SMART goals for your job search!
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SMART goals for your job search!

  • 14 hours ago
  • 2 min read

First, let's address the elephant in the room! Hiring is down 3.5% in November of 2025 compared to November of 2024 across the entire US. (Source: LinkedIn) This may sound like bad news, but in this competitive market, you need to be strategic in your job search.There is a goal-creating methodology called SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable (or actionable/attainable), Relevant, and Time-Bound.


SMART goals

Now, you might ask, how does one create SMART job search goals? Let's break it down:

  • Specific: What specific job are you trying to land? No, Remote is not a specific job and neither is 'any.' Be extremely specific about the job duties and job titles you want to land.

  • Measurable: What measurable outcome are you assigning for yourself. Pick a realistic number and stick to it. Say you want to apply to 10 jobs every week and reach out to 10 connections for an introduction.

  • Achievable/Attainable/Actionable: Is your goal for the number of jobs achievable and actionable? Saying you'll apply to as many jobs as possible is not achievable and there is also no action associated to it. BE REALISTIC about your tasks.

  • Relevant: Are the jobs relevant to to

  • day's AI driven world? Whether we hate it or love it AI is here to stay. So is the job you are looking for something that still needs AI or can Employers say that AI can do your job?

  • Time-Bound: Set a timeline for yourself. Job search is taking longer and longer these days, so you need to set a timeline for yourself. Time-bound means that you will evaluate the goals every X number of days.


We have created a simple worksheet to help guide you. Download the worksheet below!



Until next time,

Stay Caffeinated!


 
 
 
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