Here are 5 career actions to take on an annual basis to refresh your career goals, review your accomplishments, and revitalize your personal brand.
Career success = career habits.
My last post (here) talked about some daily/weekly job seeker habits, and how those contribute to a successful search.
I think that it’s a good idea to have annual habits related to your career and job search, too.
Here are 5 things to do every year for your long-term career success.
1) Document your accomplishments for the year… what did you contribute to organizations you’re a part of? (This includes your job, volunteering, church, hobby, or professional associations). This will be a big help down the road when it’s time for resume or bio writing. (And it’s a confidence booster, too.) If you have the time, you can also update your resume, so you always have it handy if a great opportunity comes up.
2) Force yourself to answer the “where do I want to be in three to five years?”question. If you don’t have an answer quickly, set aside some time or find someone who can help you answer it.
3) Give some thought to the #1 skill or body of knowledge that’s in demand related to your profession, and make a commitment and a plan to learn it (or, if you know it already, get out there and get known as an expert about it).
4) Review your public persona… Google yourself to see what comes up, check out your LinkedIn profile to see if you need a new headline or new picture, make sure that any pictures that are publically available about you are appropriate.
5) Make a networking plan: For your personal contacts, make a plan for whom you might reach out to in the next two weeks with a “how’s it going” message, just to stay in contact. For professional networking events, figure out what’s the single best networking event, conference or group you could join, and make a plan to go.
Having a proactive plan makes the likelihood that you’ll advance in your career that much stronger. The best part? As the year unfolds, you can see the progress you’re making toward future career opportunity, and know that you’re setting yourself up for even better future years.