7 Career Goal Setting Worksheets [New for 2024]

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Are you looking for your dream job?

If you’re currently working, does your work bring you satisfaction?

Career-wise, where do you see yourself three years from now?

Do you feel the need to make a career move, but are not exactly sure what it is that you need to do?

A post-pandemic survey done by Moneypenny reveals that only 7% of Americans are currently working their dream jobs.

If you haven’t figured out the next step in your career or if you are still contemplating what career best fits your skills and preferences, you might want to use a career goal-setting worksheet to help clarify a few things before you proceed with your next step.

For today’s post, we’ve rounded up some of the best worksheet examples to help determine your ultimate career goals.

What Is Career Goal Setting and Why Is It Important?

Goal setting involves taking action in a deliberate manner to achieve something you want. You can use goal setting in all areas of your life.

Goal setting works very well for career goals, including the short- and long-term milestones you see yourself accomplishing throughout your career. [You can check out some career goals examples in this post.]

Career goal setting is important in the following ways:

  • It clarifies the direction you’re going to take when it comes to your career.
  • If you haven’t found your dream job yet, goal setting can bring you closer to it.
  • It allows you to effectively utilize resources (e.g., time and energy) to achieve your goals.
  • It brings a feeling of satisfaction in your profession.
  • It showcases your commitment to your career.
  • It motivates and inspires you to succeed in the workplace.

How Do You Set Career Goals?

For career goals to be effective, they have to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound). [Check out these FREE Goal Setting Worksheets & Templates.]

Here are some quick tips for setting effective career goals:

  • Begin with an outcome in mind.
  • Check the outcome against the SMART criteria. If it fits, move to the next step.
  • Write down your major career goal.
  • Create an action plan.
  • Follow your action plan and edit it as necessary.
  • Celebrate and reward yourself.

Check out this guide if you want an in-depth discussion on how to set goals in general.

In addition, a regular check-in with an accountability partner or mentor can help you stay motivated and provide useful feedback on the measures you’re using to achieve your goals.

The following worksheets are also very helpful in establishing your professional goals and following through with them.

Goal Setting Worksheets for Your Career

1. Career Goal Setting Statement

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Having a clear vision of what you want to achieve in your professional life is essential for success. Our worksheet is designed to help you gain clarity about what you truly want in your career. The worksheet features several guide questions that encourage deeper reflection to help you discover the following:

  • A major/life-changing career goal
  • The main reason behind this goal
  • Your personal values that will help you achieve this career goal
  • Your skill/abilities/experiences that you can tap to reach this goal

2. My Career Goal Template

This template is designed to help high school students establish their career goals. It contains several guide questions to help young people reflect on the type of career they want to have in the future.

This template also features questions that encourage one to assess what preparations they might need in terms of abilities, education, and resources for their chosen careers.

3. The 30-60-90 Day Plan Template

A new job always has its challenges. This template helps ease some of those challenges by providing a blueprint for success in your first 30, 60, and 90 days in a new job.

The self-onboarding worksheet features spaces for writing down what you need to focus on and your priorities in the time interval mentioned above. For each time period (e.g., first 30 days), there are spaces for writing down up to three Learning Goals and their respective metrics.

This worksheet is also a great progress tracker, giving you a visual indication of how you’re improving in your performance in a new job.

4. Career Development Plan Worksheet

This editable and printable worksheet helps clarify what you want to achieve in terms of your career. It provides spaces for writing your:

  • Personal vision statement
  • Career core values and interest
  • Short- and long-term career goals
  • Strengths
  • Growth opportunities

There is also space reserved for formulating your action plan so you have documentation of how you’ve progressed in accomplishing the goals you’ve set for your professional advancement.

5. Career Planner

This career planner is an effective tool for charting your career path and determining how to achieve more success and/or opportunities for personal development in your professional life.

Upon purchase, you’ll receive a digital file of the planner. The following are some of the pages you’ll receive:

  • Career Objectives (with guide questions)
  • What’s Your Dream Job? questionnaire
  • Promotion Possibility page
  • Exiting Gracefully guide
  • Updating Your Resume guide
  • Interview Prep page

6. Goal Setting for the Boss Babe

If you need a planner/worksheet to keep track of the daily and weekly goals you’ve set in your career, this workbook is worth a try.

This is a planner that helps you break down all the tasks you need to accomplish at work. A weekly review page is handy for evaluating your work performance to see your progress and if there are areas that need improvement.

A sign-up is necessary to download the PDF version of the workbook.

7. Career Goals for High School Kids

Older kids can benefit from being introduced to the importance of setting career goals. This will instill the value of responsibility in them, as well as help them determine their profession in the near future.

This set of printables has everything that a family needs for goal setting. Parents and kids will find useful worksheets here, such as a worksheet for career goals designed for high school students.

To access the printable, click the link to the site. There is a directory of goal-setting printables for every occasion and purpose. Find the worksheet for Career Goals and click the link to be redirected to the page where you can download.

Final Thoughts

Setting your career goals is a beneficial experience. A career goal-setting worksheet can help you reflect deeper on what you ultimately want when it comes to your professional life.

Hopefully the worksheets featured today will inspire you to reflect on the aspects of your career that give you satisfaction and make you want to keep working.

If you need further resources to help with your career and/or goal setting, the following posts are worth a visit:

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