One of the best pieces of advice I have received lately is to make a plan now for where you want to be in the future and then figure out what you need to do to get there. I know, I know, that's what everyone says, and I've heard it in practically a million different ways. But recently, I have had two people tell me this in two different ways.
The first is a professor at school who I have gotten to know pretty well in the last couple of semesters. The way he describes it isn't very clear at first, but it has become more apparent the more I've thought about it. In each of the classes I have taken with him, he has all the students do a job search—first for a job you would like once you graduate, and another three to five years from now. Then you look at the job requirements and responsibilities of the role and see how the work you've done on projects or in other jobs aligns with them.
The first time I did this, I thought it was a silly exercise. However, after doing it several times and adjusting what jobs I was looking for, I realized there was a lot of value to this. Not only did I have more experience than I thought, this exercise highlighted what requirements or abilities I was missing. Now I know what I need to do to get the jobs I want in the future.
The other person who described this to me was my dad. Basically, it all stemmed from a conversation about his career in the Air Force and how he was able to set a goal of where he wanted to be in nine years, and then find the right stepping stones to get him the experience he needed to reach that goal. Many times, he ended up taking positions that weren't the most glamorous; other instances he took a position knowing that although it wasn't exactly right, the experience would get him where he wanted to be.
Talking to my dad about this made me realize that I need to set a goal for myself with a specific time frame. I also realized that I had been doing this in school already, but just hadn't given it any real definition.
Setting defined goals for the future is important. It gives you direction and a path to start down. Plus, you can change it whenever you want. After all, no one says that everything you want to do and be in the future is set in stone.
