It's Time for a Career Development Check-Up. Review these 6 Things.
Oil change every 3,000 miles. Teeth cleaning every 6 months. Semi-annual meeting with financial advisor. Annual doctor’s visit. These are just some of the regular appointments that keep your life on track. But what about your career? Can you remember when you last conducted a Career Development Check-Up? With 2021 coming to a close, now is a great time to review and assess your career goals and development, and to make the appropriate changes to help you move forward. To get you started, below is a list of items you may want to address, along with questions to help guide your review:
1. Goals: Review the progress you have made on accomplishing your career or professional goals. If you have already accomplished your goals, set new ones. If you are having trouble making progress toward reaching your goals, reach out to your network for their advice and assistance. You can also break down large goals into smaller ones, which are sometimes easier to achieve. If your goals are no longer relevant or important, choose new ones. Remember to celebrate milestones on the path toward your goals – it will keep you motivated.
2. Investments: What activities (professional development, continuing education, special projects, volunteering etc.) have you engaged in over the last 6 months to grow professionally? How can you invest in yourself over the next 6 months to continue your growth? Don’t limit yourself to upgrading your technical or hard skills. Your people or soft skills are just as – over even more – important.
3. Networking (Relationship Building!): Review your networking activity. Have you been building new connections? Have you strengthened existing connections, whether they be strong, weak, or dormant ties? Make this a regular activity. Remember, networking opens the door to career and business opportunities – for you and for others.
4. Resume. Update your resume to include new ACCOMPLISHMENTS from the last 6 months. Then have at least three professional contacts review it for accuracy, clarity, and impact. Also, when editing your resume, let this phrase guide you: “Don’t let the good get in the way of the great.”
5. LinkedIn. Spend time ensuring that each section – from “Profile Picture” to “Headline” to “About” to “Endorsements” – is complete (Optimized!) and impactful. Your LinkedIn is where you can tell your larger story so make sure it reflects not only what you’ve done and where you’ve been, but also what you can do uniquely well and where you are going! And be visible. If you want to be recruited or contacted about great professional opportunities, you have to be active and have a presence on this platform.
6. Impact: Finally, it’s a good opportunity to assess if you’ve made a positive impact on the lives of others. Your career is about more than you – it’s important to use your talents to do good for others. So, ask yourself who you’ve helped, and how often. And what more can you do to make a positive impact in the lives of others?
Like your health, your finances, and your vehicle, your career may suffer setbacks if it’s not shown the requisite care and attention. Few people, if any, will (or should) care about your career more than you. Take responsibility for your career and commit to (semi-annually) reviewing and assessing where you’re at, how far you’ve come, and where you’re going. Your future, happily employed self will thank you.
For more career development tips and information, visit https://www.leonardworkforcesolutions.com/news
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[Originally published on LinkedIn on December 7, 2021: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-time-career-development-check-up-review-6-things-leonard-mhrm/]