“Slow down to speed up.”
There are plenty of examples where this doesn’t work. Like in your car on dry pavement on a nice day. All slowing down does is, well, slow you down. However, when it comes to figuring out what your next role will be – and let’s face it, this is a weighty decision impacting your life – slowing down to speed up is quite applicable.
Don’t get me wrong, being inclined to action isn’t terrible. There’s a place for that certainly. No business can sustain an employee who only thinks and never produces anything. But when we are sorting out what we want to do in our career and how we’re going to get there, then slowing down has its place.
You’ve heard the story about taking a rest from sawing a tree down to sharpen the blade in order to cut the tree down faster. In a similar way, when we are determining what is important to us, what we value in a role, what we are good at and what we like doing, we need to pause. But we need to pause before we pick up the saw blade. We need to take a step back and make sure we’re sawing down the right tree.
In case I’ve gone too deep on the tree and lumberjack analogy, I’ll put it this way: know what role(s) you are looking for before you work on your resume or online profile. If you start in right away updating your resume and profile, what you are presenting may not (actually, probably won’t) make the case that you’re a great fit for the role you want…because you don’t have a role in mind.
When you have a role in mind you can emphasize some skills and de-emphasize others, making it more clear that you are a good fit for the role you have in mind. You can even be very direct about the role you want.
Sometimes we think we must put everything we’ve ever done and every skill we’ve ever learned on our resume and profile. When we do that we usually don’t make the supporting case for being a great fit for a particular role.
Sometime early in my career I received the following advice:
“Don’t let anyone know you are good at doing something you don’t like doing or you’ll end up doing it forever.”
Am I saying we should never do anything we don’t like? No, of course not. Every role comes with some part we like less than something else. What I am saying is if your entire job is composed of tasks and activities that you can’t stand doing…then it’s time for a change. A change in role and a change in the way you present what you do, what you know, and what role you want.
Back to the trees and forest and cutting down the right tree. Here’s where the slowing down part comes in. Take some time to reflect on your skills, your talents, and previous roles. Think about what you like to do and what you dread doing. Ask yourself if you’re in the right role now or if a different one would be a better fit. If you’re looking for a job for the first time, ask yourself what projects have you enjoyed? Which ones did you not enjoy? Reflect on what tasks, activities, and environment contributed to your enjoyment or lack thereof.
Then look at your resume and LinkedIn profile. If you pretend you are seeing these for the first time, what role would you give yourself? Update your resume and profile as needed.
Then the speed comes in. Instead of wondering if every job posting you see is for you, you’ll have a clear idea of what you are looking for and will be able to sort through the information quickly. When you talk to friends and peers you will be able to articulate what you want to do. And, when you can do this they will feel your enthusiasm for the role you want and will want to help you…speeding up your journey to the role that’s a great fit for you.
Summary
- Take some time to figure out what role is right for you.
- Next, update your resume and online profile.
- Find the role that’s a great fit for you!