Step 4.2: Target Roles
In this Step, we’ll start to fill in the Search Grid that you built in the previous step.
The first step is to understand the positions that you’re looking to be in next. These will be your Target Roles.
I always recommend thinking about this by defining the function of the role in an organization, not the title (but if it helps you to use a title, that’s OK).
Then, arrange them by the “College Application Process” - from safety to stretch - that I outlined in the previous Step. As you fill out these Ideal Roles in your Search Grid, keep going back and organizing them this way. Some of the “stretch” roles may require you to bridge your way there via a role or two in between - as an example, a lot of people I work with aspire to be in a C-level role, but are likely a step or two away from getting there, so they will need to know which roles to go to beforehand.
As you research the roles & job specs, I suggest you use Google and / or LinkedIn to truly understand what different roles entail both within the industries you’re looking at as well as across different companies within them. A VP of Marketing’s role is wildly different across companies as well as industries. And a CMO in a startup will often have a team smaller than a Marketing Manager would in a larger company.
As you complete this step, you will have a very solid list of targets to start with - which are very important for the following steps in the process.
Your Playbook:
Draft your “Target Roles” in your Search Grid as outlined above.
Continue to add and edit as you do more research and talk to more people. It will be the structure behind all of your future activities.