Are you wondering what you can do over the summer to enhance your career prospects and improve your employability? Look no further, this blog post has some ideas to spark your curiosity, motivation and enthusiasm, and advance your career at the same time:
Learn something new: Wouldn’t the time off be a great opportunity to try out some new activities, maybe something you always wanted to try and haven’t found the time yet? Learning something new is fun, allows you to meet people, make friends and increase your network, helps you find out what you are good at and what makes you happy, provides a challenge and gives you a great feeling once you mastered a new skill.
Improve your language skills: Going abroad? Why not take the opportunity and brush up on a long-forgotten language or start learning a new one? Many places offer language courses, or you may visit a friend in their home-country and have them show you the local traditions and teach you some of their language.
Make a difference by volunteering: Give something back to the community, support the people around you, and at the same time use the opportunity to gain skills, dive into a new field and build experience, and find out more about tasks or causes that motivate you. In addition to giving you the good feeling of contributing to something important, volunteering is a great addition to your CV.
Explore the job market and grow or cultivate your network: Use the extra time to go through advertised positions and check out the skills and experience required for roles that interest you. Then, you could sign up for a course or online program that gets you exactly those skills. Reach out to alumni, recruiters, or other professionals and ask them about their roles, what skills they need daily and what makes them successful, or what skills they are looking for and for hints for your application.
Get insights by job shadowing: Ask colleagues or family members with interesting jobs if you could spend some time with them at their work or take on some basic duties in their organization. While regulations likely apply, this can be a great opportunity to get a better understanding of a certain role, a company and its culture, or a specific sector. Check out the websites of companies that interest you to see if they have events, competitions, or open days.
Update your CV and LinkedIn profile: While your CV should be tailored to each job you are applying for, having a general up-to-date version is a great basis, and the same applies to your LinkedIn profile. Also, working on your CV and profile forces you to think about your skills, experience and accomplishments, which in itself can be a boost of self-confidence and provide encouragement for the next step.
Create space for self-reflection: Being away from your normal environment is a great opportunity to turn off your work email and phone, re-connect with yourself, relax and energize. Reflect on your values, goals and interests, and ask yourself if you are getting closer to where you want to be in your career and your life. You may want to write these thoughts down, share with a dear friend, write a letter to yourself that you can read again over Christmas, or let your mind wander on a mountain hike or walk on the beach.