Setting your career goals

No matter what you’re doing, it will always turn out better when you have a plan and precise goals. This is true about your daily work activities, special projects, community service and, yes, your career.
Start by asking yourself …
• What are my professional goals for 3, 5, 10 and 20 years from now?
Be as specific as possible. What would you like your job titles to be as you progress through your career? Maybe you’re a Logistics Specialist now and hope to be promoted to Manager of Logistics within 3-4 years. What comes next? A job managing larger-scale logistics, transportation and distribution operations?
Do you think you’re going to work in corporate America, the military, the U.S. government or a nonprofit agency? If you’re just leaving active military duty, maybe your goal is to continue working, as a civilian, for the military and in 5-7 years transition your skills into the private sector?
If your goal is a job in the private sector, do you want to work for an emerging technology company? Or are you more interested in a large and well-established company like IBM, UPS or Northrop Grumman?
What are your salary goals today, tomorrow and in years to come? Do you have any geographic preferences now or in the future?
When you document your answers to the questions above, you create your own career blueprint to follow. Of course, nothing is etched in stone and things will take twists and turns you never expected. Perhaps you accepted a great new opportunity in a job or industry you’d never thought about, or a friend opened the door into a new company with huge growth potential.
You must be flexible and open to new opportunities that present themselves, and decide what is right for you. Respond to the market and specific jobs as opportunities arise.