5 Questions You Absolutely Need To Ask Yourself About Your Project Management Career

1. What Are My Goals?

Long-term goals and short-term goals go here. Write them down.
Make sure they are SMART goals:

Specific – List the candidate companies you want to work for, specific titles you want to hold, etc.
Measurable – How will you know when you’ve achieved it?
Attainable – Is this within the realm of possibility? Stretch yourself, but make it realistic.
Relevant – Do your sub-goals support your primary, major goal?
Timeboxed – Give yourself a timeline. I recommend 1, 3, and 5 or 10 year career goals.

2. Are They Really My Right Goals?

Is this really what you want to do with your career? This is an important question you should ask yourself. Make sure you are doing this for the right reasons.

3. What Strategies Can I Use To Achieve My Goals?

Depending on what your goals are, there are a host of strategies or “career trajectories” as I call them. Plan out your strategy well, so in the next step you can formulate specific tasks that will execute on them.

4. What Specific Tasks Must I Perform To Achieve My Goals?

This is the work in the trenches. Connecting with people and building relationships consistently, enhancing your interviewing skills, revising your resume, and many more possibilities to support you strategy.

5. What Have I Done In The Last Week To Achieve My Goals?

The accountability question. What have you done in the last week to move your career forward in some way? If the answer is “nothing”, it may be time to turn off the TV and get to work.

What advice do you have for getting ahead?

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