It's time for a career mid-year checkpoint

It’s time - for a career mid-year career checkpoint
The middle of the year, 30th June, has arrived. Now is the time to spend an hour on your career with a mid-year checkpoint.
Career Plan:Â Everyone should have a career plan and regularly update their career plan. You should review your career plan frequently.
Career Plan Checkpoint:
- Are my goals still valid and achievable?
- Have I taken concrete steps towards my goals for this year?Â
- Am I progressing towards my aspirations?
- Have I reviewed and updated my LinkedIn profile?
Learning and Development Plan:Â You should have a yearly plan to learn new skills and enhance current competencies both in the workplace and outside of work.Â
Learning & Development Checkpoint:
- What have I learned this year?
- What am I going to learn for the second half of the year?
- What is changing in my job or industry?
- What new skills would open up opportunities for me?
Networking Plan: Your network is vital to your current and future success in your job and career. Too often our network develops ‘by chance’ rather than with a proper plan.
Networking Plan Checkpoint:
- Is my network tailored to my career plan?
- Did I accomplish the networking goals for the first half of the year?
- What do I need to do differently in the second half of the year?
- How did I help the people in my network? How do I ensure that the relationship is two-way?
Performance Review: Depending on your company’s performance cycle, this could be a good opportunity to ensure that you are on track for a good performance review. Even if your company doesn’t do performance reviews (or your manager doesn’t), it is worthwhile considering if you are on track.
Performance Review Checkpoint:
- Do I have clear performance targets for the remainder of the calendar year?
- Will I reach or exceed all targets? If not, what is the plan to get them on target?
- Have I written down my achievements for the first half of the year, so I can ensure my performance review captures the full year?
To ensure that you are on track with your career, ensure that you are doing a mid-year and end of year checkpoint.Â
I welcome comments with your opinion about what people should include in the mid-year checkpoint.
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