Career Strategies for the New Year
I know that we are all bombarded with “new year, new you” messages everywhere during this final week of December. We all know that New Year's resolutions are notoriously difficult to maintain and that most of them fall by the wayside by mid-February. So I’m not going to advise you to make monumental shifts in your career management strategy. I do want to point out that you are the CEO of your own career, and as such, it’s incumbent upon you to manage your career just as you would any team or project. Here is what I suggest for 2023.
Think and do differently. You are well aware that if you keep putting forth the same effort, you will continue to get the same results. Shake things up. Many networking events are back to being held in person; why not leave the house and go to a few? Meeting people online is effective, but there is no substitute for actual, live human connection. Are you still using the same resume format from 2010? It’s time to revise it.
Focus. If you’re looking to make a change in 2023, you should create a plan for how you are going to go about executing your job search. Don’t waste time applying to every open position you see on LinkedIn. Be strategic about it. Focus on your areas of interest, a specific industry or company, and most importantly, what you can do to help a hiring manager drive revenue and profitability. Your time is much better spent interviewing with 5-6 targeted companies than accepting every interview request. Also, don’t spend all day every day online looking at job postings. That is not an efficient use of time either.
Connect. I’m sure you receive multiple connection invitations on LinkedIn, many from people you don’t know. That’s okay, but be judicious about the invitations you accept. Look at the requestor’s profile to determine why they might want to connect. Is it to sell you something? Is it because you’re in the same field or industry? Is it because you have mutual connections? If you do decide to accept the connection, ask the new connection to meet virtually to discuss what each of you is looking to get out of the connection.
Cull. So, you have 17k LinkedIn connections? Great. How many of them do you actually know? Who among them could you pick up the phone and call? Consider trimming your connections down to people you’ve actually met. In addition, get rid of what hasn’t been working for you. If you’re interviewing, you probably have a framework of a script that you use to answer standard interview questions such as “tell me about yourself.” Is it time to freshen that up? What about your approach to networking? Networking is a two-way street. Are you offering your assistance to your network?
Here's to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2023. I look forward to the coming year and the continued success of my clients and readers.