How to Determine Career Goals

Conduct a self-assessment of your personality, strengths and weaknesses, and skills. According to the California Board of Equalization, "the first step in developing career goals is to [conduct a self assessment.]" To help you, consider using a personality test such as the Myers-Briggs Test. The Myers-Briggs Test provides you with a personality type and lists several occupations that tend to "fit" that type.

Analyze your career. Identify the skills or accomplishments that your employer rewards or stresses. For example, if you were passed up for a promotion, consider what the person who got the promotion did or had that you were lacking.

Choose a few major goals to work toward. These objectives should be benchmarks that you can use when developing a set of career goals. For example, if you are in sales, you could set a goal of making thirty sales in the next month.

Analyze what you must do to meet those benchmarks. Based on your self-assessment, the skills your employer rewards or stresses, and your benchmarks, think critically about what you must do to accomplish your goals. If your self-assessment revealed that you are slightly introverted, but your employer values assertion and initiative, you might to need to work on being more assertive and aggressive in your search for new sales. The situation will vary based on your unique personality, your job and the work culture where you are employed. By thinking critically about ultimate goals and the things you must do to accomplish them, you can determine your career goals.