Overcoming Barriers to Career Success - A Mentor's Perspective

By Chief 'Yomi Otubela -FCMA

Career Mentorship programme which we have tagged “Nurturing the Eagles” has been designed to provide the right mentorship to students to guide them in realizing their desired future career. The need to provide  the right mentorship intervention to students has therefore informed our decision to make career mentorship programme a termly affair.

The topic we have selected from this term’s career mentorship program “Overcoming Barriers to Career Success” has been carefully selected to look at real factors which could pose as hindrances to the realization of career dreams. One of such hindrances is the inability of our students to inculcate the habit of target setting in their strategies.

Target setting is not about guessing what you can achieve. It involves knowing where you are now, what you are trying to achieve, and determining challenging but realistic amounts of improvement needed to get there.

So setting goals gives your life direction, boosts your motivation and self-confidence in achieving your career dreams. In setting your career targets, let us quickly consider the following;

1.            Set Goals that Motivate You:

When you set goals for yourself, it is important that they motivates you: this means making sure that they are important to you, and that there is value in achieving them. Motivation is therefore key to achieving goals.

2.            Set SMART Goals:

You may have probably heard of SMART goals already, however, in case you do not, there are many variations of what SMART stands for, but the essence is this, the goals should be:

       ·         Specific

       ·         Measurable

       ·         Attainable

       ·         Relevant

       ·         Time Bound

      ·         Set Specific Goals: Your goal must be clear and well defined. Vague or generalized goals are unhelpful because they don’t provide sufficient direction. Remember, you need goals to show you the way.

      ·         Set Measurable Goals: Include precise amounts, dates, and so on in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. Without a way to measure your success, you miss out on the celebration that comes with knowing you have actually achieved something.

      ·         Set Attainable Goals: Make sure that it’s possible to achieve the goals that you set. If you set a goal that you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence.

     ·         Set Relevant Goals: Goals should be relevant to the direction you want your life and career to take. By keeping goals aligned with this, you’ll develop the focus you need to get ahead and do what you want.

      ·         Set Time-Bound Goals: Your goals must have a deadline. Again, this means that you know when you can celebrate success. When you are working on a deadline, your sense of urgency increases and achievement will come that much quicker.

3.            Set Goals in Writing:

The physical act of writing down a goal makes it real and tangible. You have no excuse for forgetting about it

4.            Make an Action Plan:

This step is by writing out the individual steps, and then crossing each one off as you complete it, by so doing you’ll realize that you are making progress towards your ultimate goal.

5.            Stuck With It!:

Remember, goal setting is an ongoing activity not just a means to an end. Build in reminders to keep yourself on track, and make regular time-slots available to review your goals. Your end destination may remain quite similar over the long term, but the action plan you must set for yourself along the way can change significantly. Make sure the relevance, value and necessity remain high.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to thank our resource persons for creating time out of their tight schedule to attend this programmme. And to our invited guests and schools, your presence is highly appreciated. As students, I encourage you to inculcate the right values that this programme has impacted on you.

Thank you and God Bless.

To enroll your child/ward at Lagooz Schools (Creche, Nursery, Primary, College);

Visit us at Plot 11/12, Omotoye Estate Road, Mulero Bus/Stop, Near NYSC Camp Iyana-Ipaja, Orile Agege, Lagos or 31, Coker Street, Funmilayo Bus Stop, Orile Agege, Lagos.

Call: +2348033205357, +2348023852010
Email: lagoozcollege@lagooz.com, lagooz@yahoo.com
Official Website: www.lagooz.com