Setting your career resolutions

January 3, 2019

Another year has come and gone, and you may begin to look back and reflect on the past year. As you think about what you’ve achieved and what you may still have yet to conquer, you may begin to formulate new goals for the upcoming year. How can you set yourself up for success and stay focused on these goals throughout the 2019?  Today we will look at four strategies you can use to help set your career intentions for the new year.
 

Reflect on the previous year

Take a look at the goals you set at the beginning of the previous year. Did you accomplish these goals? Or are you still working on achieving them? The new year should be focused on building on the progress that you have made in the previous year. Taking time to reflect on the past year will help you to clarify your vision and goals for the year ahead.

Update your resume

The beginning of the new year is an excellent time to dust off your resume, even if you aren't actively seeking a new opportunity. It's a good idea to update your resume periodically, so you don't lose track of your accomplishments and major milestones at work. Take some time to reflect on your career achievements over the past year. Think about all the projects, new roles, and responsibilities that you were involved in throughout the year. You will want to make sure to include these on your resume. Is the information up to date? What new skills and experiences have you gained? These are good questions to ask yourself as you work on updating your resume. Depending on your area of expertise or industry, now would also be a good time to update your portfolio or think about creating one to showcase your talents and expertise.

Update your social profile

Similarly, to updating your resume, take some time to update your professional profile on your social networks. These days social networks can be a key component in maintaining and developing your professional brand. Focus on adding the new skills you gained throughout the year and update the experience section of your profile to reflect your new knowledge. Since it's a brand-new year, it may be a fun idea to update your profile photo as well. Make sure to include a high-resolution profile image with a background that isn’t distracting.

Set your intentions for the new year

Many people have adopted the use of lifestyle vision boards which focus on the things they want for their lives. However, a career vision board takes it a step further by honing in on the specific areas of growth you would like to achieve in your career. It captures your dreams for the future and helps you to use the power of visualization to achieve your career goals. If this concept is new to you, you may have doubts about the effectiveness of career visualization, but visualization techniques have been used for centuries by philosophers and scholars. Today these techniques are used by professional athletes and business leaders to help keep them motivated and on track.

Seeing yourself attaining your goals and surrounding yourself with visual reminders of your career aspirations can help to motivate you to work even harder to make those aspirations a reality.


Learn more

• Explore your fit: Interested in exploring new career opportunities this year? Check out our interactive explore your fit tool to find many possibilities at Deloitte
• Interactive job search map: Use our interactive job search map to find a new job near you.