6 Ways To Use The Summer Slowdown To Take Control Of Your Career

Even though the world is upside down, summer is still the perfect time to slow down while ramping up your strategy to change your career.

Ahhh summer. Full of sunshine, beach days, pool parties, vacations, and BBQs.

Well, that’s what used to happen. Before Coronavirus changed everything.  

Most of us won’t be attending gatherings with more than a few people this summer. And flying to a tropical getaway probably won’t happen either.

Despite these changes, that summertime slowdown feeling is still in the air. We still need to rest. We still need space and time to reset, especially if we are considering a change in our career.

If you want to use the summertime slowdown to ensure that you have a new job by the fall, here are 6 strategies to help. 

Decide What’s Important To You 

Value alignment accounts for 80% of career satisfaction, particularly for lawyers. Unfortunately, attorneys often find themselves helping clients and working on matters that don’t align with who they are.  

If you’re a climate change activist, working to help a client accused of wide-scale pollution isn’t going to work for you. You may be able to separate your work life and home life at first. But eventually, that value misalignment is going to negatively impact your self-perception.

The value misalignment at your job may not be as pronounced as my example, but you get the point. If you find yourself complaining more frequently and feeling agitated by your day-to-day tasks, there is likely a value misalign to explore. The summer is the perfect time to reflect on this misalignment and strengthen your resolve to adhere to your values with your next career move.

Try New Things

I often talk with lawyers who tell me that they really want to leave their current jobs, but they have no idea what they want to do next. They believe they lack passion, but really they just haven’t exercised their curiosity muscle in awhile.  

If you are unsure about what to do next with your career, take time this summer to follow your curiosity. Take that class in calligraphy, painting, or flower arranging that seemed interesting, but you never got around to doing. You’re home now. You have time. Take the class.  

The key is just to try something you wouldn’t normally do. In doing so, you begin to think in new ways and spark the creativity you need to make your next career move.

Update Social Media Profiles Not Just Your Resume

Whenever anyone starts looking for a new job, they immediately update their resume. That’s a good thing. However, most mid-career professionals forget that they also need to update their social media profiles, especially their LinkedIn page.  

Potential employers are looking you up online, whether you know it or not. So you want to make sure your profiles demonstrate your qualifications for the career you want, not just your past experiences. To do this, look up a job description for a position you would like to have and use the language from that description to update your profile. You’ll still have the same skills and qualifications, but they will be communicated in a way that the employer you want can understand.

Google Yourself

While you are updating your profiles, be sure to Google yourself too. More than ever, people are losing their jobs because of old comments and photos that are still on display online. They may not align with the person they are today, but the internet always remembers. If you want to avoid being disqualified from a position before you get an interview, take control of your online presence. Set up a Google Alert with your name or use a service like Social Mentions to monitor and track your online reputation.

Get Social

If you’re not planning to be a social media influencer, posting consistently online can feel like another chore that you just don’t want to take on. However, consistently posting on social media opens the door to new opportunities. 

Join groups in the industry where you want your new career. Post about exciting news stories related to your interests and values. Comment on the posts that other people are putting out in those industries too. By getting social, you’ll meet new people and stumble upon new opportunities that aren’t advertised on job boards.

Set Smarter Goals And Write Them Down

A recent study found that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them. There is power in writing down your goals, especially if they are SMARTER.

 SMARTER goals are:

• Specific enough to focus and direct your energies;
• Measurable so you can keep track of your progress;
• Actionable with a strong initiating action verb to prompt specific activities;
• Risky enough to be outside of your comfort zone but not delusional;
• Time-keyed so you know precisely when to take action; 
• Exciting enough to inspire you to keep going when things get tough; and
• Relevant within the overall context of your life.

So if you want to take consistent action around your career goals this summer, write them down using the SMARTER framework to ensure that you stay on track.

Like this post? Great. Let me know your thoughts on moving forward in 2020 regardless of the circumstances in the comments below. I’d love to hear how you are moving forward in your life and business in the times of Corona.