A new year is almost here, which means it’s time to start thinking about your New Year’s Resolutions. What’s something pretty much everyone would like to see improve in 2019? Their job, of course!
Maybe you want a promotion, maybe you want to make a job switch, or maybe you just want advice on what you can do to improve your career. Whatever the reason, here are a few tips that’ll help you start the new year off right:
Update Your Resume
When’s the last time you went through your resume? If it’s been a couple of years or even months, it’s time to sit down and go through it. Besides updating new job titles and work descriptions, you should also update your skills. Odds are, you’ve learned how to do something new in the last month. Even if it’s something small, like learning how to create a spreadsheet on excel, you should include it. You’d be surprised by how impressed future employees are with someone’s excel abilities.
Stop Isolating Yourself
Listen, you might not like your co-workers. But that doesn’t mean you should isolate yourself from them. Not only is it important to look like you’re a “people person” but it’ll help your communication skills. Hey, if you can effectively talk to people you don’t like imagine how successful you’d be at talking to people you do like.
Keep Learning
Don’t let yourself become stagnant in your position. Keep learning! Make sure you’re asking your co-workers if they need assistance and take on additional tasks. It’s important to make sure you’re always learning so that your mind can grow.
Not just to grow in your career, but to grow in your knowledge of certain topics. Educating yourself doesn’t stop once you graduate college!
Network At Least Once A Month
Networking can be the thing that makes or breaks you. If you know someone who works at a company you apply for, dropping their name could be the difference between you or someone else getting the job. That’s why networking is so important.
We recommend mingling with professionals at least once a month. If you don’t want to attend an event, spend time with your co-workers (and maybe even their professional friends.)
Take A New Professional Headshot
If your LinkedIn profile picture is still a shot from graduation, you need a new professional headshot. Make sure you’ve dressed appropriately and in front of a semi-decent backdrop. You shouldn’t have any alcoholic beverages around you and you should be the ONLY one in the picture.
It’s great you have friends and family but that doesn’t mean they should be in your “work” pictures.
Revamp Your Social Media
What’s your social media page look like? If you have inappropriate pictures that go all the way back to 2012, you might want to delete/archive them. Nowadays, it’s all about social media and how you look online.
Employers are going to check your social media platforms, so, you better make sure your feed is appropriate and aesthetically pleasing.
Stop Complaining
Do you complain at work? You should probably stop doing that! Not only could it get around the office that you’re a complainer, but you don’t want to have such a negative outlook at work — it’s where you spend a lot of your time! Sure, some things might get on your nerves but at the end of the day, you’re at your job for a reason. What’s that reason? So you can grow!
Try looking at your job as a natural stepping stone to something bigger and better.
De-Clutter Your Desktop
Have you ever spent hours at work, searching for a specific email? It’s annoying and time-consuming but it happens, thanks to a messy desktop. Instead of wasting that time, go through your emails in 2019 and de-clutter them.
Use labels for threads that go together and delete emails you don’t need to have on file. We’re not going to lie, this is going to be a process but when it’s over you’re going to feel amazing!
Have A Few Goals
There are a probably a million things you’d like to accomplish work-wise in 2019; and while it’s great to have goals, be realistic about them. Wanting a promotion in 2019 might be a realistic goal, earning 5 million dollars might not.
Do you see what we’re saying? Decide what your reachable goals are and create steps to achieve them.
Focus On Work-Life Balance
It’s so easy to put a lot of your energy into work. Especially when you’re young and ambitious. You might feel like you’re too busy to make friends, go on dates, and actually focus on your life outside of work. Trust us when we say, you’re not too busy; and if you are, something needs to change.
Being burnt out and tired while you’re still in your 20s isn’t the way your life should go. It’s important to grow your career, but it’s even more important to make sure you’re happy — don’t forget that!