PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
‘Planning and Management’ is one of the fifteen EntreComp competencies and can be characterised as ‘knowing and defining your priorities and setting short, medium and long-term goals. Also being willing to adapt to unforeseen circumstances.’
So, after working on setting our Vision for 2021 last month, let's crack on with planning and managing the year ahead!
It’s Valentine’s Day this month and so for many of you that have had the misfortunate of using a dating app will know, sometimes you just get a ‘Hey’ or a copy and paste message which they think will be funny but actually we know they’ve sent it to five other people already.
We want some originality! We want somebody that has read our bio! We want somebody that cares!
Well applying for a job is very much the same. Think about the jobs you are applying to – have you done your research on their mission, vision, and values? Could you reach out in an authentic way on LinkedIn?
When applying for jobs don’t just make it about you and your skills, but them too – why are you right for their organisation?
Managing Your Time
You might think you need to apply for every job you see, and to constantly plugging away at getting application after application in. But you also know, that each application needs to be tailored just for the job – well don’t make it difficult for yourself and start thinking about how best to manage your time.
Set yourself a realistic goal of something like only 10 applications a week, that’s two a day with the weekend off (because we all deserve a break). Doing this allows you to give each application the time it deserves, helping you to stand out all the more and showcase yourself as the perfect candidate – bagging that all important interview!
Plan for the Future
If anyone has ever tried to write a novel you may understand what I mean when I say you can be either a plotter, or a pantser. A ‘pantser’ is someone who prefers to write by the seat of their pants and often (here’s looking at you Stephen King) that works, and you get great results.
But when it comes to your future career, you don’t want to be a pantser – you want to be a plotter! (That is, someone who meticulously plots their storyline upfront).
Do you have a dream company you’d love to work for one day? Well let’s start planning on getting you there. Commit to at least once a month, checking out their company website, their LinkedIn, their social media feeds – are they recruiting?
No worries if not – but use this time to work out what you need to achieve, and what you need to be able to demonstrate for when they are hiring. Get in touch on LinkedIn – seriously what is the worst that can happen? Shy bairns get nowt as we say – and let them know that you are interested in working with them one day.
Also, one day if you get that interview for your dream job you can guarantee they will ask you ‘why work for us?’ and you’ll already have the perfect answer.
Manage your Wellbeing
We’re not going to sugar coat this – times are hard right now, and I know for many of you looking for a job during the height of a global pandemic is probably one of the most draining things to be doing. Especially when on top of that you could be looking after relatives, working away at college or university work and you haven’t seen your pals properly in months.
Well, you should try to plan some of your downtime just as much as you should plan your job searching – seriously, schedule it in.
Hit up the gal pals and get that weekly Zoom back on track, that Tv show you watch with your flatmates? Make it official – every Thursday at 7PM (how great is Drag Race UK btw?)
And that novel you are writing, whether you are a plotter or a pantser, put it on the calendar (three times a week for an hour and a half a time for me, and I’m totally a panster).
Then just make sure you have time just for you whether that is listening to your favourite music, reading a book, working out or cooking up a storm - get those endorphins flowing.
Remember that if you are struggling, there are places and people you can turn to for help – we’ve listed some of these below, but this is not an exhaustive list. If you are seriously worried about your health in any way, you should always consider speaking to your GP.