How To Discuss Your Career Goals With Your Boss Before The New Year

Strategically plan your career conversation with your manager using these five steps.

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If you are seeking a management promotion, salary increase, or sideways career progression, it won’t fall out of the sky or happen by chance. It comes through strategic planning and effort on your part, and working in collaboration with your manager.

Before you pencil in that all-important career conversation meeting in the calendar, here are five critical things to bear in mind that can impact its outcome:

1. Do What You Love

Consider your passions, your proven strengths at work and outside of work, and what you enjoy doing most. What could you do almost effortlessly with your eyes closed? What aspects of your role do you find most enjoyable? Which one of your colleagues has a role that you could imagine yourself working in? If you have one in mind, have you observed them in their role and asked them what it’s like, what are their challenges and unique aspects of their job that you may not have considered?

Ultimately, when making an upwards or sidewards career move, whether internally at your employer or externally for another organization, you’ll need to putting significant time and effort into upskilling yourself for the move, so you’ll want to ensure that you’re not wasting your time and that it’s a choice you won’t regret.

2. Align With Company Objectives

Especially at this time of the year, when many companies are aligning their strategic priorities and finalizing plans for the new year, this is the best time to approach your manager with suggestions for how you could contribute towards their long-term vision through enabling you to achieve your career goals.

When writing notes for your career goals conversation, consider their strategy and any new initiatives that you could play an important role in, through playing to your strengths. Consider current and upcoming trends and industry shifts that could affect the market your employer operates in, such as AI, focus on online-driven content, hybrid working, etc., and think about how your strengths could further their unique positioning in the market and become a valuable asset to them in the near future.

In conjunction with physical proof of where you have contributed significant impact previously, you can use their business goals and your strengths to create the business case for why you deserve to move along to the next stage of your career with them and bring added value.

3. Think Long And Short Term

When setting career goals for your tenure with your employer or beyond your time working for them, think about your long-term and short-term objectives. Consider where you wish to be in 10 years time, and then set goals for what you would need to achieve five years, three years, one year, six months, three months, and 30 days from now.

Picture these as micro-steps that enable your long-term goal to become reality; for example, if your long-term vision is to be a VP of marketing and you currently work in sales, you’ll need to think about leveraging your sales skills to transition into a junior marketing role for the short-term (within the next three months). Having a clear, structured vision is key to your manager taking your career discussion and aspirations seriously.

4. Ask For Support On Areas Of Improvement

Through self-reflection and awareness, you can identify your own areas for improvement and where you may have a skills or knowledge gap in relation to your desired role. Additionally, you should seek your manager’s advice on where they may see you being able to grow and stretch your potential, and what weaknesses you may need to work on to achieve the next level of your career goal.

Chances are, they work with you most of the time and have knowledge of the organizational hierarchy and what further opportunities are available to you, so will be your most important ally and resource as you progress your career within the company. Ask them what support is available. They may be able to identify a range of support from peer mentorship, to sponsoring you on training programs, to inviting you to internal workshops or giving you on-the-job opportunities to develop your skills.

5. Prepare Adequately

Proactively prepare a list of questions and an agenda for the meeting. Conduct thorough research beforehand so you can ask educated questions and make informed decisions based on the outcome of the discussion. Schedule it at a time when you are both available, free from distraction or pressing work priorities. You might even want to consider asking your manager to slot this discussion into your performance review or regular catch-up.

Being well prepared demonstrates that you are taking ownership and accountability for the success of your work and for your career development.

Through following these five steps, you will be able to approach your next career conversation with you boss with confidence and the outcome will be positive. Armed with the right information to make a business case for them sponsoring your career growth, you can unlock opportunities within your current role to develop your career towards your long-term vision, regardless of your current role.