By Barbara Hewitt
As the year draws to a close, we’ll see lots of reviews of 2010. Our own Shannon Kelly has already provided us with the Career Services “Top 10 of 2010” list last week for Penn and Beyond. Time has come out with its “Person of the Year.” (This year’s winner is Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook, in case you haven’t heard.) And you can check out this link to find out “Who Ruled YouTube in 2010” – http://www.youtube.com/theyearinreview.
This is also a great time to review YOUR year. What went well? Are there projects of which you are particularly proud? It’s important to take a moment to reflect on the year’s accomplishments and update your resume to include them. While your successes may be fresh in your mind now, in a year or two when it comes time to send out an updated resume, you might have totally forgotten about them. Did you exceed your sales goals each quarter? Quantify it and include it on your resume. Did you give a presentation on your research that was well received? Reflect it on the resume. Did you take some special courses or classes that have helped strengthen your candidacy for positions of interest to you? Be sure to document it. You might consider creating a “running resume” that lists everything you might want to include on a real resume you would submit to prospective employers. This resume can be as long as you like and much more comprehensive, and you can pick and choose what to include on the “real” resume depending on what the specific employer is seeking.
As you think about the past year, you might also consider setting some career-related goals for the upcoming year. Are there new skills that you need to develop to stay competitive in today’s workforce? Would you like to expand your network? Are there additional projects you would like to take on at work? Have you considered running for an officer position in a student group to strengthen your leadership skills? As you close out 2010, there is no better time to start looking forward to a brand new year. Welcome 2011!
