Why You Need to Have Some Career “Me Time”
Posted on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 by The Career Guide — No comments
Careers are often accidental; they can end up just sort of happening. But as a PA recruitment agency, we can tell you that the most satisfied people are those who don’t have accidental careers. Their careers are mindful, intentional, and consciously constructed. It’s not hard to do. You just need to ring-fence some time for your career planning. This applies whatever jobs you apply for, from PA jobs in London to temporary jobs in a different sector.
Importantly, career me-time shouldn’t just be reserved for when you’re considering changing jobs. By taking some time to consider your career periodically, you can track your progress, keep excellent records, and be in an optimal position when it is time to make a change.
- Tracking your skills, progress, and accomplishment
When you come to apply for a new job, you usually dust off your CV, which hasn’t seen the light of day for years. The problem with that is that it’s nearly impossible to accurately remember and qualify everything from your current position that needs to go on there. Yet a critical weapon in your arsenal for job application success is being able to describe clear examples of success.
Keeping a running record of your developing skills, progress, and accomplishments alongside your old CV. That way, you’ve got all the right information at your fingertips for when you need it. Think of it as your inventory!
- Being prepared for opportunities in the moment
Career jumps don’t often just nonchalantly fall into your lap; you need to proactively seek them. This requires you to have a good understanding of where you are and where you want to go. You need to know what the next step will be so that when you anticipate, you’ll be ready to take it.
This also enables you to identify any gaps or shortfalls that are preventing you from taking the next step. And if you know where the gaps are, you can plug them (by taking temporary jobs to fast track your experience, for example).
- Nurturing your network
Only use LinkedIn or get in touch with people when you want something? That’s not how networks work most efficiently! You can’t rely on your network when it’s job-hunting time if you haven’t made the effort to nurture that network in the first place. Offer value to people in your network, and they’ll be there to scratch your back when you need it.
- Be able to undertake efficient job searches
Let’s be honest, no one exactly loves the job searching process; it’s just something you have to do. It makes sense, therefore, to embark upon job searches with efficiency.
Efficient job searches happen when you’re not coming to them completely in the dark. You need to know who the leading recruitment agencies are in your sector. You need to know how interviews are conducted today, not five years ago. You need to know whether to include a cover letter or not. You need to understand your market, and of course, your market rate — and that’s hard if you come to it cold. Keeping abreast of things gradually over time is much more efficient.
Career "me time" doesn’t need to involve huge chunks of time that get in the way of living in the here and now, but it does need to happen regularly so that you’re ready to take advantage of the best opportunities optimally and as soon as you can.
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