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15 Examples of Nursing Career Goals and How To Reach Them

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career goals nursing essay

Nurses are more in demand than ever before, making the nursing profession rich with opportunities. You may be wondering, “Why is nursing a good career?” With most nursing roles projected to grow from 2020 to 2030 , there’s never been a better time to be a nurse. But with so much job growth potential comes competition, which makes it important to consistently invest in yourself and your skills.

Any sort of professional development needs clearly determined professional goals in order to be effective. Your professional goals should always be SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Here we’ll share 15 nursing career goals to consider for yourself and tips on how to achieve them.

Why Are Goals Important for Your Nursing Career?

Setting long-term goals will help you advance in your career as a nurse. Accomplishing these goals will increase your personal and professional satisfaction and will also combat burnout. Setting goals for your nursing career can help you:

  • Constantly develop skills
  • Improve earning potential
  • Feel fulfilled

15 Nursing Career Goals

1. manage advanced technologies..

There is only one constant with medical technology: it’s always evolving. Nurses working in medical facilities often use technology, like portable patient monitors or telehealth services , to create, access, or update patient files. Learning how to use these healthcare technologies—however daunting it may seem—can benefit your career.

Stay up to date with changing tech in the medical field by doing the following:

  • Read free blogs for nurses
  • Subscribe to magazines and journals for nurses
  • Download apps for nurses
  • Join professional organizations for nurses

2. Get nursing certifications.

Nursing certifications are helpful in all stages of your nursing career, whether you’re new to the workforce or looking for advancement. Gain a competitive leg up on other candidates by earning a certificate in an area you’re particularly interested in, such as first aid, clinical research skills, pediatrics, oncology, or neonatology.

3. Find a mentor.

Mentors can be extremely useful when planning your professional development. They can help you set goals, make difficult decisions, shape your professional values, and grow in your career. While some medical facilities have formal internal mentorship programs for nurses, you could simply seek out an informal mentor by asking a nurse you admire out for coffee. A good mentor can provide context on the wider nursing industry, share insight into their personal experience and lessons learned, and introduce you to new nurse connections.

4. Advance your nursing degree.

Advancing your nursing degree can boost your résumé, increase job security, and help you make more money. If you already have an associate degree in nursing, consider working towards a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). If you already have a bachelor's degree and would like to take on a leadership position in nursing administration and management, consider earning a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) specializing in leadership.

5. Start volunteering.

There is a constant and high demand for nurses to volunteer their time at clinics, hospitals, and other medical facilities in underserved communities, both in the United States and abroad. Internationally there is an even greater need and appreciation for volunteer nurses in developing countries. Both nursing students and registered nurses are often eligible for these types of programs. Providing volunteer assistance can be a very rewarding experience that can’t be replicated in a classroom or textbook.

6. Specialize in a particular nursing field.

While nurses are often “Jacks/Janes of all trades,” it’s wise to become a master of one. Maybe you entered the nursing field because of a particular personal experience that resonated with you, such as losing a family member to cancer. Or maybe you’re a couple of years into your career as a registered nurse and have realized you’re passionate about working with children. Either way, there are many different specialization roads nurses can walk down in their career path.

Consider the following types of medicine to specialize in:

  • Ambulatory care
  • Cardiovascular (care for patients with heart and blood issues)
  • Dialysis (the removal of waste from a patient's kidneys)
  • Gastroenterology
  • Geriatrics (care for elderly adults)
  • Holistic care
  • Infection control and prevention
  • Medical-surgical
  • Neonatal (care for newborns)
  • Neuroscience
  • Obstetrics (care for pregnant women and new mothers)
  • Oncology (care for patients with tumors)
  • Orthopedics (care for patients with bone and muscle issues)
  • Pediatrics or children's healthcare
  • Psychiatric or mental health care

7. Take care of yourself.

Nurses who practice self-care can ultimately perform their duties more efficiently and provide better care for their patients. Self-care is much more than a bubble bath on Sundays. It’s multiple deliberate activities all humans should do for mental and physical well-being. While self-care is important for all, it’s especially important for nurses whose main job is caring for others. You must keep your tank filled up so that you can provide better nursing care.

Examples of self-care include:

  • Mental: Meditate, journal, see a therapist, and practice positive visualization.
  • Physical: Eat quality foods, maintain a healthy weight, stretch daily, walk or stand more, and sit less.

8. Improve efficiency.

Becoming more efficient in your day-to-day nursing job tasks helps create balance when juggling multiple responsibilities. Efficiently completing tasks in a timely manner can create space for more responsibilities and career growth.

Here are some strategies that nurses can practice to improve efficiency:

  • Intention-setting: In the morning or the night before your workday, take a few minutes to write down or speak out loud your intentions for the day. What goals do you have? What tasks will you accomplish? What habits will you practice?
  • Organization: Plan your day—including breaks—in whatever way works for you (Google Calendar, physical planner, etc.).
  • Prioritization: With many tasks constantly vying for your attention, practice prioritizing the most important tasks first thing. Or, try structuring your day based on when you’re most productive and have the highest energy.

9. Improve communication skills.

Improving your communication skills is so important for career growth for nurses. Strong communication skills can boost health outcomes for patients and enhance relationships with co-workers, patients, and families. Good communication skills for nurses go beyond written and verbal communication. Nurses who actively listen are better able to care for patients, take direction from doctors, and be part of a team.

Other aspects of effective communication include:

  • Patient education
  • Compassion/trust
  • Cultural awareness
  • Presentation skills

career goals nursing essay

10. Specialize in certain tasks.

Specializing in certain tasks is important for career growth as it improves productivity and accuracy. Most nurses have a broad scope of responsibilities and tasks that vary from patient to patient. But it’s never bad to be known for doing one particular task well.

Try earning a reputation for being exceptional for one of the following:

  • Administering medications and treatments to patients.
  • Collaborating within your team and across other teams on patient care.
  • Providing compassionate support to patients in need.
  • Operating medical equipment and technologies.
  • Educating your patients on managing their illness.

11. Maintain work-life balance.

Leading a balanced life can help you perform better as a nurse. It’s easy to fall into a workaholic trap and take your work home with you, but this will result in burnout. Make self-care a priority by keeping your physical and emotional needs a top priority, and don’t forget to have fun, too. For some selfless people (which many nurses are), making time for fun is actually a goal that can help you further your career. When you’re happy and healthy, it manifests as success in all areas of life.

12. Become an advocate.

A noble career goal for a nurse is to become a better advocate. Advocating can be for your patients, for new policies at work, or for practices you believe strongly in. Nurses can help advocate for patients by guiding them through the medical system and providing resources. For example, nurses can advocate for patients receiving chemotherapy with information on taking anti-nausea medication effectively. On a larger scale, you could become an advocate seeking to create systemic change by addressing health inequities and influencing health policy.

13. Become a mentor for others.

Mentoring another nurse that’s new in the field helps you become a better nurse. Nurse mentorship programs provide mutual professional growth through a supportive and ongoing relationship. As a mentor, you can help your mentee by offering emotional support, helping to chart a career path, and providing guidance on the day-to-day. Ultimately, helping another nurse will provide you with fulfillment in both your career and life.

14. Participate in workshops, in-services, or job shadowing.

If your workplace offers workshops, in-service classes, or job shadowing, you should take full advantage of those opportunities. Nursing is a dynamic profession that’s always changing, and nurses must adapt to new technology and policies faster than ever. These learning opportunities are usually free ways to expand your nursing industry knowledge and further enforce your commitment to your employer.

15. Learn on your own.

Outside of in-service classes and on-the-job shadowing offered by your employer, seeking out opportunities to learn on your own should be a constant nursing career goal. Courses, conferences, and webinars are all common sources for continuing education for nurses. You can also choose to continue your formal education by advancing your nursing degree.

Why Choose WGU?

With WGU’s accredited online nursing degrees you can continue working at your full-time job and maintain your family or personal responsibilities while pursuing your ideal nursing position through BSN or MSN degrees. WGU is flexible with your needs. You don't have to log in to classes and there aren't due dates. Learn more about our master’s degrees in nursing .

There are numerous opportunities that exist after getting a master’s degree in nursing. With an MSN, you could go on to become a:

  • Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA)
  • Nurse Administrator
  • Nurse Practitioner (NP)
  • Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM)
  • Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)
  • Clinical Nurse Leader
  • Informatics Nurse
  • Nurse Educator

As an MSN-educated nurse, your work in healthcare would change lives every day. After earning an MSN, you’ll have more opportunities to advance your healthcare career and impact patient care with a post-master’s certificate in nursing . You already have critical skills and knowledge that have brought you to an impactful career—now you can add additional specialty skills that will allow you to go further.

At WGU, there are two post-master’s certificate nursing programs that help master’s degree-holding nursing professionals advance in or diversify their career paths:

  • Post-Master’s Certificate in Nursing–Education
  • Post-Master’s Certificate in Nursing–Leadership and Management

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a bachelor’s degree in nursing.

A bachelor’s degree in nursing through WGU is an online nursing degree program designed for working registered nurses who have an ADN or nursing diploma and need an RN-to-BSN degree program that’s flexible with their schedule. The program focuses on the areas of research, theory, leadership, community concepts, healthcare policy, therapeutic interventions, and current trends in healthcare. You’ll learn to improve patient outcomes and influence communities with your knowledge of evidence-based practice, patient safety, technology integration, and healthcare systems and policies.

What is a master’s degree in nursing?

If your vision of your professional future includes a role in nursing administration and management, a CCNE-accredited master’s degree in nursing (MSN) is a must. When you pursue this degree, you'll get clinical practice experiences such as real-time simulation using immersive virtual reality training. Nurse managers with a master's degree combine their technical nursing know-how with strong people skills, organizational prowess, and business knowledge to lead healthcare teams to success—success that transforms lives. You’ll also increase your earning power.

How much do RN nurses make?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median annual wage for registered nurses is $75,330 .

How much do BSN nurses make?

While the BLS doesn’t differentiate between nurses who’ve earned an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) versus those who’ve earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), according to Nurse.org , what degree you have does impact how much you can make. Amongst the ADN and BSN nurses polled, Nurse.org found that BSN nurses were earning, on average, $3.89 more per hour than ADNs.

How much do MSN nurses make?

According to the BLS, the median pay for master’s-educated nurses is $117,670 per year .

Ready to Start Your Journey?

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career goals nursing essay

How to write a Nursing Career Plan Essay (Plus Example)

career goals nursing essay

The nursing profession is an essential part of the healthcare system. It is the glue that holds the healthcare journey together. For this reason, any person aspiring to join this magnificent but challenging profession must acquire extensive knowledge, education, and the necessary skills before practicing as a nurse. But before entering nursing school , you must show the college reviewers that you are up for the task by writing a career plan essay.

A nursing career plan is an essential document that serves as a roadmap for aspiring nurses. It outlines the goals, aspirations, and strategies for professional development for students aspiring to be nurses. You must, therefore, clearly state why you are passionate about the profession.

In this comprehensive guide, we will define what a nursing career plan is and show you how to write one that articulates your vision,

What is a Nursing Career Plan?

A nursing career plan is an important document that ranges between 300- 500 words outlining your goals, dreams, aspirations, and experiences .

It is a necessary document required before being enrolled in a nursing program. Depending on the nursing college or university of choice, you will be asked to write a nursing career plan essay explaining why you should be given a chance to pursue the program and the value you will bring to the institution. It is part of an institution’s competitive application process. For this reason, you must know how to write one.

A career plan essay is essential to helping you figure out what you want at the end of the program. While it is easy to state your dreams and aspirations, putting them down on paper is something else.

What Does a Career Plan Include?

A nursing career plan outlines how you intend to use the nursing degree after school. So, the essay's primary focus should be your goals and the necessary information that distinguishes you from other applicants. Some additional information that you should consider adding to your career plan essay is:

  • Personal stories that show what drives you to pursue the career.
  • Short-term goals that highlight your plans and identify the steps you will take.
  • Long-term goals for your career- This could be academic and professional.
  • Desired nursing environment. The nursing environment showcases what type of environment you wish to work. This will help the admissions board make an informed decision about which nursing program is right for you.
  • Academic qualifications. Nursing schools require your educational qualifications.  
  • Skills and experiences. Add information about your skills and experiences that are relevant to the program.

Steps for Writing a Great Nursing Career Plan

Follow these steps to write an effective nursing career plan essay.

Plan Your Essay

Before writing a career plan essay, you need to develop a plan for writing the content. Start thinking about what you wish to include in the document. This could be things like your qualifications, what sets you apart, and why you are passionate about it. As you do this, you might also consider the following:

  • Who is your audience?
  • Why are you applying for the nursing program?
  • Key character traits that set you apart and make you ideal for nursing?
  • Why should the admissions board consider your application?
  • What kind of steps are you taking to achieve the goals?

Answering these questions will help you write an impactful nursing career plan essay.

What Your Motivation

Think about your motivations for choosing nursing as a career of choice. Consider what inspired your interest in a healthcare career. Is it a desire to help those around you? A personal experience that sparked your interest? Or your fascination with the healthcare industry. Keep in mind that nursing is a career that demands a lot from an individual. You may have to sacrifice a lot, including some relationships and personal time, to earn that degree. Your motivation will guide you through all the hurdles. Therefore, clearly state your reasons and how they align with your values and aspirations. By doing this in your essay, you will demonstrate to the recruiters that you are passionate and committed to the profession.

Define Your Goals

You must identify both short- and long-term goals for your nursing career, no matter how small you think they are. For instance, your short-term goals could be finishing assignments and submitting them on time, attending class early, gaining practical experience through clinical rotations, and procuring specific nursing certifications. On the other hand, long-term goals could be choosing a specialization, for instance, working in pediatrics, geriatrics, or critical care. Or maybe you wish to take up leadership roles or research opportunities? Define these goals clearly, ensuring they align with your passions and aspirations.

If you have no clue about your long-term goals. Consider conducting relevant research on nursing programs to comprehensively understand the different career paths, specialties, and available opportunities. Carefully explore the different roles and determine which areas align most with your interests and goals. Doing this will help you tailor your career plan essay and make an informed decision about the desired nursing path.

Please remember, as you set your goals, make sure they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Goal setting is an effective way to monitor your progress in school and your profession.

Assess Your Skills and Knowledge

Conduct an honest self-assessment of your skills and knowledge to determine what you have to offer. Break down your skills into the following categories: knowledge-based skills, transferable skills, and soft skills.

  • Knowledge-based skills are those that you have acquired from your previous education or job experience.
  • Transferable skills can be incorporated into various roles, including leadership, communication, problem-solving, and analysis.
  • Soft skills involve personality. These traits include a positive work ethic, adaptability, and being a team player.

Ensure you identify areas where you excel and those that require further development. Once you have broken down your skills into the above categories, you will be able to identify the necessary steps to enhance them and fill any knowledge gaps. This will then ensure that you are well-prepared for a career in nursing.

Create a Timeline

You must show the admissions board that you have goals and aspirations and the commitment to achieving them. State all the strategies that you will use to accomplish these plans. This could involve furthering your education, attending healthcare conferences, participating in professional organizations related to nursing, and seeking mentorship from experienced nurses. Highlight any steps you plan to enhance your skills, knowledge, and expertise in your chosen nursing specialty.

Come up with a timeline that outlines your milestones and deadlines for achieving plans. This timeline will keep you focused and motivated throughout your education and nursing career. Please ensure that the timeline is realistic. Allow some flexibility for unexpected situations that could arise during this time.

Highlight Your Commitment to Patent Care

Since this is a nursing program, you must show the admissions board that you are committed to patient care; that's what the whole career is based on. Explain what values and ethical principles you will embrace during your practice. Additionally emphasize the importance of cultural sensitivity, advocating for patients’ rights and interest, and evidence-based care. Share relevant personal experiences or stories that prove your dedication to delivering high-quality, patient-centred care.

Organize Your Work

Trying to figure out how to write a nursing career plan essay is challenging when your thoughts are disorganized. For this reason, you must create an outline highlighting all the points you will cover in the paper. An outline will also help you develop an excellent nursing career plan essay that impresses your target audience. It will also help you identify areas for improvement that add essential information to the essay.

A good outline must have the following:

  • An introduction - This is the first paragraph of your essay, which outlines why you are writing the career goal essay.
  • Body paragraphs -explain the main idea behind your essay. It must state your goals and how you intend to achieve them.
  • Conclusion - As the last paragraph of your essay, a conclusion should summarize what you have discussed throughout the essay.

Come up with a Great Title

Like all other academic essays, a nursing career plan must have a great title that accurately tells readers what you will discuss. Ensure the title suits the essay's purpose and highly resonates with your target audience. So, highlight qualities the admission board will likely appreciate, like professionalism and originality.

Consider writing the title after you are done writing the rest of the essay when you know what information to add that will capture the context of the paper.  

Write a Captivating Introduction

Now that you have everything you need to write a good nursing career plan essay, write a great introduction. A great introduction that grabs the readers' attention will go a long way in encouraging the admissions board to rest the paper. It tells them that it is not just an essay they are used to reading. Remember that these people go through thousands of career plan essays, so you must ensure you stand out.

After writing a good introduction, end with a thesis statement highlighting your motivation for choosing the nursing program. Remember that the essay aims to show your goals for the nursing program. So, apart from outlining the theme of the essay, it should also show your “why.”

Many students find the introduction the most challenging part of writing a career plan essay. So, you may have to consider writing it last if you want it to reflect everything you have talked about in the body part.

Write the Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs should mention all the essential details about your goals and ambitions. Explain why these goals are essential and why the nursing program means so much to you. Then, clarify all the actions you would take to achieve these goals.

Finish with a Great Conclusion

As with any academic essay, your conclusion must summarize everything you have discussed in the essay. Don’t add anything new; it will tell readers you have not cohesively written your essay. Mention the goals again and state why you wish to study the program in the particular school.

Tips for Writing a Nursing Career Goal Essay

Use these tips to help improve your nursing career goal essay.

Cite Your Sources

Ensure you cite everything that is not your own in the essay. This tells your readers you value and respect other authors by giving them credit for their work. It also demonstrates that you are well-versed with essay writing standards. Additionally, if you state that you have worked in a healthcare setting and acquired relevant nursing skills, provide evidence about your experience there.

Ensure you provide a list of references at the end of the paper. This will show that you have researched the work.

Use the Proper Structure

Since this is a formal document, it must follow the appropriate structure, especially if you are trying to get admission into a nursing school. So, ensure that you have structured it well, including the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. It should also meet all the requirements needed in a career plan and those that apply to a formal essay. If there is a specific structure that the institution wants you to use, make sure you follow it to the letter.

Use Your Unique Voice

Make sure you use your own unique and creative voice throughout the essay. Write about your aspirations and goals in a way that reflects your personality. Use a language that is easy to understand and fits your personality experience. Just because you are writing to an admission board does mean you should use complex vocabulary. Your writing should be communicated consistently throughout the essay. This will tell your target audience that you are taking the nursing career very seriously.

Sharing a little backstory about yourself is a great tip to show your personality. This could be a unique experience that shaped your desire for the nursing profession. Clearly explain why you chose this profession amongst others. Share any pivotal moment in your life that made you make this step.

Proofread Your Essay

Before you submit the nursing career plan essay, ensure that it has no errors. Follow the editing and proofreading tips to evaluate your essay for mechanical correctness. Proofread after you have finished writing.

Follow the Word Length Given 

You must follow all the instructions given, especially in word length. Going above the word count will distract from the intended message and tell your readers that you are not really keen on following instructions. So, check the word count periodically to ensure you stay on the limit.

Sample of a Nursing Career Plan Essay

Nursing is a great and noble career that provides more room for professional advancement ((Waddell et al., 2008). Nurses perform various functions in healthcare settings. They work with doctors, pharmacists, therapists, social workers, and other professionals to save lives and alleviate patients' suffering. I want to join the program and help those in need.  My long-term goal is to be a leader serving an entire health institute ward. However, I do understand that to get there, I must first have a solid academic foundation. For this reason, I wish to join a nursing program and become a registered nurse within four years. I understand nursing can be challenging, so I intend to work hard and work the required hours to finish my degree program.  I was drawn into the program because the career requires being close to another person to understand their needs. One has to be involved with a patient's key moments, including birth and death. I have had an opportunity to work closely with elderly people in a nursing home, which enabled me to acquire patient care skills, including helping patients maintain oral hygiene and take their medications. Action Steps  I must complete a Bachelor's Degree of Science in Nursing to attain the leadership role . During my studies, I intend to join an internship program to demonstrate the knowledge acquired in class and gain technical skills and experience. This experience will be sufficient when working in the Nation Health Service. For my short-term goals, I intend to improve my skills throughout my time in school continuously. I'll join various group discussions to improve my oral and presentation skills. Professional Development I intend to gain more skills and focus on my studies for the remaining two years of education. I will focus more on my weaknesses to ensure I become the best I can be, especially in mastering drugs and professional patient observation. Conclusion Nurses have a fundamental role to play in the hospital setting. This is why there is a need for constant professional improvement and new skills to ensure they are in a better position to care for their patients. Therefore, one must have a plan on how they intend to achieve these goals by doing a self-assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses and develop their career plans. References Waddell, J., Donner, G. J., & Wheeler, M. M. (2008). Building Your Nursing Career: A Guide for Students. Mosby.

The above sample is intended to give you a general idea of how to write a nursing career sample.

What to Avoid When Writing a Nursing Career Goal Essay

Your career goals essay should be as straightforward as possible. The following are some things you must avoid when writing the essay.

Weak Statements

Every word, phrase, and statement should be specific to your experience. For instance, a sentence like the following, I want to study nursing because it will allow me to get a well-paying job after graduation , doesn’t communicate why you are passionate about the profession. You must be specific about your goals and ambitions and clearly state your reasons for applying to the nursing school.

Talking About Finances

A career plan essay aims to show your short- and long-term goals about the nursing program. So, the admissions board wants to see your passion for the career in your essay. Sure, a career in nursing could be lucrative, but you don't have to show it in your essay. Focusing on fiancées shows that you are not focused on longevity in your career.

Starting Blandly

Don’t begin your essay with lackluster statements such as, ‘my career goal in nursing is…’ behind with a captivating story that is impactful to your career goal essay. Inject something exciting about your life by sharing an anecdote to set the stage for your career aspirations.

Failing to Connect Your Goals with the Nursing

Clearly state what drove you to choose the nursing program and why you want to pursue it as a career. Thus, share specific examples to demonstrate your motivation and clarify the goals for the program.

Final Word on Writing a Nursing Career Plan Essay

A nursing career plan essay is a vital document that you can use to showcase your goals and aspirations for a nursing career. Writing the essay is a proactive approach to professional success. While setting these goals is important, remember to be flexible and adaptable to navigate the ever-changing healthcare landscape.

At Nursemygrade.com , we understand that writing a nursing career plan essay is challenging, so we are ready to walk with you every step of the way. As experts in nursing assignments, our writers will write exemplary career plan essays that capture every required detail. Just place an order and let us help you.

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What to include: why i want to be a nurse essay.

Why do you want to be a nurse? What is your reason for entering the nursing profession? What drives you?

You will face these questions multiple times throughout your career, but there are two occasions in which answering them could actually define your career.

The first is when you apply to nursing school. You may be asked to complete an essay outlining why you want to become a nurse.

The second time is when you apply for a nursing position and answer that question as part of the interview process.

Whether you're applying for a nursing program or job, it's important to know how to address this question and what sort of answers work best.

What To Include In Your Nursing Essay

To create the perfect nursing essay, one that can help you get into nursing school or find your first job, follow the steps below:

Plan Your Nurse Essay

Before you start writing your nursing essay, think about what you want to include.

Jot down ideas that express your passion for the nursing profession, as well as any personal or familiar experience that led you to take this step.

Be honest. Be open. Summarize your story, highlight your goals, and think about what the nursing profession means to you.

All of these things will be important when structuring your essay.

Show an Emotional Connection to the Profession

Do you have any family members that worked as nurses or doctors? Did you care for a loved one during an illness? Did you require a lot of care at some point in your life?

If so, this should be your lead, and it's probably the most important part of your essay.

Nursing is a lucrative career. You can make a decent salary, enter numerous specialties, and even progress to opening your own practice. There is also a national nursing shortage, so you'll also have plenty of opportunities if you're willing to learn and work. But interviewers don't want to hear that you became a nurse to earn good money and pick up lots of overtime.

Think of it in the context of a talent show. We know that the contestants are there to get famous and make lots of money. But when they stand in front of the camera and appeal for votes, they talk about deceased parents/grandparents, changing their family's life for the better, and making a difference in the world.

It's easy to sympathize with someone who wants to follow in the footsteps of a beloved mother or make a grandparent proud. It's not as easy to sympathize with someone who just wants to drive a Bugatti and wear a Rolex.

Examples  :

"My mother is a nurse practitioner. I can see how happy the role makes her and how much it has changed her. I have looked up to her throughout my life and have always wanted to follow in her footsteps."

"I cared for my father when he was ill. I was able to comfort him and assist him in his time of need, and while it was very challenging, it always felt right to me and it's something I would love to do as a career."

Show That You Care

Like all health care workers, nurses are devoted to healing the sick. If you're not a people person, it's probably not the profession for you.

Make it clear that you're a caring person and are willing to devote your life to healing sick people. A good nurse also knows how to comfort distraught family members, so you may want to include this in your essay as well.

If you have any examples of times when you have helped others, include them. This is a good time to talk about volunteer work, as well as other occasions in which you have devoted your time to helping strangers.

"I feel a great sense of pride working with families and patients through difficult times. I like to know that I am making a difference in the lives of others."

"I want to become a nurse so that I can help others in their time of need. I chose nursing as a profession because I feel a great sense of accomplishment when helping others".

Share Your Aspirations

What are your goals for your nursing career? Do you want to become a nurse practitioner? Do you want to specialize as a nurse anesthetist, a critical care nurse, or focus more on pediatrics?

Nurses work across a range of specialties, and it's important to show that you are interested in continuing your education and developing to your full potential.

The goal is to show that you are determined. You are driven to succeed and to better yourself.

If you're just taking your first steps as a nursing student, now is a good time to research into specialties and get an idea of how you want your career to progress.

"I have always been drawn to the nursing profession because it's challenging, demanding, and interesting. I want to push myself every day, engaging my academic interests and satisfying my need to learn and improve as a person."

Describe Your Nursing Skills and Qualifications

If you're applying for an accelerated nursing program or a new nursing job, the interviewer will have access to your qualifications. But they won't know what those qualifications mean to you, what you learned from them, and how you can use them in your career.

It's about problem-solving skills, as well as academic work. It's about experience and personal growth, as well as knowledge acquisition.

This is a good time to talk about internships.

How Do You Write an Introduction to a Nurse Essay?

Starting is always the hardest part, but it's best not to overthink it.

Just start writing about why you want to become a nurse. Don't overthink it. Don't worry too much about the first word or sentence. Everything can be edited, and if you spend too long thinking about those first words, you'll never finish the essay.

Keep it simple, check your work, and edit it until it's perfect and says exactly what you want it to say.

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How to Write a Nursing Career Goals Essay: Topics, and Examples

Nursing is a career that has recently gained popularity among college and university students. Most students are driven by different career goals that push them to pursue a career in nursing. Writing a nursing career goals essay is the first step to showcasing your dedication to pursuing this noble career.

Drafting a nursing goals essay is a task that requires diverse skills and commitment to subscribe to the program. If you are stuck on how to start a nursing goals essay, we have taken the step to help you get out of the mud in this article. You can use the guide below to reduce your migraine in writing your nursing career goals essay. 

Definition of nursing career goals essay

Nursing career goals are vital in the expert existence of a nursing practitioner. As a nursing practitioner, you may be expected to give sharp nursing career goals essay examples on how to deal with different situations. A nursing career goals essay can be defined as a well-detailed document that explains other motives that drive an individual to choose nursing as their career.

Career goals can be defined as objectives that individuals could use to succeed in their careers. Without uncertainty, a decent handle on nursing career goals will be helpful while composing a nursing career goals essay. Any genuine understudy or specialist should have intricate professional goals in a nursing essay .

The writing process must be meticulous, where it ought to mirror the target of the career goals essay. Before you begin drafting your paper, it is important to understand the various career fields for nursing practitioners. These careers can be ordered under three significant gatherings that include:

1.      Direct Patient Registered Nurse

This career way involves working at the patient’s bedside as a feature of an interdisciplinary group. The essential job of the medical caretaker involves working “actively” with patients.

2.      Indirect Patient Care Registered Nurse

This career way includes working with an interdisciplinary group of various medical services professionals, including the bedside attendant, to help with patient consideration. It emphasizes more working in managerial and the executives’ limits. Work settings for this nurse might include:

  • Outpatient settings
  • Insurance companies
  • Correctional healthcare facilities
  • Skilled nursing facilities
  • Community health
  • Physician offices
  • Universities

3.      Advanced Practice Registered Nursing

This is viewed as the embodiment of a nursing career. The career way goes about as a scaffold among nursing practitioners and doctors. Such medical attendants perform undeniable level obligations and manage the nursing staff. APRN areas of practice include:

  • Nurse anesthetist
  • Nurse practitioner
  • Clinical nurse specialist
  • Nurse midwife

How to develop educational goals essay for nursing

Creating reasonable goals is one of the significant areas of concern when composing an essay on nursing career goals. Likewise, there is a heap factor you ought to consider to guarantee that your goals are lined up with your scholarly and professional pursuits. It is, in this way, vital to ensure a first-class essay.

Writing future career goals in nursing essays demands a good understanding of the goal development process. Generally, when developing such goals, you should deliberate on several factors, including:

1.      Factors what drive you to pursue nursing  

A nurse is considered the first line of contact in healthcare provision and saving of life. As a nurse, you are obliged as the first person to identify any patient who may require emergency attention. Practicing nursing services is demanding in its nature of work, requires high concentration levels, and can be mentally draining practice.

This is more serious in some fields of nursing practice than others. In light of this, drafting a career goals essay for nursing graduate school requires a legitimate individual assessment to decide the explanation that draws you to practicing nursing activities. Recognizing this reason will assist you in making suitable choices to help you follow your dream. 

2.      A working environment that suits you  

This is another factor to consider when writing a nursing educational and career goals essay. It is essential to appreciate that respective nursing careers are practiced in different environments.

Other nursing careers might expect you to work from home, travel frequently and broadly, practice in well-known emergency clinics, stroll around in communities delivering healthcare, hold meetings and educative programs, or even work in educating foundations. Consequently, it is fundamental to consider the different work settings while composing your nursing targets and goals. This is key in deciding if you have the essential individual qualities and traits for working in particular conditions and nursing careers. 

3.      The community you aim at delivering healthcare services to

Close to your environment, the type of society you wish to consistently collaborates with is another significant component to consider while composing a frontier nursing goals essay. This glances at the patients, associates, and individuals you report to. Nursing careers allow you to connect easily with the patients, local area individuals, scholars, and intellectuals.

In some nursing careers, interacting with individuals, either patients or the general population, is restricted. The prerequisites to answer to your superiors vary depending on your nursing career. It would be best to comprehend where your character suits most while fostering your nursing professional goals statement.      

4.      The requisite academic qualifications  

Your academic qualifications are essential in every path you take when writing an essay on nursing career goals. All these career paths are more demanding academically than other careers. Other career paths will only require an undergraduate degree, while others require a master’s or a doctorate degree.

This places you in a position to consider factors like your age, financial capacity or plans, and other life issues like craving for additional time with family. The more specific the nursing career is, the higher the academic requests. 

How to set your nursing career goals

To develop proper examples of nursing career goals, you will be expected to have the essential objective setting information and abilities. Note that the method involved laying out attainable nursing career goal requests that you take on the SMART goals approach. The SMART goals are explained in detail below.

It is important to note that SMART is an acronym for:

S : Specific

M : Measurable

A : Attainable

R : Realistic

T : Time-bound   

v  Specific

It is essential to guarantee that the goals you include in your nursing professional goals articulation are not very expansive. All nursing career goals essay examples should be presented in a way that they can be easily translated. It would be best if you comprehended that long-term goals as a nurse practitioner specifically are exposed to pessimistic impacts of progress by the change in environment and individual perspectives.

It would be best to be specific with your nursing career goals enough to avoid situations of outrageous differences. The goals ought to be just about as engaged and point by point as expected. 

v  Measurable

All nursing career goals should be quantifiable. Measurability is critical concerning how to accomplish nursing goals. This is significant in deciding on advancement in your nursing career.

This progress could be explored using different examples of nursing goals for yearly evaluation. Measurability is also essential in helping demarcate achievements that act as a source of motivation. Your nursing career goals should incorporate clear milestones that have a defined ending.  

v  Attainable

This pertains to how to achieve nursing goals. There is a significant attainability challenge, mainly when writing a long-term goals nursing essay. This is because such nursing career goals could demand tools and resources beyond the reach of the nurse.

Ensuring that your nursing goals are incognizant of required resources, including time frames, skills, and funds, is essential. This requires you to break down your goals into smaller ones, especially in incidences where the main goal is quite complex. You can begin by exploring the most appropriate examples of nursing goals for yearly evaluation.   

v  Realistic

About being realistic, you need to guarantee that every one of the examples of nursing career goals you decide to embrace is sensible concerning the setting of nursing practice. You ought to consider various elements to conclude whether your nursing career goals are reasonable. Such factors might include their degree, required abilities, existing frameworks, and individual limits.

Specifically, long-term goals for a nursing specialist can represent genuine difficulties in being practical. As a nurse, you should try to make career goals that are grounded and adjusted to the setting of nursing practice. 

v  Time-bound

Time-frame is another significant facet regarding how to accomplish nursing career goals essay. It involves joining a particular course of events to achieve your nursing career goals. Every goal should include a study of events inside which the goals are supposed to have been accomplished.

This needs you to develop various examples of nursing goals for the yearly assessment. The timetables should function as signs of progress and a wellspring of inspiration on the direction you should take as a nurse. 

Steps to take when writing career goals essay for nursing graduate school

Step 1: planning your essay , before composing, begin by brainstorming your goals and what you need to achieve as a medical caretaker. this stage is tied in with gathering different ideas., a.       brainstorm different nursing career paths, every registered nurse can work in a specialist’s office, clinics, schools, long-term care offices, facilities, prisons, and traveling nursing all around the united states and other foreign nations., b.       plan your nursing career content.

After you have narrowed your ideas about your career as a nurse, it is time to plan how to get your message across. Here is a list of factors you should consider before writing your nursing education and career goals essay:  

  • Who is your audience? 
  • A list of items that interest you as a nursing student and why you find them interesting
  • Why did you select the nursing program that you did?
  • Prior preparation for becoming a good nurse
  • What makes you stand out?
  • Any medical training or patient care
  • What traits do you have that will make you a good nurse?
  • Why the nursing school should accept you as a student
  • What work environment do you prefer? Hectic and fast-paced? Slow and steady and quiet?

Step 2: Outlining your essay

Usually, you will start with the introduction, write the main content in your essay’s body paragraphs, and finish with a conclusion. To write an outstanding essay about nursing career goals, you can consider the following steps as your cheat sheet :

  • Develop eye-catching essay topics on career goals in nursing.
  • Draft a powerful personal statement or an introduction to hook your audience. You can make it enjoyable by writing a personal story.
  • Begin to draft your essay’s body by highlighting your long-term and short-term goals. You can take it further by writing about what drives you to pursue a nursing career.
  • Every essay has a beginning and ending, so does a nursing career goals essay. You should emphasize your discussion topic and leave an impression on your audience.

Step 3: Writing your nursing career essay 

It’s time to put your pen to work. Even if you develop a rough draft, you have to begin writing your essay. 

The title of an essay is one of the essential pieces of a paper. While making your title, think about your crowd. If you decide to draft an admission essay, it is always important to understand that your crowd will be an admissions committee.

Ø  Essay introduction 

Your introduction is an essential facet of your work. To showcase your expertise, you should develop a solid personal statement. The personal statement should be a novel or recount an individual diminutive story. The presentation is where you arouse your audience’s curiosity and catch their consideration, so they need to continue to peruse.

One answer that should shine through is why you want to be a nurse . This question’s answer serves as a great transition between your career goals essay’s introduction and body.

Ø  Body of your nursing career goals essay

A nursing school essay’s body tells the nursing school administrators why they want to be a nurse and why they should select you to be a student in their program. You can incorporate a real-life story if you have one.

Long-term goals and short-term goals 

This will be the primary piece of your essay. You ought to devote most of your paper to your nursing career goals. You will have goals that you can accomplish quicker than different goals. One method for seeing it is to have momentary goals and long-term goals. Momentary goals will be goals you can accomplish in under one year, though long-term goals require a touch more determination and vision.

Presenting your short-term and nursing career goals in 5 years shows that you are aggressive and have a dream for your career. These goals should underline the effect you wish to make once you enter the nursing force. Here is a cheat sheet to introduce your goals:

  • State your goal clearly
  • Describe how this goal connects to your personal life
  • What motivates you to achieve this goal?
  • Explain your plan on how you will accomplish this goal
  • Write about the challenges that you may face and how you will overcome them

Examples of short-term goals 

  • Passing Nursing school and board certification
  • Taking classes to gain more certifications such as the Advanced Certified Life Support(ACLS) or Critical Care Registered Nurse(CCRN)
  • Taking classes to increase to improve your current knowledge. For example, EKG classes as a cardiac nurse or mother-baby classes as a labor and delivery nurse.
  • Improving communication skills with patients and colleagues

 Examples of long-term goals 

  • A relatively common career goal is advancement. If you are looking for a more challenging nursing position or getting burned out, look into becoming an educator or a family nurse practitioner.
  • Another good move up the nursing ladder is to obtain an administrative position. This is an excellent option if you seek to move away from the bedside. The ideal people for the jobs are nurses because they already have vast knowledge in the nursing field. 

Step 4: Conclude your essay

This part will stay with your crowd the most because it’s the last part they read. Your conclusion should comprise your strengths and accomplishments.

A phenomenal method for being unique is to give your crowd a something worth mulling over and end your essay with the accompanying:

  • Connect your personal experience/story with your goal of becoming a nurse
  • Return to the introduction for your paper to come full circle
  • End your essay with an intriguing question
  • End your essay with an impactful statement

How to answer the question “Why do you want to be a nurse?” in your essay

Frequently, a potential nursing understudy has a particular explanation far over the affection for dealing with individuals. It is typically a heartbreaking story, yet one that gives a powerful urge and drives you as a student.

Likewise, you ought to consider what you will be “dealing” with as a nurse, like blood, organic liquids, death of infants, children, teenagers, youths, grown-ups, and the elderly. Engine vehicle mishap casualties are gripping to life, sick individuals who are so debilitated they will most likely be unable to talk or continue alone, misfortune and the circle of life gone haywire.

There are also happy endings in hospitals such as: babies’ birth and parents being discharged in good conditions, patients who have gone through long periods in the emergency clinic being discharged, and careful patients who are presently not in torment leaving return home.

Other situations that can define your goals

  • If you have worked or volunteered in a doctor’s office or hospital, you can draw from what you observed and add any positive experiences.
  • If you were a patient in a hospital for at least a few days, you could again draw from that experience about how you felt as you watched the doctors and nurses take care of you and even other patients. Of course, your experience would need to be a positive one.
  • You can use a situation where you volunteered in a pediatric unit to read to the children. You could make sense of how that affected you and how the nursing practitioners communicated with the child.

Final remarks

Setting your goals as a nurse is the first staircase to a successful nursing career. To show case your credibility and competency, you must complete an outstanding nursing career goals essay. The above guide will help you get the flowers you deserve by writing a top-quality nursing goals essay.

If you are stuck choosing the best essay topics on career goals in nursing, you can always consult our experts. When you place your first order with us, you are guaranteed access to a free sample essay on nursing career goals. Allow our experts to mold you into the nurse you always dreamt of becoming.

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Essay on the Career Goal: Nursing Essay

In the modern world, the nurse’s role is changing dramatically: From being a resident assistant to the treating physician, the registered nurse (RN) is becoming the critical link in the clinic. RNs help provide a continuum of communication between patients, their families, and medical staff, which means that treatment and recovery outcomes depend on the effectiveness of their work. Given the structural changes in the professional role of the registered nurse, I could not help but take an interest in this field. Thus, my career goal is to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing as the first step to becoming a professional nurse.

Nursing has become particularly important in recent years and became especially important to the clinical system during the COVID-19 pandemic. By now, there are over 4.2 million registered nurses in the United States (USAHS). This large number represents about 1.3 percent of the nation’s total population, which means about one in 100 Americans is a registered nurse. This data shows how critical this role is to society, as a large number of people from various states would not choose the profession if it were not in demand. The Rafferty study indicates that “nurses can realise their potential as change agents in building a better future for health care” (Rafferty 475). Additionally, USAHS reports that the number of male nurses has tripled over the past 50 years, which also reflects a positive trend in this professional role and rapid removal of stigma.

There has historically been a bias against nurses regarding their importance. Although the nurse’s role is not controversial for patients who frequently encounter clinics and other stakeholders, healthy people can provoke stigma toward such staff. This prejudice has nothing to do with the current level of medical development since the nurse has long since ceased to be an adjunct to the physician but has been given a separate role, a theoretical foundation, and new functions. Opportunities for continual growth and helping sick people are features of today’s RNs that appeal to my career choice. Thus, my altruistic nature and desire to overcome stigma motivate me to continue my BSN training.

Since my chosen career is feasible, I have to think about the organizational details of professional development. I have to spend at least four years to get my BSN, which is the standard time frame for an undergraduate degree. However, it is likely that I will want to continue my studies after the BSN, in which case I will need additional time. To be specific, I will say that four years is the minimum I wish to cover, to begin with. The cost also depends on the state and university, but the average cost is about $40,000 (NJ). Hence, my plan is to continue to make savings at a compound interest rate that will help me have financial protection. I plan to study all four years carefully and do my homework and tests to get the solid knowledge I will need in the future.

To emphasize the bottom line, my central career goal is to earn a bachelor’s degree in registered nursing. This is the most specific and pressing goal I have set for myself in terms of career advancement. However, once I receive my BSN, I have no plans to graduate, as I want to advance my knowledge continually. Professional development requires careful academic work on myself, but in addition, I will also need to save up some money. To put it another way, in the next four years, I plan to work hard on my education in order to fulfill my personal career goal.

Works Cited

NJ. “ How Much Does Nursing School Cost? ” Nurse Journal . 2022. Web.

Rafferty, Anne M. “Nurses as Change Agents for a Better Future in Health Care: The Politics of Drift and Dilution.” Health Economics, Policy and Law , vol. 13, no. 3-4, 2018, pp. 475-491.

USAHS. “60 Key Nursing Statistics and Trends for 2021.” USA . 2021. Web.

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Home / Essay Samples / Life / Profession / Career Goals

Personal Career Goals Essay: Why I Dream of Becoming a Nurse

Essay details

Profession , Experience

Career Goals , Nurse , Professionalism

  • Words: 2308 (5 pages)

Please note! This essay has been submitted by a student.

Table of Contents

Introduction, why i love being a nurse: special significances of this profession.

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Career Goals Essay For Scholarships (With Examples)

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Scholarship programs often want you to write a career goals essay to see that you have a clear plan for how you’ll apply your education to a specific career path. This helps show a scholarship committee why you’re seeking funds for the next step on the path toward your success.

Answering “what are your career goals” effectively can help increase your odds of impressing landing a scholarship opportunity. If you’re a prospective student applying for scholarships, this article will provide tips on how to write a career goals essay, along with essays on career goals examples to help you get an idea of what scholarship committees are looking for.

Key Takeaways:

When you’re writing a career goals essay, make sure to write about the goals that are relevant to the scholarship.

Be honest and use your own voice to stand out in your scholarship essay.

Go into detail about how the scholarship will help you achieve your goals.

Career Goals Essay for Scholarships

What is a career goals essay?

Why scholarship essays ask about career goals, example career goals essay prompts, career goals essay examples, tips for writing a scholarship essay about career goals, what to write in a career goals essay if your goals have changed, career goals essay for a scholarship faq.

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A career goals essay is a personal written explanation that discusses your background, why you’re interested in participating in the program, and what career you’d like this degree to lead into. A scholarship essay functions to explain why you want to achieve your professional goals and how you intend to get there.

In almost every application process, a portion asks the candidate to answer an essay question. When applying to an educational program, like an MBA, the essay prompt usually relates to your career goals .

Scholarship essays ask about career goals to assess your enthusiasm for the program, learn more about how the scholarship will help you, and ensure that you’ve considered how the program will help you achieve your goals for the future:

Assess your enthusiasm. Passion is important for scholarship administrators, and if you’re able to articulate your enthusiasm for a specific career path , it will show that you’re determined to meet the requirements to reach that goal. The most specific and well-thought-out your essay is, the easier it will be for a reader to understand your devotion and commitment to the program and the field it will allow you to enter.

Learn how the scholarship will help you. Having a firm grasp of your career goals is great, but it’s equally important that you express exactly how the specific program relates to those goals. This shows that you’ve researched the merits of the program and understand exactly how it fits into your professional goals.

Show you’ve considered your future. This goes along with the first two points — show that you know how to set goals and consider the path toward achieving those goals, and you’ll have an easier time convincing the reader that you’ll know how to set goals while participating in the program. They’ll see that you know how to prioritize education because you have a clear vision for navigating your career path.

While some scholarships might come right out and simply ask, “What are your career goals?” most will rework the question into something different that still accomplishes the same goal.

Below are some examples of career goals essay prompts that a scholarship program could pose to its applicants:

Discuss your career goals. Many scholarships prefer the most direct approach when giving an essay prompt to their applicants. This type of question gives the candidate a lot of wiggle room to discuss their passions, motivations, and career goals.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years ? This question is often used as a prompt for a career goals essay because it gives the applicant a timeline to describe their aspirations. It forces them to be realistic about where their career will be and how they will accomplish this within the next ten years.

How will this scholarship contribute to your professional success? A scholarship committee wants to be sure that the money they’re giving will contribute to a student’s overall professional success. This question asks about the applicant’s game plan in the long-term and evaluates how this program is going to assist in their future.

What is your dream job ? Since a dream job is often categorized as a person’s career goals, this is a common question phrasing in scholarship essays. Asking about a candidate’s dream job answers whether this program aligns with the student’s long-term career goals.

What matters most to you and why? Sometimes, a scholarship essay prompt won’t ask about your career or future at all. Instead, they’ll ask a question like this that assesses your motivations , values, and character.

Use these examples of career goals essays for scholarships to help write your own. Pay special attention to how they’re organized, rather than the content, to inspire your own career goals essay:

Career goals essay example 1 – Discuss your career goals

When I was six years old, I was riding bikes with my older sister around our neighborhood. She had just taught me how to ride, and I was excited to have to freedom to explore with her. When she was rounding a particularly difficult bend to see around, a car happened to be coming along at the same time. It struck her. That bike ride changed our lives forever. Over the next year, I went with my sister every Tuesday and Thursday to her physical therapist ’s appointments to help her regain walking strength. Watching her physical therapist patiently assist my sister back to becoming herself awoken something in me. A passion for helping others in the same way eventually turned into a career goal of becoming a physical therapist myself. I decided to get my bachelor’s degree in exercise science. After graduating in 2019, I knew that the next step for me was to attend a graduate program in physical therapy. I was accepted to Lassell University Master of Science in Rehabilitation Services. This presented me with my latest goal along my career path, and I’m eagerly waiting to start. This scholarship would help me afford the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the Lassell University class of 2023, allowing me to continue working towards my ultimate career goal of becoming a physical therapist and helping others to become themselves again.

Career goals essay example 2 – Where do you see yourself in ten years?

In ten years, I will have been successfully running my own construction business for about five years. I’m currently a second-year student at the University of Texas, pursuing a master’s degree in business administration. I decided to get my MBA because I knew it would be a positive asset toward my long-term career goal of owning a construction business. In my high school years, I worked as a construction apprentice for a local business. I loved many aspects of the business, such as building something from nothing. I knew that I wanted to incorporate this work into my long-term career, but I didn’t want to work as an apprentice . This led me to pursue business. In ten years and with the help of this scholarship, I will have graduated with my MBA almost a decade prior . After graduation, I plan to take a business administration internship with a carpentry business to help myself get a footing in the field. After about two years of this, I will have started my own construction business.

Career goals essay example 3 – What matters most to you and why?

The people I surround myself with matter most to me. Whether it be my relatives, friends, or professional acquaintances, I always care the most about the happiness of the people around me. Making the people around me happy matters the most to me because I truly because we find our happiness through others. I believe that this drive to make a positive impression on the people around me is what drove me towards a career as a nurse . I always thought of hospitals as places where people need someone to support them and make their day a little happier. I wanted to be one of those who spend their careers positively impacting people in need. This scholarship will enable me to finally afford nursing school and go after my dream job full force.

Career goals essay example 4 – What are your short- and long-term career goals, and how will earning this degree contribute to achieving those goals? Please provide a minimum of 200 words.

My short-term career goals involve working directly with underprivileged young people to increase the literacy rate in my community. As a student of an underfunded and understaffed school, I’ve seen firsthand how much of an impact early literacy education makes on long-term achievement. It broke my heart to see my peers embarrassed at their struggle with reading at an advanced age, and this shame added another dimension to their lack of opportunity. Being a literacy educator for young people would allow me to serve this community directly to show them not only the necessity of strong written communication skills, but the joy of reading for pleasure. This program focuses specifically on early literacy, and would provide me a direct route to a career in serving the community I hope to serve. As for long-term career goals, I hope to one day create a program where socioeconomically parents can bring their children for literacy education, not only to increase their ability to navigate the world of language, but also to instill confidence and joy in the written word. What drew me to this program was that it also has administrative, legal, and business dimensions that would set me on the path toward achieving this goal.

Here are some tips to keep in mind for writing a career goals scholarship essay:

Write about goals relevant to the scholarship. Although you may have many different kinds of goals for your personal and professional future, a scholarship essay only discusses objectives that are relevant to the program you’re applying for.

Be honest. Applying for a scholarship is stressful because the applicant’s education is usually reliant on receiving these funds in one way or another. Even though it’s tempting to exaggerate your skills or pretend you’re more passionate about something than you are to make yourself a more competitive applicant, it’s a bad move.

Use your own, unique voice. The essay portion of a scholarship application is your chance to stand out by using your voice. Nobody else, regardless of their academic or professional achievements, is you. Make this clear in your career goals scholarship essay by keeping your unique written voice engrained in the words you produce.

Be specific. A big reason that scholarship committees ask applicants to write a career goals essay is to determine how prepared they are in planning their long-term professional goals. They aren’t interested in providing a scholarship to students who aren’t going to follow through with their career plans.

Explain long and short-term goals . Even if the essay prompt asks you to describe where you see yourself in ten years, you still need to tell them the steps leading towards this picture of success.

Include the short-term goals that add up to your larger career objectives in your essay response. Explain how accomplishing the smaller goals gives you an advantage when tackling long-term ones.

Explain how the program and scholarship will help you. Before writing your career goals essay, consider how this program and scholarship will help you in your career. The answer to this question is essential.

Follow the essay formatting guidelines. This may sound obvious, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget this step when your essay is finally flowing and when you’re scrambling to get it submitted on time.

Check, double-check , and triple-check the essay guidelines for content, word count, and formatting requirements. If you miss any of these steps, your essay may be immediately disqualified no matter how good it or the rest of your application is.

Many times career goals essays are written by students who have already completed at least some college or are applying to a post-graduate program and need more money to continue.

There’s a good chance that your career goals have changed since you started or graduated college. For example, say you wanted to be an engineer , so you got your undergraduate degree in engineering but realized you didn’t like it after working in the industry for a few years.

You decided that nursing would be more up your alley, and now you’re applying for a scholarship for a nursing program. While this isn’t unusual, it can make it more difficult to write a career goals essay since your past work doesn’t necessarily match your future goals.

In this case, you’ll simply need to explain why you changed your career path and why this next one is the best choice for you. Share your decision-making process to show that you haven’t taken the switch lightly, and talk about what you’ve already done to try to pursue this path.

How do you write a career goal for a scholarship essay?

You write a career goal for a scholarship essay by sharing your passion, explaining both your long- and short-term goals, and relating your goals to the scholarship.

Explain why you want to pursue the career you’re pursuing, where you hope to be in the future and how you plan to get there, and how the scholarship will help you do this.

How do you describe your career goals in an essay?

You describe your career goals in an essay by explaining what you want to do in your career, why you decided on this career path, and what you’ve done so far to make that a reality.

You can usually work these factors into any prompt you receive, so think through them before you start writing so that you can use them as an outline of sorts.

What are career goals examples?

Examples of career goals include:

Working as a grant writer for a nonprofit organization.

Becoming a department manager and eventually an executive in your field.

Owning your own plumbing company.

Caring for underserved communities as a nurse practitioner .

What are some goals for success?

Some goals for success include growing in your role, building your network, and finding joy in the job. Most careers don’t just happen overnight and require you to set the right milestones that work best for you. Not everyone will have the same goals for success.

How do you start a career goals essay for a scholarship?

You can start a career goals essay for a scholarship by directly answering the prompt. Most scholarship prompts include a word count of between 200 and 500 words, so it’s essential that you immediately respond to the prompt. Attention-grabbing sentences and narratives can be helpful for setting the scene, but an efficient and direct answer will show a clarity of mind that helps enhance the quality of your answer.

BLS – Career planning for high schoolers

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Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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Setting My Career Goals in Nursing: Aspirations for My Future

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