Meaning & use
career goals
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Meanings
nounplural
the things you want to achieve in your working life, such as a job, position, or skill.
Grammar: Used as a plural noun; the singular form 'career goal' refers to one specific aim.
Patterns
- set career goals
- achieve your career goals
- career goals for the next five years
She wrote down her career goals before the interview.
My main career goals are to lead a team and work abroad.
Talking to a mentor helped him clarify his career goals.
nounpluralbusiness
a set of aims discussed in a job review or application to show what you plan to do next.
Grammar: Often used in business contexts with verbs like 'discuss', 'review', or 'align'.
Patterns
- discuss career goals with someone
- align your career goals with the company's needs
In her annual review, they talked about her career goals for the coming year.
The manager asked him to list his career goals in the development plan.
Word forms
| singular | career goal |
|---|
Common combinations
- set career goals
- Every January I set new career goals.
- achieve your career goals
- She worked hard to achieve her career goals.
- long-term career goals
- His long-term career goals include running his own company.
- career goals and objectives
- The course helps you define your career goals and objectives.
Synonyms and how they differ
- ambitions
- Broader and can cover personal as well as work aims; 'career goals' is specifically about your job or profession.
- aspirations
- More formal and often about hopes rather than concrete, planned targets.
- objectives
- Usually short-term and measurable, often used in business planning; 'career goals' can be broader and longer-term.
Word family
- career noun
- The job or series of jobs you do over your working life.
- career goal noun
- One specific aim in your working life.
Commonly confused: career goals or career objective?
career goals vs career objective
A 'career objective' is usually a single short statement on a résumé, while 'career goals' are the wider set of things you want to achieve over time.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'career goals' most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'Career goals' is a plural noun phrase, so it needs no article and takes a plural verb form; option 0 is correct. Option 1 uses the singular without an article, option 2 wrongly pluralizes 'career', and option 3 has a singular 'year' after 'five'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “career goals”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.