Reach for the Stars or How to Set Goals and Reach Them
We often talk about the importance of identifying and defining our goals. This applies to both our personal and work lives. We set goals to lose weight, learn a new language, and land that new job or to make that change in our life or career that we have thought about so long.
Reach for the stars and land in the tree tops is one way of defining a goal. It’s wonderful as a philosophy, but too vague to be a project management tool. We need to find ways to bring the philosophy down to earth to make it soar above those tree tops.
First we need to define the end goal, and then divide it into smaller and attainable goals or steps to be completed so as to reach the end goal. And both the end goal and the interim goals should be SMART goals!
Setting SMART goals is a commonly used strategy in both project and people management, but can also be effective for your own job search strategy, or for implementing change. According to Wikipedia, the concept was first described by George Doran in the November 1981 issue of the Management Review magazine. It has grown increasingly popular since.
SMART goals are: S – Specific; M – Measurable; A -Attainable; R -Relevant; T- Timely. What does this mean for your life and career goals?
Specific: Set hands-on, detailed goals by asking the following questions: What, Why, Who, and Where, include a question on possible obstacles or requirements. What job do you want? Why do you want to work in a specific organization? Who can help you get there? Where are the opportunities?
Measurable: Make the goals measurable so you can identify successes and needs for development. The core questions are: How much, How many, How often and How to know when I reached my goal? For example, how many networking meetings will I attend and jobs will I apply for weekly? How many hours a day will I spend on my job search?
Attainable: Are your goals realistic and meaningful? Are they achievable? The trick is to stay positive but realistic. Set reachable and challenging goals so you feel accomplishment when you succeed. Core questions are: do I have the necessary skills, experience and connections? If not, then focus on improving them so you can attain your goals.
Relevant: Are your goals relevant to the life and career you have or want to have? If not, then reevaluate them and revise. If you have trouble assessing the relevance, ask yourself if the action will give you new skills, required experience and new connections needed to further your career and most importantly if it will meet your needs and passions!
Timely: A realistic time frame makes a difference! It keeps us focused as it prevents everyday urgencies and responsibilities from taking over our life. Core questions are: by when must I reach my goal? If I have not attained it by the set date, what then? What are the short-term and long-term goals I need to define and act upon?
Moving to a new country or city, finding a new job or changing jobs, or redefining my life and career balance requires not only skills and experience but also self-awareness and a plan with SMART goals. The concept of SMART goals can be beneficial for any creative, personal and professional project, plan or dream.
Fall – A New Beginning
Labor Day has passed and fall is almost here, this is the best time for new projects.
I always feel energized in the fall, probably a remnant from my school days when I looked forward to a new academic semester after a long and revitalizing summer. The abundance of sun, swim and plenty of vitamin D provided by the long white nights in Finland made a great platform for launching new projects and activities in September.
My creativity is always soaring in the fall. I burst with ideas and creative urges, for arts & crafts and home remodeling, and for my career. Perhaps it is time to write a book, look for a new job, pursue that promotion, and submit a proposal for a presentation or seminar.
How can we do the most with our re-energized mind and body and use it for our job search, career development or for making some long desired changes in our work and personal life?
- Document your feelings, your dreams, plans and goals, before the busy schedule takes over. Write them down, dictate them to a voice recorder or share them with your 200 closest friends on Facebook. Sometimes sharing our plans with someone helps us follow through since it makes us feel accountable to others and ourselves.
- Creativity is often associated with spontaneity and perhaps chaos, but just as we conserve the harvest of berries and fruit from the summer by freezing, drying or cooking jam we need to conserve our creative ideas for the long winter. Make a folder or portfolio of new ideas. Perhaps use mindmapping, an excellent tool to create a visual overview of a project, subject or plan. I use it often to help my career coaching clients brainstorm opportunities, goals and to prioritize. Take time to return to your mindmap or folder of ideas. Prioritize them and select which to pursue.
- You may feel rested and energized right now, but as the rainy days come, the long days at the office or the challenging job search, you may feel less enthusiastic. To conserve and maintain your energy remember to take care of your physical and mental health. Try to eat healthy, exercise regularly and nurture your friendships. Recent research has shown that those who have enough close relationships, such as friends live longer and happier.
Finally, keep an open and inquisitive mind. While it may feel difficult and hard sometimes, try to look for opportunities instead of obstacles. What matters is not that we avoid any difficulties or challenges in our lives, but how we react to them, how we manage our feelings and how we seek to overcome the difficulties and challenging times.
Careers in Hedge Funds
How I Networked My Way into the US Job Market
I moved to the US over 12 years ago. I still recall my first attempts to look for a job. The economy was strong so there were plenty of jobs around. The New York Times job section was several pages long.
As I was new to the country my initial steps were not so successful. My main strategy was to apply for jobs posted in the NYT or online. I never received an answer. So a friend of a friend suggested I need to network more, but I didn’t have a network, at least not in the right industry.
What could I do?
I began to meet with friends who all happened to work in the financial industry, asking them for job search advice on how to find a job in human resources. Eventually my friends referred me to other people they knew, including their human resources representatives. After a few meetings my network of people began to grow.
None of these meetings led directly to a job, but I learned immensely about the work culture in finance, in HR and in New York. I received my best interview coaching ever from a friend working at one of the large investment banks. He advised me to write down at least 30 possible interview questions and prepare answers for each of them. Then he sat down with me and practiced my answers with me. I have never felt nervous about a job interview since.
For a Finn who had recently moved to NY, this was invaluable. The job interviews I had had in Finland were much more relaxed and indirect than the ones my friend prepared me for. I learned how to be assertive, how to talk about my successes and mistakes and what I learned from them. I was learning direct communication as opposite to the Finnish more indirect communication style.
How did I find a job?
On the advice of another friend I signed up with a staffing agency as a “temp”, that is, a temporary administrative staff member to be assigned to short term jobs. My first assignment was in HR at a large investment bank, processing data. I did well and was assigned to another assignment in the same bank, this time working in the Controllers Office processing sensitive data on initial public offerings. I stayed there for four months and was offered to stay on longer but decided to leave to pursue a job that I liked better. At that point I had US work experience and great references.
I wanted to go back to working at a university or a non-profit. So I began applying for jobs at the local universities and colleges and eventually landed an interview at Columbia University. My diligent interview preparation and great references from the investment bank helped me get a job I loved and start a career in my preferred field.
Lessons learned?
When you move to a new country, be prepared initially to adjust your expectations. I did feel my data entry job was below my expectations; I had a master’s degree after all. Consider accepting a job that you may be overqualified for, do it well and make sure your bosses support you. Doing a great job processing data and getting good references eventually opened doors to more interesting jobs later. Learn the local culture, job search strategy and interview culture. Work hard. You are competing with the locals who have home field advantage. Do not be afraid to ask for help.
Be Too Connected to Fail
In one of my workshops for expatriate spouses in the NY area we discuss networking or the concept of creating and maintaining career connections.
We usually launch the workshop by sharing what “to network” means to me, how it is defined and what the networking do’s and don’ts are in my country of origin and compare it to how networking is defined and done in the USA . In the process we also learn to better understand how culture shapes how people look for and find work.
Here are a few examples: According to a spouse from Nigeria, networking is an open secret. This means that in general everyone knows that jobs are found through networking and relatives help each other, but it is not openly talked about or recognized (as in the US). My Kenyan, Bulgarian and South Korean participants agreed. Networking for a job is semi-hidden and indirect were words they used to describe it. The Swedish and British participants agreed with it being carried out indirectly, and that friends and family play an important role. They even mentioned that contacting people you do not know well directly and openly to ask for career advice and job leads would result in losing face or making a fool of yourself.
Who is it appropriate to network with as part of your global job search, according to my workshop participants? In South Korea the school or university you attended plays an important role in defining your network together with your hometown or region. The same seems to be true for Nigeria. Family, close friends and relatives are the pillars of your network in Bulgaria, Kenya, Sweden and Britain.
So with this anecdotal story in mind, how do we create and maintain global career connections?
A. RELATIONSHIPS
1. By nurturing the friendships we have developed over the years, especially if as an expatriate we have moved several times across the globe.
2. By maintaining family ties, so important for our own mental and emotional well-being and, as the examples show, our careers.
3. By keeping in touch with alumni from schools we attended and colleagues from previous jobs we held.
B. CULTURE
1. By being open and curious about others and reaching out to fellow expatriates and locals as we arrive to a new duty station or destination. By being mindful about our own assumptions and heritage.
2. By researching the local cultural patterns through books, workshops, movies, art and with the help of a cultural informant.
3. By knowing the structure of the local job market, where to find jobs, how to identify the key players in a specific industry, organization or office, and understanding specific hiring practices.
C. TOOLS AND STRATEGY
1. Use the Internet! LinkedIN, Facebook and multiple online communities have revolutionized how we live and the nature of our relationships, intimate and distant, personal and professional.
2. Be careful about blending personal and professional online networks. You may wish to use LinkedIN for professional contacts and Facebook for personal relationships. If your personal and professional online networks are intertwined, be mindful about what information you share. How much do you want a possible future employer or colleague to know about you?
3. Create new face-to-face connections at meetings of local professional associations, your religious congregation, your gym or soccer league, or by volunteering your time or skills at a cultural, social, or academic non-profit organization.
D. NETWORKING IN THE USA (a brief intro)
1. It is OPEN and DIRECT (search Amazon, Google or your local bookstore and you find thousands or resources and handbooks).
2. It is acceptable to reach out to an acquaintance or a friend of a friend of a friend to ask for career advice (but it is advisable to have a spokesperson to introduce the two of you).
3. It is based on a WIN-WIN philosophy. If I help you now, you can help me later and so forth. This is the core idea of the American business culture. As popularized by Maria Bartiromo in her latest book The Weekend that Changed Wall Street, the banks in financial trouble were Too Connected to Fail. Your career should be the same!
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