Do you have a vision for your career or do you feel a little lost? Having a plan can boost your confidence, help you feel in control and improve your chances of achieving your goals. Career success means different things to different people. For some, it's about a job title or salary. For others, it's more about intrinsic motivation such as freedom or community. Whatever career success looks like for you, research shows writing down goals significantly improves your chances of reaching them.
Having a career vision doesn’t mean writing out a five to ten year plan. It simply means having a clear idea of what it is that you actually want to achieve and where you’re headed. It’s almost better to avoid the idea of a plan over a number of years completely - even if you have big goals and a vision, breaking them down into smaller, more manageable chunks will lead to a greater chance of success. Having a career vision is the career equivalent of jumping in a Taxi and knowing where you want to go.
Why is career vision important?
A professional career vision is a grown-up way of answering the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up and why?’ Knowing the answer empowers you in three key areas;
It defines what career success means to you. How will you know if you’re successful if you haven't determined what success means to you? Simon Sinek’s “What is your ‘why’?” provides some really useful insights into figuring out what motivates you. What people say motivates them is often vastly different to what really motivates them so it's always worth spending time considering this. Is it the salary? Or is it being able to afford holidays and shared experiences on your own or with people you love? Is it the feelings that those experiences afford you rather than the status level associated with the pay grade? There’s no wrong or right answer here, you just need to know what works for you.
It gives you a feeling of direction. Like your personal navigation system. Having a defined career vision can serve as a useful reminder of what matters to you. It helps keep you motivated and helps to maintain your ambition and drive. It’s also useful to come back to your vision in times of uncertainty or when things feel hard.
It helps during career crossroads. Change is something that we all face at some point – whether it's a career pivot or a change of industry. Having a career vision doesn’t mean having a fixed notion of a certain job title in a specific company. It’s an expression of your career ambition that also reflects your life priorities/values. What could your career look like with no limitations?
What is a career vision?
A career vision is a simple document that puts career values into positive and actionable terms. It keeps you focused as you move through your career. Here’s an example – for a Project Manager
“My vision is to be an honest, empathetic, and impactful project leader and to be recognised internationally within my industry. I am committed to growing as a leader and delivering value-added projects.”
How To Create Your Career Vision Statement
Grab a pen and paper and try this visioning exercise. Push yourself and don’t hold back when answering.
Make it future-focused - express goals and aspirations - If you could do any job in the whole world and money was no object, what would you do? Create goals based on aspirations - Break big goals into smaller steps. If you wrote “I want to be my own boss,” how would this look in realistic and achievable steps? Smaller 90-day goals help keep you focussed on the bigger aim.
What are your work and career values - You spend a huge proportion of your waking hours at work. If the culture or behaviours go against your values you’re likely to be incredibly miserable. These values are at the heart of your career vision statement. Click here to download my free resource that will help you decide what your values are.
Now rewrite your work values as positive statements - Collect future vision and work values. Write a sentence for each value with positive wording about how that characteristic is a part of your work life.
Express your work values & goals in one paragraph - Take the collection of positive statements/actionable goals and combine them into a future-focused paragraph. Make sure that each sentence is practical and positive.
Applying Your Career Vision Statement
So, now you’ve got an exciting, future-based and positive Career Vision Statement, what are you meant to do with it? Once you have your career vision written down, use it! Keep it in mind when you’re applying for jobs, writing CVs and covering letters and developing your social media profiles.
Keep your career vision statement somewhere you can see it. In a planner or maybe even a vision board so that it's a visual and constant reminder. It will keep you on track as you navigate your career path. Share your career goals and dreams with friends, family and professional connections. This helps you get better at explaining and achieving your career aspirations.
Are you looking to make a career change?
Job searching is exhausting and time-consuming. Completing lengthy applications, waiting for responses, getting through the first stage of the interview, psychometric tests the list goes on. You’ve listened to the podcasts, watched the videos, tried the free downloads, even got your CV redone and nothing seems to be working.
The fact that you know you have the right skills for the next role is frustrating and demoralising. If you’re sick of feeling fed up, overlooked and underpaid, why not try something different? If you're unhappy where you are now, without careful planning and consideration you could be just as unhappy in the next job. Creating a Career Vision Statement is important but it’s just the first step.
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