Career Transition Specialist at Intentional Careers HR coaching for fit, forward momentum, and lifestyle alignment.
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When was the last time you assessed your career strategy and promotion plan against your current situation? Your brand value and natural employment gifts lay the foundation for current and future employment success. Employment experience, leadership opportunities, volunteer roles, training courses and post-graduate education evolve as your career progresses. It is never too late to treat yourself each year with a gift of career reflection.
What’s inside your career package?
Like a well-wrapped gift, all the career marketing materials we build and develop are like shiny boxes with fancy ribbons. You created a great-looking résumé with all the right words and result-based bullets to package yourself as a qualified candidate. You built a dynamic LinkedIn profile reflecting your accomplishments and professional milestones and secured recommendations that speak to your attributes in the workplace.
Everything looks terrific from the outside, but do the gifts inside align with your career plan? Take time during the holiday season to reflect, create a career wish list and decide if the gifts you’ve presented on your résumé and LinkedIn profile are the gifts you want to use from today onward. It is never too late to edit your value proposition and showcase different strengths.
How happy are you at your workplace?
Does your job give you intellectual, creative and social opportunities for growth each day? It should, and if it doesn't, map out a career plan to evolve yourself and your role and think outside the box.
Growth isn’t limited to employer-based activity. Unpaid board appointments and community involvement are excellent opportunities to provide an organization with the gift of your time and knowledge while acquiring skills identified in your career plan.
A career strategy can be vertical, horizontal or lattice, and is the best gift you can give yourself.
Do you like where you work?
Workplace culture is more than a buzzword; it’s a critical component of our daily work life. The shift to working from home has presented HR with new challenges when building and sustaining a workforce culture of employee engagement and job satisfaction.
Does your work environment let you share a smile and some laughter with co-workers throughout the day, and does the work culture encourage emotional well-being? If you feel left out, get involved in creating a fun committee or social club that encourages all to participate and share food, social and recreational opportunities. You and the workplace will become more engaged, respectful and appreciative of one another, a great gift to yourself and your co-workers.
Do you enjoy the workday and your daily duties?
Not everyone likes variety, change and action in their daily work life. Some need a dynamic desk and the ability for autonomy. Give yourself the gift of knowledge by completing an assessment (TypeCoach and DISC are my personal favorites; I'm a Certified Master Coach with TypeCoach and a Certified DISC Communicator). It can help you become a happier person and an impactful team member. You’ll learn to manage stress, build career resilience and look forward to the workday.
Do you see your future unfolding where you work?
Unwrap things a bit and think about what is inside the package—not just the wrapping. Have a date with yourself. Once you know your work preferences and strengths, the package you represent will be well-positioned, more resilient, happier, fulfilled and grateful.
Do you need to address any skill gaps?
We’re presented with learning opportunities every day; some require a financial investment, and others do not. As mentioned earlier, volunteering is an excellent way to learn new skills and showcase those skills on your résumé and LinkedIn profile.
The internet is the world’s best learning platform. Google the topic or skill you need to learn or improve upon, and you’ll find plenty of options. LinkedIn Learning, Coursera and Udemy are just some of the popular online learning platforms with free and paid options.
Do you need a partner and accountability person?
Consider completing targeted assessments with a professional career strategist. They can work with you to understand your labor market and career trends and align your career strategy with workforce planning. Share this amazing gift of you with yourself first, and you will be sold out before you know it.
Investing in career reflection and growth is a gift of self-care and personal development that everyone deserves.
Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?
