Long-term career goals are a person’s long-term professional ambitions that he or she hopes to achieve over a period of time. Many people recognize early on in their careers that significant accomplishments and holding a specific position within their field or industry will take a significant amount of time and effort. Those who want to have a successful career can take actions that will allow them to eventually achieve their desired career objectives by setting long-term career goals and developing an action plan for achieving these goals. Employees who set long-term career goals benefit not only themselves, but also their employers, as they can share these goals with their employers to help them make better long-term human resource decisions. At the same time, many workers’ long-term career goals may include self-employment or the establishment of a company in which they will employ others.
For many workers, charting a career path entails both short- and long-term objectives. For example, a worker may know that he wants to work in a specific industry and that success requires completing specific educational programs, working at reputable companies, and demonstrating career proficiency through industry certifications and recognition programs. Even as a student, an individual can begin to develop career and life goals by choosing training programs or universities that will help him prepare for entry-level work in the field in which he wishes to advance his career. He may have a better idea of which long-term career goals are realistic once he begins his training, as well as a path to achieving these goals, once he begins his training. After he starts entry-level work, he can set short-term goals for job responsibility and promotion, which will eventually lead him to the position he wants.
In an ideal world, workers will find mentors along their career path who can help them achieve and fine-tune their job objectives. These mentors may be able to recommend jobs in companies that are known for grooming employees for future success, or they may be able to help the worker schedule reentry into school for graduate or professional certification work in such a way that the education truly enriches the worker’s professional life. Working with a professional career coach or networking with other professionals in the same industry are two other options for developing long-term career goals. These interactions can assist the worker in determining whether her career goals are realistic or need to be revised.