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/9-characteristics-of-a-team-player\/\">teamwork<\/a> abilities, learning new communication or networking tactics.<\/span><\/li><li><strong>Develop your leadership skills<\/strong>. <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is where you focus on taking on new responsibilities, getting better at managing teams or departments, applying for positions that are higher up on the career ladder.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_set_career_goals\"><\/span>How to set career goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Setting your goals properly is essential to being able to actually accomplish them. If you don\u2019t know exactly both where you want to get and how you are going to get there, a lot of your efforts may be pointless. Therefore, when you work on setting your goals, the tips below may help you do it more effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Be_very_specific\"><\/span>1. Be very specific<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you set your long-term goal as \u201cbecoming a successful businessman\u201d, there are so many potential variations of how you may define success in the future. This can significantly affect the routes you take, and eventually cause some serious delays in you getting to where you ultimately want to be. In fact, your definition of success may change so much that your big goal will always be moving further away into some distant future, and there is hardly anything worse than chasing an unattainable target in one\u2019s career.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, when you set your goals, add as many details as possible. Instead of \u201cBecome a successful businessman\u201d, make it \u201cOwn and run an interior design company with $700,000 in annual revenue in 5 years\u201d. This way, your short-term goals will be focused around getting the right education and certifications to grow your skills and knowledge in interior design, learning and practicing business management, and making the right decisions to start and grow your own business.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Use_timeframes_and_numbers\"><\/span>2. Use timeframes and numbers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How would you know if your goal has been accomplished? This is why it is important to establish some measure of success. For instance, you can set a deadline for completing the required education or launching a product\/store\/website\/office, etc. Measuring your success and analyzing failures will help you stay on track and get to the ultimate target faster.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Set_realistic_targets\"><\/span>3. Set realistic targets<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To make sure your career path doesn\u2019t consist of 50 or more per cent failures, you need to have realistic expectations. If you write down your long-term goal as \u201cGet $1,000,000 in annual revenue in 5 years\u201d while you are scrambling to find money to open a tiny pizza place in a small town, that would be setting yourself up for a failure. And multiple failures are a factor that has caused more than a couple of people to lose<a href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/how-to-answer-what-motivates-you\/\"> motivation<\/a> and give up their dreams. To avoid that, set goals you have a good chance of achieving.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4_Dont_set_anti-goals\"><\/span>4. Don\u2019t set anti-goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Focus on what you want to achieve instead of what you want to eliminate or avoid. For instance, quitting your current job in a year is not a good goal. That doesn\u2019t mean that you shouldn\u2019t want to quit, but focus on what you will replace this job with: will you be looking for a new position with more responsibilities, or starting your own business? Set that as your goal and think positive.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_tell_the_employer_about_your_career_goals\"><\/span>How to tell the employer about your career goals<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you have your goals defined, you should be ready to answer the \u201cWhat are your career goals?\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/words-to-describe-yourself-in-an-interview\/\">interview<\/a> question. We have some tips for you that will help ensure that your answer gets you the reaction you are looking for.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keep these things in mind when talking about your career goals at a job interview:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mention just the goals that are <\/span><b>relevant to the position<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> you are applying for. For instance, if your goals include learning a programming language, but you are applying for a job as a copywriter\/SMM manager at a medical equipment company, this goal will be hardly relevant. At the same time, if the copywriter position is at an IT company that makes software, the applicant having some knowledge of programming may be an advantage.<\/span><\/li><li><b>Show that you have a plan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for reaching your goals. Starting with short-term goals and moving on to the ultimate long-term one will help you with this task. You need to demonstrate that you are capable of planning out your path, that you know well what you want and how you can get it.<\/span><\/li><li><b>Keep your goal list short. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is best to avoid unloading a long list of goals onto the potential employer. Try to stick to no more than 2-3 short-term goals leading on to 1 bigger long-term goal. When you focus on just a couple of goals, you\u2019ll have time to tell the hiring manager about the actions you plan to take, and how achieving these goals will help you contribute to the company\u2019s success.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Examples_of_career_goals_for_job_interviews\"><\/span>Examples of career goals for job interviews<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Want to see some real-life career goal examples? Here are a few that worked for applicants in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sample_career_goals_for_a_digital_marketer\"><\/span>Sample career goals for a digital marketer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\" style=\"font-size:17px\"><p><em>You\u2019ve seen from my resume that I have extensive experience in market research, analytics and other digital marketing areas, but mostly in the US market. I\u2019d like to scale up my knowledge and experience to include the European and other international markets. I\u2019m also looking to master my email marketing skills. To do that, I plan to take a course on international email marketing, and improve my communication and writing skills. It will help me plan, set up and run successful international email campaigns, which will allow me to expand my responsibilities and grow with your company.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sample_career_goals_for_a_manager\"><\/span>Sample career goals for a manager<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\" style=\"font-size:17px\"><p><em>I would like to improve my leadership skills, which will allow me to manage larger teams. So far, I\u2019ve only had team lead experience with a PPC team, but I hope that in a couple of years I will have enough experience and knowledge to move onto a role that has more management responsibilities and will be able to fully manage all aspects of a large project.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Sample_career_goals_for_a_designer\"><\/span>Sample career goals for a designer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\" style=\"font-size:17px\"><p><em>My long-term goal is to become a creative director. To reach it, I plan to work on developing my graphic design skills and growing my leadership skills. Since your company offers various opportunities for continued education and growth, I believe it would be the perfect job for me, where I could employ all my previous experience, get new skills and take on bigger responsibilities.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you know everything about <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">setting career<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">goals and telling your potential employer about them, you are ready to take on this interview question. Use our tips and examples to nail your dream job that will allow you to grow and reach the goals you have set. <\/span><\/p>\n    <div class=\"builder-banner\">\n        <div class=\"builder-banner__title\">\n            Build your perfect resume in&nbsp;a&nbsp;snap\n        <\/div>\n        <div class=\"builder-banner__text\">\n            Use templates created by HR pros to make your resume and cover letter catch the recruiter's eye.\n        <\/div>    \n        <a href=\"\/goapp\/new-resume\" class=\"builder-banner__a\">Create your resume<\/a>\n    <\/div><div style='text-align:left' class='yasr-auto-insert-visitor'><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most frequent questions an applicant may be asked in a job interview is about their career goals and aspirations. The employer will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":""},"categories":[6,3],"tags":[],"table_tags":[],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0,"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6367,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301\/revisions\/6367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resumekit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}