Setting career goals for 2024

A new year often inspires fresh beginnings, making January an ideal time to think about - and plan for - your future. Discover how to set goals to achieve career success

Assess where you are now

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of a successful career plan.  Understanding our skills, strengths, motivations and values enables us to choose a career, and employer, that is aligned with our interests and capabilities. In the short term, self-awareness helps us make career-related decisions. In the long term, understanding what we want from a role, and what we can offer, can lead to enhanced job satisfaction.

To make the most out of your career, conduct a thorough evaluation of your skills, experiences, and accomplishments to gain the clarity you need to plan for your future. This knowledge allows you to invest time and resources in developing your strengths and overcoming challenges, propelling you towards your career goals.

To cultivate the self-awareness needed to succeed, start by reflecting on your past experiences, including academic projects and achievements, part-time work, work experience, and extra-curricular activities.

Then consider the skills you've gained from each of these experiences and the situations that have allowed you to shine. Seek feedback from lecturers, friends, family, and peers to gain an outside perspective on your strengths and potential areas for improvement. Online resources like Cappfinity's free starter Strengths Profile can also help you explore your skills, strengths, and areas for improvement.

Consider where you want to be

While you don't need to have your entire career mapped out, having an idea of the kinds of jobs or sectors you’re interested in can help with planning.

If you're not sure where to start, tools like Prospects' JobMatch can help match your skills, strengths, and aspirations to potential career paths.

Then identify a specific goal for the end of the year, whether it's landing a graduate job, working for a particular organisation, being on a placement year, or starting a Masters or PhD.

Setting a long-term aim can help you turn a career idea into a solidified plan and provide you with a vision for the future. This approach not only shapes your professional path but also provides a roadmap that guides your decisions, actions, and aspirations.

However, you will need to break it down into manageable chunks to give you direction. Setting smaller, quantifiable goals can boost your motivation, promote personal accountability, and ensure you stay on track.

For example, if you want to secure a graduate job by the end of the year, you could focus on securing two weeks of relevant work experience over the Easter break. If you want to start a PhD, you could commit to organising an informal chat with two current PhD students to gain insights into the application process.

Make sure to attach specific but realistic deadlines to these smaller goals to ensure steady progress towards your long-term aim.

Boost your employability

Explore the skills, experiences, and knowledge needed to achieve your long-term goal. Prospects' job profiles can provide an overview of the types of skills, knowledge, and work experience needed to break into certain roles. From here, assess what skills you already have, and areas where you need to develop.

You can boost your skills, CV and confidence by seeking work experience, whether this is through work shadowing, internships, part-time work, joining a society or virtual work experience. Consider completing online courses on platforms such as  Future Learn, Coursera and Google Digital Garage.

Stay on track

It's inevitable that you will hit obstacles in the pursuit of your career-related goals. When faced with setbacks, remember:

• Don't let missing one short-term goal derail your long-term plan - revise the objective and refocus on your overall aim for the end of the year.  
• There is more than one way to get to where you want to go - nobody's career journey looks the same.
• A step forward in any direction is better than standing skill - focus on developing skills, gaining experience, and building your professional network.
• Develop a growth mindset - view everything as an opportunity to learn more about your career interests and options. Sometimes we learn more about what we want - and don't want - from the future when things don't go to plan.
• Support is available - if you're feeling stuck, book an appointment with your university careers service to discuss your plans and next steps.

Find out more

• Discover how to choose a career.
• Search for postgraduate courses.
• Explore what you can do with your degree.
• Return to The Topic for more news, insights and opinions.