Career Confidential - Setting SMART Career Goals

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There are many talented moms out there actively seeking to re-enter the paid workforce or gearing up to do so in the future.  As experts in flexible staffing, Mom Corps team members are often asked about crucial skills for today’s workplace. In our monthly blog series, Career Confidential, we share smart strategies for career re-launchers.

For most of us, January brings a fresh wave of resolve and unlimited possibilities.  We pledge to get organized, lead healthier lifestyles and spend quality time with friends and family.   These are all admirable goals; but have you created a career resolution for the new year?

Maybe you are ready to change careers, return to the workplace or ask for more flexibility in your current job.  Perhaps you are motivated to learn a new skill or increase your network reach.   Now is the perfect time to define your career desire and make a plan to achieve it!

When setting any goal or resolution, take the extra time to work SMART.  SMART is a mnemonic used to set objectives for personal development or business planning, and has been widely used since the early 80’s.  It stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound -- all descriptors to test against your goal.   Fleshing your objectives out this way will make your goal more meaningful.

So let’s take an example of a simple career goal like “Return to work.” and apply the SMART descriptors to make the goal meaningful.

S=Specific

A specific goal is easier to manage than a broad one. Apply the five “W”s (what, where, when, why and who) for details.  For example, apply when and why to the return to work goal, and it expands to Return to work full-time in order to save for kids college tuition.

M=Measurable

Without concrete criteria, you won’t know if you’ve attained your goal!  Think about measurement questions like:

• How much
• How many
• When will I know the goal has been accomplished?

The example of returning back to work has an inherent measure of success; once a job is accepted the goal has been attained.  But you could get even more specific with the sample goal by setting salary goals or how many hours you will work. For instance:

Return to work full-time at an annualized salary of _____in order to save for kids’ college tuition.

A=Attainable

Is your goal attainable?  How will you accomplish it?  If your goal is to return to work, have you considered any obstacles in your way (child care, outdated skill set, commute)?  What specific tasks will you need to check off to overcome these obstacles?  Considering these factors may force you to tweak your goal slightly to make it realistic.  For instance, the goal may change from Return to work full-time to return to work part-time. Remember, if your goal is attainable, you are less likely to fail.  So with an adjustment for attainability, the goal becomes

Return to work part-time at an hourly salary of _____in order to save for kids’ college tuition

R=Relevant

A relevant goal must represent an objective that the goal-setter is willing and able to work towards. This does not mean the goal cannot be high, but it does mean that the goal is worthwhile to the goal-setter.  In this case, the goal-setter must not only believe in the reason for the goal (saving for college) but be able (from a skill and time perspective) to do so.  Perhaps a simple affirmation of the “able and willing” makes this goal more compelling

I am ready and able to return to work part-time at an hourly salary of ____ in order to save for kids’ college tuition.

T=Time-bound

Finally, a commitment to a deadline helps you focus your efforts on completion of the goal. A time-bound goal will usually answer one or more of these questions:

• When?
• What can I do 6 months from now?
• What can I do 6 weeks from now?
• What can I do today?

Your when is multifaceted.When will you start? When will you finish? What tasks can you accomplish towards your goal and in what timeframe?  Your goal starts becoming real as you make it time-bound.  In our "return to work" example, the T rounds out the career goal.

I am ready and able to return to work part-time at an hourly salary of ____ in order to save for kids’ college tuition.  I will begin my job search immediately and expect to find a job within 6 months.

SMART goal setting is a great way to set and meet career and other personal development goals.  Try downloading this SMART Goal setting worksheet and applying it to this year's resolution.