Read up on the 3 step process to manage your career!

Career management can seem overwhelming. But If you can break your career down into a 3-step process to manage your career, it really helps! It just nowhere near as complicated as you think! Below are three aspects of your career that you should focus on a regular basis.

Things to consider while creating your career wish-list

Step 1: Goals

You need to get your goals out of your head and onto an annual list. Easy-peasy! One hour of your life devoted to setting your goals…Contrast that with years of experimentation and throwing stuff at the wall and hoping something sticks! Aren’t your goals wish-list worth one hour of your life???

These are strong marketing “tools” to enhance your employability!

Step 2: Marketing Tools

You need to bring all of your marketing tools up to speed ANNUALLY (read: resume, Bio, references, social media profiles, email signature, voice mail signature, cover letters, visuals — visuals are critical — get photos of you in your work environment, out at industry events, at conferences, networking events, create memes, get a screen capture of a Zoom call that you are hosting…) ANY and all visuals will serve!

There is much you can do to enhance your job search and be more effective getting the attention of decision makers!

Step 3: Job Search Research & Job Search Strategy

Job search. Let’s unpack that puppy: you need to do job search “research”. In other words, you need to track companies, track their mandates, and track any departmental decision makers you wish to connect with. You can also really help your candidacy, by building a “business case” (see Careers AF! for instructions). Then, you plot a simple series of “marketing touchdowns” (read: job search “strategy”) with targeted decision makers in those companies. It takes more than one try to get a company’s attention! So think about your initial outreach to any given stakeholder, at any given company, and then put some thought into a) what you’ll do if they respond; and more importantly, b) what you’ll do NEXT if they don’t!

That’s it! Just do your “career homework”: Goals. Marketing Tools. Job Search strategy. If you manage this three step process on an annual basis, your career will soon start to take care of itself!

That is all — for now! Stay posted. I have a LOT more to say on this subject in upcoming YouTube vlogs for “Career Activism” series.

Stay tuned. It’s not THAT complicated, and there is a LOT you can do, to manage your career!