We’re already 1 week into a brand new year and if your career is leaving you feeling less than enthusiastic, now might be a great time to start thinking about your next career move.
If you happen to be in the US or in Canada, we’ve seen unemployment rates hit record lows the last several months. This means that there’s a high demand for motivated, experienced, skilled professionals.
In fact, some experts are declaring that we’re in a form of “reverse job market” where there are more jobs available than qualified workers to fill them.
We’re also seeing an aging workforce which is creating a talent shortage. This can vary by industry and location of course but there are definitely many areas where this is taking place.
What does all of this mean for you?
It means that you may be in a situation where you can leverage your skills and experience to significantly advance your career.
Whether your goal is to get promoted, get a better paying job or a role that would be a better fit for you and your overall career and/or personal objectives and priorities, now might be a great time to make your move!
So how can you best boost your career in 2019, right out of the gate?
Find out here with my 4 steps to kickstart your career:
STEP 1- GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME
Make a decision that your career is going to be a focus for you this year and prioritize it.
Making progress with your career isn’t going to happen on it’s own. It will require some time and focused effort on your part.
STEP 2 – INVESTIGATE, THEN DECIDE
If you’re not already clear on what you want exactly for your career, take some time to investigate and determine what your exact goals are.
This can include short, mid and long term goals.
Think about the steps you might need to take to get to your ultimate goal.
Think about your career in the broader sense of your life and how it fits in with your overall life priorities.
For more insights, CLICK HERE for an article about how to decide if it’s time for your next career move:
STEP 3- BRAINSTORM
Once you’re clear on your goals, you’ll want to brainstorm all the things that need to be done in order for you to get there. Don’t worry if you don’t know all the steps right now.
Focus on what you know needs to be done, the rest will become clearer as you gain momentum.
This may include:
- Updating your resume
- Setting up or updating your LinkedIn profile
- Networking
- Applying to job openings
- Asking for a raise or a promotion
Just to list a few!
STEP 4: SCHEDULE IT
Now it’s time to put your plan in action and the best way to make sure it gets done is to schedule it all right away.
Take the list you made in Step 3 and schedule every single item on your calendar. You may need to break things down further so they fit into specific chunks of time.
IMPORTANT TIP: to make sure you get things done in a timely way, you’ll want to schedule your time for specific results. What this means is this:
Don’t just write down in your calendar “Work on resume”.
Instead, schedule your time so that at the end of a block of time, you’ll have accomplished a specific task.
For example, if you book 2 hours to work on updating your resume, you could say something like this: “Have my work history fully updated on my resume”.
This creates urgency and focus so that you’ll get a lot more done during your scheduled time.
And that’s it. By following these steps, you’ll get clarity on what you crave for your career and set things in motion to get there!
Here’s to you and to an awesome 2019!