One of the most important exercises you can work on while searching for – and during – a job is figuring out what your short and long term career goals are. The Quint Careers website has a great article on Developing a Strategic Vision for Your Career Plan.

From the article:

“Analyze your passions. Reflect on the times and situations in which you feel most passionate, most energetic, most engaged - and see if you can develop a common profile of these situations. Develop a list of your passions. How many of these times occur while you are at work?

Analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Step back and look at yourself from an employer's perspective. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Think in terms of work experience, education/training, skill development, talents and abilities, technical knowledge, and personal characteristics.”