Are you prepared to make 2020 your year?

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Last December, I sent out a video on New Year’s Resolutions; it’s always a popular topic as we approach the end of the year. Now, as we approach the end of an actual decade, doesn’t that seem to motivate you to take stock of your career and execute a solid plan to move forward? It seems appropriate, as we enter 2020, to approach the new year with 20/20 vision!

So, as you sip your holiday eggnog, make a pact with yourself to take a good, hard look at your career and take actionable steps to move forward professionally in 2020. To tackle this, I recommend that you execute a strategy of first looking internally, then externally.

Internally, start with your current position. Ask yourself honest questions about what you like and dislike about your current job as well as your future potential with your current organization. If there are areas of discontent, try to fix those first—review time is right around the corner, so it’s the ideal opportunity to sit down with your boss and discuss your future as well as aspects of the position or company culture that could be improved to better satisfy you professionally and set you up for growth. Only after understanding your current situation more completely can you assess whether you should start searching externally. If it so happens that all is going very well and/or you have identified solutions to fix what is less than ideal in your current position, then congratulations! You are now ahead of the game. That does not mean that you turn a blind eye to outside opportunities, as something better could be awaiting you, but you are then approaching those new opportunities with an honest, updated perspective of what would, indeed, make a potential opportunity the right one for you.

Externally, you should first heighten your awareness of the market, your niche, and where you fall within the market. If you have identified that it is now the time to seek an opportunity outside of your current organization, then adopt a proactive approach. Make an action plan to accomplish your goal; start with updating your resume (see our video blog tips on how to craft a better resume) and LinkedIn profile, paying close attention to highlighting your successes versus a resume that reads like a job description.

 

 

Then, put yourself in “listening mode” when a recruiter calls, as well as make yourself more visible by engaging with a recruiter that is known to be an expert in your niche. Take an “action approach” to seeking a new position—the good news is that we are in the best employment market that our economy has seen in years. Pay attention to market trends and be sure that you can speak to where your niche is going, not where it’s been. Talk to peers in the industry and be aware: Passive job searches will inevitably only reveal the low-hanging fruit of job boards in which you are competing with hundreds of applicants.

Make 2020 your year to succeed—internally or externally. I would love to hear your plan for success in this decade as well as the result of your efforts. If your background happens to align with our niche within better specialty and luxe brands, perhaps we can be a partner in your success as well!

On behalf of the entire Bowerman Group team, I send our best wishes for a happy holiday season and a joyous, healthy, and prosperous new year.

 

Rob Bowerman is President and Founder of The Bowerman Group- a leading executive search firm for luxury brands in the U.S. and Canada. Rob is also President of The Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of industry-leading recruiters in North America.