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Seven Tips to Spring Clean Your Professional Persona
I hope it’s safe to say that spring is finally here (and I hope I didn’t just jinx it). For many people, that means spring cleaning—dusting off the cobwebs, airing out the house, tossing out old clothes. This is also a perfect time to spring clean your professional life, and it follows the same trajectory of dusting things off and cleaning things up.
Here are seven tips to help you spring clean your professional persona:
- Update your resume. Even if you aren’t looking for a job, it’s a good idea to have a current resume handy. So get it out and look it over: What’s changed? What needs updating? Anything to add, remove, or change, like references, phone numbers, or e-mail addresses? How about affiliations and volunteer work? Give your resume a good once over. Send it to a friend for an edit.
- Edit/update your Linked In profile. Even if you use Linked In a lot, it’s a good idea to take a few minutes to actually read your profile: what needs updating? What needs to be added? How is your headshot? Read it as if for the first time.
- Ditto for your Facebook page. Any posts or pictures that you want to add or take down? Maybe take this opportunity to finally adjust your settings so you get fewer notifications in your in-box. Do you really need all those close friend notifications? Take the time to make it work for you.
- Look at your Twitter feed. Same thing here. How is your profile? Your picture? How are your tweets? Check your settings. Are your tweets linked to your Facebook page and vice versa? Do you want them to be? Anyone you want to stop following?
- Clean your closet. Put away the winter things and get out your spring and summer clothes. Try everything on. What needs to go to Goodwill and what stays? If things don’t fit, is it worth altering them? Look at your wardrobe. Does it say, “I am a valued professional”? Or does it say, “I need help”? Clothes are important, so take the time to look at your wardrobe with a critical eye. Are your clothes helping you or hurting you?
- Organize your office. Whether you work in an office or at home, you need a clean, well-organized workspace. Take a look at your desk. What can you do to de-clutter and streamline it? What can you file away or get rid of? Take a look at your office. Is it well organized? Is it a comfortable place to work?
- Clean out/organize computer files. De-clutter your computer desktop and files as well. Can you streamline your desktop and dock? What do you really need to keep there? Can you use an external storage system or put files in the cloud? Can you find what you need easily?
Spring is a great time to get organized. Set aside a chunk of time to spring clean your professional persona, and you’ll be re-energized for the rest of the year. Better yet, do it every season!