Just as the ceiling fan in your home attracts an inch of dust and the cobwebs start to look like decorations in your cathedral ceilings, this is what your career often starts to look like too. Unfortunately, it’s not always as obvious, so you need to do some spring cleaning and shake the dust off, whether you think you need it or not.
Dust Off Your Resume
It is suggested that the potential employers decides whether they are interested in a candidate in 10 seconds or less, while reviewing a resume. That gives you next to no time at all to capture their attention and make an impression.
Even if you currently have a job, it does not hurt to update your resume to keep it current. Make sure it has trigger words that employers look for in a resume. These are words that reach out from the page and offer a little poke.
Clean Your Workspace
Whether you are looking for a new job or a promotion or not, there is always a reason to clean your desk and organize your space. If those snacks in the back of your drawer are still sitting there months later, it is safe to say you don’t need them. They served their purpose as a nice security blanket while you were on your diet, but you are past that stage!
Organizing your workspace means just that, organizing! It does not mean making one big pile out of four small piles, or simply moving things around so it looks neater. Think of every item on your desk as having its own energy. The more clutter you have, the busier the energy is around you, and not in a good way. It’s distracting and it could be holding you back.
Clear Up Your Online Presence
In today’s world, your online reputation is everything. Whether you have a new business, are after a promotion or job hunting, people will Google you, just to see what they can dig up. If you are applying for a job teaching 8th grade math, pictures of you with the entertainment at your buddy’s bachelor part years ago should probably be retired, or made private. Have you ever done a search on yourself to see what you find? It may surprise you, and even be quite alarming.
Set Goals
Do you already have goals? If so, have you revisited them? Are you where you wanted to be or at least on track? Maybe these goals no longer are accurate. Maybe you need a new set. Take the time to write down your short and long-term goals and create a timeline. Just thinking them in your head isn’t enough. You don’t truly hold yourself accountable unless they are in writing. This just makes you more committed to them. Post it somewhere that you can look at it constantly, and never be afraid to add to it. You are better to have ambitious goals than not enough.
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