As we enter the second half of the year, it's a great time to set aside an hour or so - on a weekend or during your normal weekly planning time - and do a mid-year review.
Use this time to reflect back on the first six months of the year and make adjustments to your goals for the remainder of the year. Consider these10 questions to ask during your mid-year review:
"Look-Back" Questions:
Key Accomplishments. What are all of the great things that I got done over the past six months? What goals did I achieve? What things am I most proud of accomplishing? Which of my goals did I really miss the mark on?
Relationship Development. What new relationships did I develop? Which of my existing relationships did a significantly strengthen? Which relationships may I have overlooked or not given enough attention to?
Learning. What opportunities to learn new things did I take advantage of? What were the things I learned most about myself? What were the things that I learned most about my business?
Mistakes. What mistakes did I make? What mistakes could I have avoided? What mistakes provided me with the most significant development and learning opportunities?
Time Management. How well did I manage my time? Have I been focusing my time on the most important things in my life? Are there any significant "time wasters" that I need to reduce or eliminate from my life? When am I most productive? When am I least productive?
"Look-Forward" Questions:
Top 3 Work-Related Goals. What are my top three work-related goals for the remainder of the year? Why are those goals important to me? What habits and processes do I need to adopt to support those goals?
Top 3 Personal Goals. What are my top three personal goals for the remainder of the year? Why are those goals important to me? Who can I share those goals with to help hold me accountable to achieving them?
Relationship Development. Which relationships will I focus on strengthening and developing during the second half of the year? Who do I want to meet and get to know? Who can most help me achieve my work-related and personal goals?
Learning and Knowledge. What areas of learning do I most need to focus on? What new skills do I need to develop? What skills do I need to strengthen? What things do I need to "keep current" on? What one skill, if mastered, would have the greatest impact on the achievement of my goals?
Habits. What time management habits do I need to develop and strengthen? What three habits, if developed and sustained, would have the greatest positive impact on my work life and personal life? What habits do I know I need to drop or replace?
Tee up a strong ending to your year by taking the time to do a mid-year review sometime over the next week.
Run through the above questions. Write down your answers, then, once a week going forward through the end of the year, review this information and make consistent action on a weekly basis.
Why not make this year the best year of your life?
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.