No matter what schedule you are managing these days goal setting for your career is important for personal and professional development no matter what stage you are at in your career.  More specifically today we are going to focus on your career in technology whether you are just getting started, or deep into your journey let’s take a look.

Goal Setting Checklist

I am a mentor for the CUGC Women in Technology Mentoring program and when I work with anyone, we start with goal setting.  You don’t need a mentor to be able to work through this checklist, although I will admit is that it can be nice to have one.  But don’t’ let that stop you from finding a way to advance in your career.  Mentor or no mentor anytime you are setting goals there are some key questions to start with determining what is next in your career.

  • Are you looking to change employers?
  • Does new technology excite you, and have you interested in advancing your career through what you know?
  • Would just learning something new that you cannot at work help you expand your knowledge?
  • Are you feeling exhausted from your career, and not sure what is next?
  • What are your top 2 short-term goals (up to 12 months out)?
  • Are there any long-term goals for consideration (12 months and beyond)?

 

First, sit down and write out the answers to all of these questions. Then analyze your answers, and you will likely find that most of them to lead you to setting goals that will have you learning.  It could be that you feel a certification in a new Cloud platform be just what you need, or it could be that you are looking to just gain some insights into something new technology focused, but need some up front guidance.  Or you want to learn to code and do a 360 and learn a little more to expand on your softskills. Regardless it all starts with the desire to learn and the willingness to take a course and get some training.

My GoTo for Training

For most training I find that leveraging Pluralsight in the most affordable way to go, but with the outcome of getting high quality content.  You will not only find some courses from me in their library there are countless others to help change things up.  Normally there is a nominal monthly subscription price, but if you are anything like me I like to make my own judgement on whether something is right for me.  So they gave me the opportunity to provide you will a free trial option.  Then you can evaluate and decide for yourself risk free.

Getting Started with Training

Where can you get started with learning more?  First, get your free trial started through here or by clicking the blue “Get your Tech Skills On – Pluralsight” image below.

 

Concluding thoughts on Goal Setting

It is so important to have goals for yourself to expand on your knowledge overall.  Careers in technology do require the ability to be agile and adjust your knowledge as technology advances, so having a solid and proven training platform to use whenever you want to support your career growth can be very helpful.  Best of luck, and comment below if you have any questions for me!