Career goals framework you wish you had

and now you have it!

Hellllooo,

It’s that time of the year when everyone is reflecting, slowing down, setting goals for next year. Speaking of goals, I want to give you my framework for setting your career goals in 2026- Module 1 of my “Personal Branding for Scientists” program.

Career goals framework has three steps - Goal, Objectives & Key Results.

**Goal:**The broad, ultimate destination you aim to reach in your career.

Objectiv****es: The specific, action-oriented step you must complete to make significant progress towards your Goal.

**Key results:**The quantitative metric to judge if the Objective was successfully achieved.

Companies use this exact framework or a version of it when planning next year. Also known as OKRs.

Sooo why do you need this framework? Because, a goal without a plan is a wish. Here’s how the framework works with examples for scientists at different stages of their careers - academia or beyond.

Now, a few things to keep in mind: 

  1. You can only have ONE career goal. Not two or three. ONE. If you have more than one goal then its actually an objective to reach your goal.

  2. Timeframe: 2-4 years from today. You can choose your timeframe. 

  3. How to choose the right timeframe - The easiest way is look at your employment contract. If it expires or needs extension by mid 2027, then you goal is to get a new contract by the first quarter of 2027.

  4. How long can I take to finish this? - I would say a week is more than enough time to write down your goals, objectives & key results. 

Alright, that’s it from me for this week.

Have fun setting your goals and objectives and key results. I would love to see how your use this framework to set your goal and OKRs. Once you are ready, send it over to me. ☺️

Cheers,
Dr. Pranoti Kshirsagar
Founder, The Science Talk

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