Yahoo Finance 5 ways to supercharge your career over the holidays
If you're thinking of getting a new job or making some waves in your current position, here are five tips to supercharge your career.
The Christmas holidays are traditionally a time to take a break from work for a few days, relax and spend some time with those closest to you.
While all of that is necessary to maintain a healthy work life balance, it can also be a great time to reflect on what you have achieved to date, and perhaps more importantly, plan your next move.
The Australian job market has been buoyant over the last 12 months, with unemployment falling to its lowest level in nearly fifty years. Many have prospered as result, with skills shortages in many sectors creating opportunities to fast track their careers.
Also read: Top 5 most in-demand jobs amid Australia's skills shortage
Also read: Upskilling: How to get the training you need right now
However, although shortages of qualified labour are set to continue into 2023, many are predicting an economic downturn next year.
If this proves to be the case, it may not be as easy to secure that dream job in the coming 12 months. Spending a few hours planning over the festive period planning how to maximise your career opportunities may therefore be a sound investment.
So, what should career focused Australians be doing over the Christmas break to set themselves up for success in 2023?
Yahoo Finance spoke to professional career coach Sean Croon, founder of career development consultancies Future Career Design and CV Writers, to get his top five tips.
1. Work out your ‘Future You’
The first thing Croon suggests is taking a step back to look at the bigger picture and trying to work out where you want to be in the future.
“Have a think about your future career aspirations, what type of work you would like to be doing and where you would like to be doing it,” he said.
This could take the form of identifying what your future job title(s) may be, what you are good at and, most importantly, what you enjoy doing or want to be known for achieving.
2. Research those who have already done it
Once you’ve identified this, then creating a ‘road map’ to achieving it is the next step, Croon said.
“I advise researching people in your desired occupations and roles by searching for their job titles on LinkedIn. Check out those profiles and take note of the career steps have they taken, what qualifications and training have they undertaken and who employs them,” he said.
Using this information to map out the steppingstones to get where you want to be is a great way of planning your long-term career goals and creating a plan to achieve them.
3. Focus on your next move
Now you have a plan to achieve your career goals, securing a role that takes you one step closer to them is key.
Determining what that role looks like is best down by research, which will help define the core responsibilities of your next career move.
“Find job ads related to that next job by searching for the most commonly used job title(s) on an online job board like Seek,” Croon said, adding that it’s important to note the language and terminology the advertisers use to describe what they are looking for.
Replicating this language in your application letter and resume can put you ahead of the competition in many cases.
4. Update that Resume
It’s a fairly obvious one, but ensuring your resume is up to date is essential if you want to take advantage of any opportunities that arise in the coming year.
The break from work over Christmas provides an excellent opportunity to do this, and you should focus on making sure you have documented your current responsibilities and most recent achievements in your CV.
With recruiters and hiring managers taking advantage of social media to advertise new positions in recent years, the market can move fast for highly sought-after roles.
Having a resume that reflects your most recent work will mean you’re ready to capitalise on any unexpected opportunities that present themselves. It may also be worth investing in a specialist to help you with this.
“The best way to stand-out from your peers and competitors is to use a high-quality professional CV writing service,” Croon said.
5. Embrace a personal branding strategy
Once you have identified which roles you are targeting and have a resume ready to secure it, one final thing to consider is ensuring your personal branding is attracting attention.
According to Croon, “the most important artefacts in your personal brand are your resume and your LinkedIn profile.”
Spending time on refining your online persona – particularly on leading business platform Linkedin – can be significant dividends.
“A good personal brand is one that is seen as an authority and contributor in its field. During the holidays, look at creating few posts (or even articles / videos) for LinkedIn that you can publish over the next three months,” he said.
In Croon’s experience, this content can help you be seen as an authority in your field, which in turn will make you more appealing to recruiters and managers.
While most of us want to put our feet up and relax over the festive period, spending a few hours planning your career and researching your next move can be a worthwhile exercise, especially while you have the time and headspace available to do this justice.
It’s worth pointing out your next career move doesn’t necessarily mean leaving your current employer. It could be that your boss may have opportunities within their existing business that allow you to progress internally.
Being clear on what you are looking for next in your career progression will allow both parties to assess if this is possible without dipping your toe into the job market.
While most of us want to put our feet up and relax over the festive period, spending a few hours planning your career and researching the type of work you want can be a productive exercise, especially while you have the time and headspace available to do this justice.
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
