As the end of the year draws closer, work often starts to slow down a little. Perhaps you’re using up your annual leave, finding yourself with loose ends to tie up, or the days are achingly slow and quiet. If it’s the latter – what can you do in this time to ensure that you get off to a great start in the New Year? We have some ideas…
Reflect on your career goals
The end of the year is a great time to review the last 12 months. Think about…
- What went well?
- What skills you’ve developed
- Which professional goals you hit – this can be short or long term, big or small!
- Areas that you can improve
Realigning yourself with your career goals is a great way to take stock and feel good about how far you’ve come. This will help you to establish new goals for the New Year. If it’s been a while since you thought about this, you might find our blog post on career goals useful!
Refresh your professional presence
If you have a little time on your hands and want to do something that will be beneficial for your career – why not refresh your professional presence? You can…
- Update your CV and/or LinkedIn profile with recent accomplishments and skills that align with your goals for the New Year. Even if you’re not planning to look for a new role, this is a great way to get ahead for when the time is right, or showcase your developments to your employer and wider network.
Check out our blog posts on CV Writing for some guidance.
- If LinkedIn is your thing, or something that you want to engage more with – start boosting your personal brand! Engage in discussions, share interesting articles or write posts with thoughtful insights, sharing your ideas and expertise. LinkedIn is full of fun, engaging posts at this time – with end of year round-ups, success stories and Christmas party posts – it’s easy to find ways to engage with your network!
Our online networking blog is a useful place to get started!
- Connect, or reconnect, with your network! This is a great time to reach out to clients, peers, colleagues and professional contacts in your network, check in and wish them a happy Christmas! Who knows where that connection could lead in the New Year…
Brush up your knowledge
Staying in the know or having time to learn can fall by the wayside when we have a million things to do. Quieter work periods offer a fantastic opportunity to catch up on your knowledge, learning and skills.
- Take the time to get caught up on current events in your industry, reading about recent changes and developments or digging in to an area that you don’t know as much about. You can learn while you keep fresh on topics within your industry!
- Take advantage of the time to learn. Check out online resources, short courses, attend ‘Lunch and Learns’ or hit up a networking event with an interesting topic/speaker! You won’t regret the time you spend developing your skills and refreshing your knowledge.
Organise your job search or hand-over
If you’re starting a new role in the New Year, this is a great time to ensure that you’re prepared to transition and manage your hand over.
- Chat to your colleagues about what they might need from you before you leave, so that you can tie up loose ends or send over any information relevant to your team.
- Ensure you’ve passed on any relevant information or documents to your manager, ready for a new hire to get started effectively.
- If you’re based in the office, you may want to start thinking about clearing your desk space up a bit so that you don’t have to do it all in one go!
If you’re planning on seeking a new role in the New Year, we don’t recommend doing the following during work hours – however, if you are taking some annual leave, you can…
- Create an action plan for your job search – where will you look, have you got all the information you need?
Not sure what you need to think about? Here are some useful considerations!
- Get prepped: update your CV, create a cover letter template.
- Start researching the types of roles that you want, the type of firm/company you’d like to work for.
If you’re unsure about firms, check our blog post on finding your type of law firm.
- Reach out to recruiters. If you’ve never worked with one before, check out our blog post on working with recruiters!
