4 Ways to Advance Your Long-Term Career Goals this Summer

By John Bemis On June 1, 2021 · In Candidate Advice

Updated: October 10, 2023

The long summer days can make even the most dedicated workers feel lazy. It’s easy to dream of escaping to the beach, mountains, or lake. However, before you pack your bags, it’s essential to take some time to think about your current job, this year’s goals, and how they fit into your long-term career goals.

While it’s easy to put off this kind of self-reflection, the slow summer days provide an excellent opportunity to do some professional fine-tuning. As work projects begin to slow down and travel is easier, consider using the summer to focus on results to help your career goals.

1. Re-evaluate Your Long-Term Career Goals

Summer provides the perfect time to check in with your long-term career goals. It is essential to see which goals you accomplished or if new ones need to be established, which can help you assess your growth. Where do you stand now that the year is almost halfway over? Are you on track to accomplish the goals you set for yourself? If not, what’s holding you back?

Consider your career path and define the goals you need to achieve to reach your objective. For instance, consider taking an online course or training if you want to improve specific skills. It’s essential to learn new trends and skills when advancing your career. Consider short-term as well as long-term career goals and develop achievable benchmarks. If you need to do something differently, the summer months are a great time to adopt changes that will set you up for success down the road.

We all know how easy it is to lose track of time during the first half of the year, but instead of waiting until December to re-evaluate, use your summertime lull for a mid-year review.

2. Focus on Results

Maintaining focus on the quality of your results is a great way to show an excellent work ethic. It’s easy to get stuck in a “time worked equals value created” mindset; however, this is not the case. Keeping that same work ethic but ensuring you are taking the steps needed to make worthwhile progress every day allows for great results.

The pandemic created a shift in the workforce, making remote work and hybrid offices the new normal. A recent article suggests that the secret to the work-life balance is to focus on results rather than the time allotted. It’s helpful to create a system to measure your achievements rather than just focusing on the time spent on a project.

The outcomes of your work should meet and achieve expectations across the board. Focusing on the results of your projects can help create the best outcomes not only for yourself as an employee but for your company as well.

3. Use Networking Opportunities to Advance Long-Term Career Goals

Before the pandemic, summer meant an abundance of great activities and events. Summer allows you to get out from behind your computer and attend events like free outdoor concerts or plays, fun sporting events, and festivals. Although these made for great networking opportunities to meet friends or new people face-to-face, it may be a little while before networking events happen at the pre-pandemic scale. However, more events are added to summer schedules every day. As the world continues to open, it is crucial to take advantage of some of what this summer will bring.

Developing new professional connections is a great way to expand your network, meet people in similar careers, and keep up with industry trends and hot topics. Networking opportunities may be easier to come by, but there are other networking options to help you make great connections.

Additionally, there are now many alternatives to meeting people and creating connections. Virtual networking events, conferences, social media groups, and more have become great tools to showcase your professional brand and meet new people. Virtual networking has been named the “trend that shouldn’t end” and is a great way to give your network a little love this summer!

4. Take Care of Yourself – Mind, Body, and Spirit

Summer is a time to relax and recharge, so don’t forget to take a break and focus on yourself. While stepping away from your job for a week or even a day is often tricky, rest and rejuvenation are essential for long-term career success.

Use the slow summer months and long summer days to take a step back and enjoy time with family and friends. One of the biggest keys to career growth success is taking care of yourself – mind, body, and spirit. Self-care will help you, and your career, and this summer is a great time to sit back and avoid burnout.

With these strategies, you are sure to enter this coming fall with a renewed sense of the goals that will help you advance your career.

About Benchmark IT –Technology Talent

Benchmark IT offers technology consulting, executive search, and direct hire recruitment and staffing services. We service a wide range of clients and industries throughout the metro New York area and beyond. Our proprietary recruitment process and dedication to precision, ethics, and personalized service, set us apart from other recruiting firms. As a result, Benchmark IT has become a trusted partner among Fortune-ranked companies, mid-market, start-up, and growth-phase firms since 2007.

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