5 Things to do even when you are not looking at another job

You are happy where you work? You aren’t looking for a new job? Even if you said yes you should still be doing these 5 things. You might be asking why and it is really easy to answer. What are you going to do if you hear of a great opportunity that you don’t want to pass up at least looking at? Are you going to scramble and throw together a quick resume and cover letter? Are you going to remember all the projects you worked on when you worked and big achievements throughout your career? And let’s just say the worse case scenario you are fired or laid-off?

Keep doing these 5 things to be prepared.

Keep a list of achievements 
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This can be as simple as a word document you save on your computer and write down a quick and brief description of the achievement. No need to keep the list short by taking time to delete old ones. When it is time to update your resume or cover letter you can review this list to jog your memory.

Keep your Resume up to date 

Don’t let the dust settle on your resume. Every six months pull our your resume and see if it up to date. Did you move? Did you get a promotion and new title? Are your volunteer and associations up to date? Clean off old stuff such as your high school Treasurer for the Debate Club which is from over 30 years ago because you have worked for the same company after college.

Keep an updated Cover Letter Template handy 
I do not recommend submitting a generic cover letter when you send a resume but why start from scratch. A good portion of a cover letter will be used for the jobs you apply to but you will still want to tailor it to the job you are applying to later in life.

Updated Reference List 
Know don’t go crazy on this because I am not asking you to constantly reach out to the people on your list to see if they will still be a reference. But make sure when you do provide to a company you have reached out to them an email will suffice. If you have a person who you haven’t worked with or seen for 10 years may not be the best reference now. Also, I do recommend providing at least one personal reference when you give this list.

Social Media 
My biggest advice is think each time before you post to social media. Is it most likely going to be offensive to others then I recommend not posting it. Most likely when the time comes a prospective employer will check social media and it may bite you in the butt for that past.