Learning new skills is part of a web developer's role due to the frequent changes and advancements in technology and frameworks. I personally know quite a few developers who are learning Rust right now. However, just learning programming skills isn't enough if you want to succeed and get ahead in your web developer's career.
What are strategic career goals?
Strategic career goals are those that will propel you towards where you want to head professionally, in one year, two years, or even five years. They have a purpose, reflect your professional vision, and have a significant impact on your career success.
Strategic career goals for web developers
They can be categorised as:
- Technical goals
- Job goals
- Entrepreneurship goals
- Leadership goals
- Community goals
Here are some specific examples of strategic career goals. These goals will get you ahead in your career as a web developer.
1) Technical goals
Example #1 :
become an expert in a domain, technology, or language such as Performance, Machine Learning, or Javascript
Example #2 :
work on a system that has X scale or complexity, such as 3 millions of requests per second
2) Job goals
Example #3 :
get to a specific job title, such as architect, senior engineer, CTO, developer evangelist
Example #4 :
work at a prestigious tech company, such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google (FANG)
3) Entrepreneurship goals
Example #5 :
start a side hustle, such as freelancing
Example #6 :
make your first sale of software you wrote
4) Leadership goals
Example #7 :
mentor someone and see them get better over time
Example #8 :
help a new person on your team onboarded and get started
5) Community goals
Example #9 :
give a talk on a technical topic that you're passionate about at a meetup, conference or event
Example #10 :
write a useful blog or an article that gets shared a lot
Conclusion
To summarise, strategic career goals that web developers should aim for in 2021 are:
become an expert in a domain, technology or language
work on a system that has X scale or complexity
get to a specific job title
work at a prestigious tech company
start a side hustle
make your first sale of software you wrote
mentor someone and see them get better over time
help a new person on your team onboarded and get started
give a talk on a technical topic that you're passionate about at a meetup, conference or event
write a useful blog or an article that gets shared a lot
Career Guide for Software Developers
Get ready for the future of work now
The technology industry is one of the fastest-growing industries today. The future of work has arrived for web developers. I know for a fact that it is different than work we know previously and thus requires different mindsets and skills from web developers to be effective in their role.
What's more - it is estimated that sixty percent of all new jobs in the twenty-first century will require skills that only twenty percent of the current workforce possesses. What this means is that you will need to be flexible, adaptable and always be learning and growing in your career to thrive in the future of work. So set strategic career goals in 2021 and set yourself up for success in your role today and beyond!
