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Spring cleaning? Don’t forgot about your career!

The weather is a little warmer, the geese are back, and there are perennials starting to poke out of the ground. People are cleaning out their garages, shining their bikes and summer cars, purging their winter clothing from their closets, and firing up their barbeques. Spring is on its way!

“Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” ~ Doug Larson

Amidst all the spring time fun and frolic don’t forget about your career. Your career can use a bit of freshening up just like your home and yard can. Following are five career spring cleaning tips.

“Spring is the time of plans and projects.” ~ Leo Tolstoy

  1. Spring is often a time of renewed energy and enthusiasm. Spend some time thinking about what you would like to accomplish in the coming months. Would you like to volunteer, take a class, mentor someone in your field, take on a summer student, work on a special project, do some research, or learn a new skill? If you are feeling a little lost about next steps you can always connect with a Career Development Practitioner for some guidance and assistance. The Career Development Association of Alberta has a directory of professionals that provide various career and employment services.

  2. Dust off your resume and update it with any courses or training you attended, new skills you acquired, projects you completed, and initiatives you were involved with. Remember that achievements speak volumes. Turn your duty and responsibility statements into accomplishment statements that will really demonstrate your capabilities and skills. You never know when an opportunity to do something different or to advance in your current occupation will come up – be ready.

  3. About that backyard barbeque…the spring and summer months are natural opportunities to rekindle relationships with all the people you missed during the long winter. Why not get some people you know together for an activity and ask them to invite a friend. What a wonderful way to meet some new people and to build your community. Your network is your number one access to new opportunities.

  4. Don’t forget to spring clean your online presence. Whether you are looking for work or not it is important to know that people might be looking for you. When they find you will they like what they see? Keep your Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and LinkedIn profiles professional, clean, and positive – according to a recent Jobvite survey over 90% of recruiters will be looking at your social profile. Consider locking down your accounts so they aren’t publicly accessible if you are concerned about any of your content or want to keep it private.

  5. Are you active on LinkedIn? If not, now is the time to spring into action. Keep your profile up to date and front of mind through regular updates and contributions to group conversations. Follow employers of interest and use your connections to conduct informational interviews. LinkedIn is adding new features and functions on a regular basis to help you stay current and active with your network – they are doing their spring cleaning too.

“It’s time for a spring cleaning of your thoughts, it’s time to stop just existing it’s time to start living.”
~ Steve Maraboli

Happy Spring,

Paula


For a FREE 30 minute job search consultation please feel free to contact Paula directly at paula@careerdesignsforlife.com or 780.589.2245.