SMART
Career
Development
Goals
S
Specific
Names
the
exact
role
,
skill
,
or
outcome
—
not
a
direction
.
M
Measurable
A
number
,
a
count
,
or
a
finished
artifact
proves
it
happened
.
A
Achievable
The
time
,
budget
,
and
support
already
exist
or
are
agreed
.
R
Relevant
Ties
directly
to
the
next
role
or
the
five
-
year
path
.
T
Time
-
bound
Every
goal
carries
a
real
calendar
date
,
not
a
quarter
.
01
ADVANCEMENT
Move
from
Software
Engineer
II
into
the
Senior
Engineer
band
S
Qualify
for
promotion
from
Software
Engineer
II
to
Senior
Software
Engineer
on
the
Payments
Platform
team
at
Northline
.
M
Lead
two
end
-
to
-
end
feature
launches
,
take
sole
ownership
of
one
production
service
,
and
mentor
one
junior
engineer
through
their
first
on
-
call
rotation
.
A
My
manager
and
tech
lead
signed
off
on
a
written
senior
-
scope
checklist
in
January
,
and
both
launches
are
already
on
the
H
1
roadmap
.
R
The
senior
band
is
the
prerequisite
for
the
Staff
Engineer
path
I
want
to
be
on
by
2029.
T
Mid
-
year
scope
review
on
30
June
;
promotion
packet
submitted
by
14
November
.
02
PORT FOLIO
Publish
three
public
product
design
case
studies
S
Build
a
public
portfolio
of
three
long
-
form
case
studies
:
a
mobile
checkout
redesign
,
a
design
system
rollout
,
and
a
research
-
led
product
bet
.
M
Three
case
studies
live
on
my
own
domain
,
each
1,500+
words
with
problem
statement
,
process
,
artifacts
,
and
a
measured
outcome
.
A
Release
permission
is
already
confirmed
for
two
projects
,
and
four
hours
are
blocked
every
Friday
morning
for
writing
.
R
Senior
product
design
hiring
managers
screen
the
portfolio
before
the
resume
,
and
mine
currently
shows
finished
screens
with
no
reasoning
behind
them
.
T
Case
study
one
by
31
March
,
two
by
30
June
,
three
by
30
September
.
1 / 5
03
SKILL
BUILDING
Earn
the
AWS
Solutions
Architect
–
Professional
certification
S
Pass
the
AWS
Solutions
Architect
–
Professional
exam
(
SAP
-
C
02)
to
support
the
multi
-
account
migration
work
already
assigned
to
me
.
M
Three
consecutive
practice
exams
scored
at
85%
or
above
,
then
a
pass
on
the
first
sitting
.
A
The
company
reimburses
the
$
300
exam
fee
and
grants
two
study
days
per
month
;
I
am
already
working
in
the
AWS
console
daily
.
R
The
2026
platform
roadmap
is
80%
AWS
-
native
,
and
the
architect
credential
is
listed
as
preferred
for
the
lead
role
I
am
targeting
.
T
Exam
booked
by
1
August
;
sat
no
later
than
30
September
.
04
VISIBILIT Y
Present
to
the
executive
team
once
a
quarter
S
Become
the
recurring
presenter
at
the
quarterly
product
review
,
owning
the
retention
section
end
to
end
.
M
Four
presentations
delivered
across
the
year
,
each
rated
4
out
of
5
or
higher
by
at
least
three
attending
leaders
.
A
My
director
has
offered
the
slot
and
I
already
own
the
retention
data
the
section
is
built
on
.
R
Executive
visibility
is
the
exact
gap
named
in
my
last
two
performance
reviews
,
and
it
is
the
gate
on
the
senior
manager
track
.
T
First
presentation
at
the
12
April
review
;
the
remaining
three
on
the
quarterly
cadence
.
05
NET WORK
Run
twenty
structured
networking
conversations
S
Build
a
deliberate
network
of
twenty
people
working
in
senior
product
operations
roles
across
fintech
and
health
tech
.
M
Twenty
completed
30-
minute
conversations
logged
with
notes
,
plus
five
follow
-
up
messages
sent
within
30
days
of
each
.
A
Two
per
month
fits
alongside
my
current
workload
,
and
a
saved
outreach
template
keeps
preparation
under
twenty
minutes
.
R
Roughly
70%
of
the
roles
I
want
are
filled
through
referral
,
and
my
network
currently
sits
almost
entirely
inside
one
company
.
T
Two
conversations
per
month
,
January
through
October
.
2 / 5
06
T RANSIT ION
Move
from
corporate
finance
into
product
management
S
Transfer
internally
from
Senior
Financial
Analyst
into
the
Associate
Product
Manager
role
on
the
Lending
squad
.
M
One
internal
transfer
offer
secured
,
or
four
completed
APM
interview
loops
externally
,
by
year
end
.
A
I
have
finished
a
ten
-
week
product
discovery
course
,
and
the
Lending
PM
has
agreed
to
sponsor
a
stretch
discovery
project
.
R
Two
years
of
forecasting
and
unit
-
economics
work
for
the
Lending
squad
means
the
domain
expertise
is
already
mine
.
T
Stretch
project
delivered
by
31
May
;
transfer
conversations
opened
by
1
September
.
07
SKILL
BUILDING
Reach
working
proficiency
in
SQL
and
dashboarding
S
Move
from
reading
analyst
queries
to
writing
production
-
grade
SQL
and
shipping
my
own
dashboards
in
Looker
.
M
Pass
the
internal
SQL
assessment
at
level
3
and
publish
four
dashboards
adopted
by
at
least
two
teams
each
.
A
Two
hours
of
protected
practice
are
booked
three
mornings
a
week
,
and
a
senior
analyst
has
agreed
to
review
my
work
monthly
.
R
Every
role
on
my
five
-
year
path
expects
self
-
serve
analysis
,
and
today
I
wait
up
to
two
days
for
a
data
pull
.
T
Assessment
passed
by
30
April
;
fourth
dashboard
live
by
31
October
.
3 / 5
08
LEADERSHIP
Manage
my
first
direct
report
S
Take
on
one
direct
report
as
a
formal
people
manager
,
with
full
ownership
of
their
goals
,
feedback
,
and
reviews
.
M
One
hire
or
internal
transfer
reporting
to
me
,
a
written
30/60/90
onboarding
plan
,
and
two
completed
check
-
ins
per
quarter
.
A
My
manager
has
confirmed
headcount
for
one
operations
coordinator
role
in
Q
2,
and
I
have
completed
the
internal
manager
fundamentals
course
.
R
The
manager
transition
is
the
specific
blocker
between
my
current
level
and
Senior
Manager
,
which
is
the
role
I
want
by
2028.
T
Role
opened
by
15
May
,
report
in
seat
by
1
July
,
first
full
review
cycle
completed
by
31
October
.
09
PERSONAL
BRAND
Publish
twelve
essays
and
grow
a
practitioner
audience
S
Write
a
monthly
essay
on
procurement
operations
for
practitioners
,
published
on
my
own
site
and
cross
-
posted
to
LinkedIn
.
M
Twelve
essays
published
at
900–1,400
words
each
,
reaching
2,000
total
subscribers
and
producing
three
inbound
speaking
or
consulting
inquiries
.
A
I
already
draft
two
internal
write
-
ups
a
quarter
;
the
change
is
making
them
public
and
holding
a
monthly
deadline
.
R
The
roles
I
want
are
increasingly
hired
on
reputation
and
point
of
view
rather
than
resume
length
alone
.
T
First
essay
live
15
February
;
twelfth
published
by
15
January
next
year
.
4 / 5
10
COMPENSAT ION
Increase
total
compensation
by
twenty
percent
S
Raise
total
compensation
from
$
96,000
to
$
115,000
without
leaving
the
supply
chain
analytics
field
.
M
A
documented
offer
or
internal
adjustment
reaching
$
115,000
base
,
or
$
104,000
base
with
a
verified
10%
performance
bonus
.
A
Market
data
for
my
role
and
city
shows
a
$
108,000–
$
122,000
band
;
the
two
skills
gaps
I
need
to
close
are
already
goals
3
and
7.
R
Pay
has
trailed
the
band
for
two
cycles
and
is
the
main
constraint
on
taking
a
lower
-
paid
transition
role
later
.
T
Skills
gaps
closed
by
30
June
;
compensation
conversations
held
by
30
November
.
11
VISIBILIT Y
Deliver
a
conference
talk
on
incident
response
S
Speak
at
one
regional
or
national
conference
on
incident
response
for
small
platform
teams
.
M
Three
talk
submissions
sent
,
one
accepted
,
one
25-
minute
session
delivered
,
and
a
companion
blog
post
published
within
two
weeks
of
the
talk
.
A
The
material
exists
already
from
last
year
'
s
postmortem
review
,
and
a
colleague
has
offered
to
co
-
write
the
abstract
and
review
the
deck
.
R
Speaking
publicly
is
the
fastest
route
to
the
staff
-
level
credibility
I
am
building
toward
.
T
CFPs
submitted
by
31
March
;
talk
delivered
by
30
November
.
12
SKILL
BUILDING
Build
business
-
level
Spanish
for
LATAM
accounts
S
Reach
B
2
business
proficiency
in
Spanish
so
I
can
lead
client
calls
for
the
LATAM
expansion
without
an
interpreter
.
M
A
B
2
result
on
the
DELE
exam
and
six
client
calls
led
entirely
in
Spanish
without
switching
to
English
.
A
Thirty
minutes
of
daily
practice
plus
a
weekly
tutor
session
;
the
company
covers
50%
of
tuition
and
the
exam
fee
.
R
Two
of
the
five
accounts
I
would
own
as
regional
lead
are
Spanish
-
first
,
and
the
role
has
been
open
twice
without
an
internal
candidate
.
T
Exam
booked
for
20
August
;
six
Spanish
-
led
calls
completed
by
31
December
.
5 / 5
