Reflecting on your career is an important yearly task to make sure you stay on track with your goals and make the most of your work life. Read on to discover the 5 top tips to reflect on your career this summer and why it’s the perfect time of year to do this.
- Make Career Planning an Annual Event
During the summer we’re often presented with more time to reflect, as most of us take some time off work during the summer.
During our time off, we may be with friends or family whom we can talk to about our careers and bounce ideas off them. They may have some helpful insight and advice, which can come from an outside perspective or years of experience. Sometimes talking to others can help to clarify things in our own minds.
After you have taken the time to reflect on your career this summer, you may decide that you would like to make a big career change. This may impact on those you live with, so the summer can be a good time to have the opportunity to talk.
We should spend time reflecting on our career at least once a year. After all, we need to make sure that we are still satisfied with our job; that it is still fitting into our career plan. Sometimes we need to step back from our everyday lives to really think this over.
- Questions to Help you Reflect on Your Career
When reflecting on your career you can use the following questions to help assess your current role.
Have you been happy in your job for the past year? If there have been things you haven’t been satisfied with, what could you have done differently? Write down both the good and bad points of your current role to help focus your mind on what you would like to change and what you would like to keep. For example, have your teams’ dynamics changed? Have your working conditions changed?
Over the past year things have changed rapidly, for example many workers are looking for a better work life balance, or now want to work flexibly. Ask yourself if your priorities have changed and what is important to you now.
- Next Step Questions
If there are changes that you’d like to make, can these happen within your current role? Do you need to discuss certain things with your manager, or change roles within the organisation you currently work for? Or do you need to look for a job with a new organisation, or perhaps change your career completely?
If you need to change your career, what steps will you need to take to accomplish this? Do you need to carry out some work experience or volunteering to see if this new career will suit you? Or maybe retrain?
- Set Your Goals
If you have decided that you would like a promotion or a change of career, now is the time to set your goals. to achieve what you are working towards. The next step is to jot down these goals and work out your action plan with timelines of when you’d like to achieve them.
- Take Action!
Now that you have your action plan and timescales, it’s time to take action! This is perhaps the most important step.
After your summer holidays is the perfect time to start taking action on your career goals. You’ll be refreshed from your break and have plenty of time before the busyness of Christmas starts to descend.
If after your time reflecting on your career this summer you find that you’d like to change roles, talk to us at 2i Recruit.
Read our previous blog ‘The Top 5 Reasons Why Summer Is a Great Time for Job Hunting’ to find out why now is the perfect time to start looking for your next role.
After reading this blog, will you be taking the time to reflect on your career this summer?
Contact 2i Recruit