How to Set Career Goals That Aren’t Just Job Titles

Because “Senior by 30” isn’t a plan—it’s a LinkedIn fever dream.

At some point in your career, someone told you the path looks like this:

Junior → Mid-Level → Senior → Staff → Management → Happiness™

But here’s the truth:
Job titles are milestones, not destinations.

They don’t define your growth. They reflect someone else’s org chart logic.

So let’s talk about setting career goals that actually matter—even when your title doesn’t.

🧠 1. Pick Skills, Not Status

“I want to be a Senior Developer” is vague.
“I want to confidently lead a technical discussion and defend a design decision without sweating through my shirt” is a goal.

Focus on things you can:

Practice

Improve

Track (without waiting for a promotion)

🧰 2. What Can You Build That You Couldn’t a Year Ago?

Forget your job title. Look at your toolset.

Are you faster?

Are you solving harder problems?

Are you mentoring people?

Are you designing vs. just implementing?

Growth isn’t just about new roles—it’s about new reach.

💬 3. Set Goals That Aren’t Just About You

Not everything has to be personal gain. Some of the best career leaps come from:

Making onboarding smoother for the next dev

Writing documentation people actually use

Creating a process that cuts down bug volume by 40%

Helping others succeed makes you invaluable. Titles can’t measure that—but people remember it.

🧭 4. Define What You Actually Want Your Career to Feel Like

Instead of “I want to be a Staff Engineer,” try:

“I want to spend more time solving architectural problems.”

“I want to feel trusted to make high-stakes decisions.”

“I want to have more creative input and less Jira babysitting.”

Your title might not change—but your day-to-day can.
Aim for that.

🪞 5. Your Growth = Your Own Metrics

Can you explain what you do to someone outside of tech?

Can you teach someone else how to do it?

Can you walk away from it and it still runs?

If the answer to all 3 is yes: you’re leveling up—even if your title still says “developer.”

🚀 TL;DR

Career goals shouldn’t be a game of “climb the ladder.”

They should be a blueprint for:

What you want to get better at

How you want to work

Who you want to become

Job titles are shortcuts. Your career is not.

✊ mullins.io
Sarcastic, honest tech career advice for people who actually want to grow.