Goal setting
How to set goals with your mentor that benefit you
Our mentoring partnerships are student-led, meaning that when it comes to setting goals it is good for you to have an idea about what you want to achieve. Here are some questions and tips to get you started:
- What are your current thoughts about your career path and job/course acquisition?
- What initial goals do you need to achieve next to make further progress?
When setting goals, it is useful to make them S.M.A.R.T:
S – Specific: State your goal as specifically as you can
M – Measurable: How will you measure the progress of your goal and know you have achieved it?
A – Achievable: Is your goal achievable? If not, what can you do to make it achievable?
R – Result: Is your goal focussed on the result of what you want to achieve rather than the task itself?
T – Timebound: Do you have a deadline for when the goal itself will be achieved?
- Are there any obstacles to achieving your goal?
- How could your mentor help you with these obstacles?
- What are the next steps and when will you next review the goals?
Short-term and long-term goal setting
It is also often worthwhile to set short term and long-term goals with your mentor. This will allow you to see progression with the shorter-term goals but also work on what you want to achieve in the long term too.
A long-term goal is a bigger goal, for example ‘To build up my professional network’. The short-term goals are the smaller goals that must happen in order that you achieve the long-term goal, for example ‘Develop my LinkedIn profile’ and ‘Reach out to my mentor for tips on how to network’.
The goals are set by the mentee, but the mentor can support any goal setting that occurs to help you make it S.M.A.R.T and to hold you accountable and on track.
One of the first meetings with your mentor should be about your aims and what goals you want to achieve and then revisiting this at certain points in the partnership will enable you both to see the development.
The THRIVE Team hope that by the end of your partnership, you will be able to confidently say you have achieved your goals and have more planned for new milestones you have set for yourself!