So, if you've been following me you know I've talked a lot about the 4th quarter. If you're making changes, decluttering, and organizing, the season isn't over and you definitely have time to get things in order. While the performance review season has probably ended, it is a great segway to today's post. Now that the end of year review and self-assessment process has completed, you should really have a better idea of your direction going forward. As a result, I'd like to highlight a few things you can do over the next few weeks to get ready for the next phase of your career journey or job search. So let's begin...
1. Refresh your resume - again, if you follow my Instagram @livingliferatedpg then you already know how I feel about this. I'm a big advocate of updating your resume "in-time", versus when you need to look for a job. If you haven't done so, I strongly recommend you dust off your resume now, and make sure it still makes sense. By make sense I mean, does it still speak to the career path that you're on? Does it capture your current assignments, projects, or whatever you are working on? Does it show your accomplishments and relevant experience? Also, and probably most importantly, does your resume align with potential next step job opportunities? If not, this is the perfect time to make some notes. Even if you don't make the actual updates. Taking some notes now will ensure you don't forget what you need to update later. If you're not sure how to get started, what to review first, schedule a personal session to have us do the work for you. We can also audit your resume and arm you with some useful tools to get you started. Check out our services page to begin.
2. Review Your LinkedIn - yes the dreaded LinkedIn.
When is the last time you've taken a look? Unfortunately, LinkedIn is having an identity crisis in my unsolicited opinion. Like every other platform, they are evolving into a version of TikTok. But, while I guess the appeal is to engage a younger audience, not everyone is interested in using this platform the same as other social spaces. So stick to what you know and what recruiters are looking for. Do you have a full summary? Is your about section current and relevant to what's going on with you? Did you add or update your work history and your key milestones? The goal here is to make sure the message is still what you want to convey to future employers.
3. Update Job Boards - If you post to job boards like Monster, Indeed, Dice, etc. and you don't frequent them often, make sure you don't have any outdated resumes just lingering in cyberspace. I also highly recommend, if you are using those boards to boost traffic to your resume, or to your LinkedIn profile, I think you should remove any excess personal information. By that I mean, get rid of personal addresses and phone numbers. It's still the internet, and these are open platforms. If recruiters and companies are interested in working with you, they will happily contact you via your email or LinkedIn profile page. So clean up your personal information and make sure you limit it to your email and updated resume.
Okay, so those are my top 3 things I think you should be thinking about right now. Why? Because everything is fresh on your mind. You should have your end of year review feedback and you know exactly what you need to start working on. You should also have a good idea of how to get there. While I didn't want this to be a really long post, with lots of specifics and details, I wanted to give you a framework to get started organizing your thoughts. I know the top of the year is when most people start looking for a new role, so when those opportunities become available, I want to make sure you are definitely ready!! Check out some of my other posts below this one. They offer a lot of good information related to updating your resume and things to consider when starting the job search. Stay tuned, there will definitely be a more in-depth post about this, but for now, start with the preliminaries. I know it's the holiday and this may be the least of your concerns. If that's the case, you are fortunate. But if it's not...the early bird catches the worm. So keep it in mind as you think through your next career steps.
As always, these are absolutely my thoughts. Have a Merry Christmas.
~ratedpg