5 ways to document your career journey

After working to gain more hands-on experience, you finally feel prepared to take the next step and transition to a new job. You’re confident about your new set of skills and even have a few prospects in mind to target first. There’s just one problem: you don’t know where to start with your resume!

That internship you had this summer was awesome, but suddenly you can’t remember how many pages were in that branding guide you created. You forgot to get a final count of the attendees at the event you hosted, and there’s no way you can remember how much you increased sales during the season.

After a serious brain dump and a few emails to your old manager, you got all the information you need to move forward. If only there were a way you could avoid this the next time around. Keep reading for 5 tips to keeping your career journey on track.

1. CREATE A MASTER RESUME

Keeping a basic master resume is a huge life saver. This can be a simple document that lists each position and each accomplishment or task you’ve had within that position. It’s like your real resume, but much more extensive. You should add to this master list regularly, and come back to it when you’re ready to update your real resume. Since this master resume includes all your accomplishments, you can choose which ones make sense for each real resume update as you apply for different positions. Perfect, right?

2. SET MONTHLY GOALS

Each month, list 3-5 improvements you’d like to make within your company. Think about ways you’d like to see your skillset grow. Whether you write or type them, be sure to list the steps you’ll take to reach each goal. Not only will this give you something to strive for, but it’ll give you something to look back on at the end of the month, which brings us to the next tip.

3. TRACK YOUR MONTHLY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

You’ve outlined your goals. Now it’s time to review how you did. At the end of each month, pull out that goal sheet and assess your performance. You can even meet with your manager and coworkers to get feedback on changes they’ve seen and contributed to. Once you’re done analyzing your performance, add it to your master resume!

4. TAKE PICTURES

Don’t let your phone become a distraction, but if it’s part of your company culture, get photographic evidence to celebrate those special moments as they arise. Events, new projects and happy clients are all photo-worthy. Be careful posting these photos to social media, but as you scroll through your camera roll, you’ll be reminded of each accomplishment and more able to articulate your contributions. Got an online portfolio? You can easily upload photos to showcase your journey.

5. GET SOCIAL

Remember those goals you wrote down and eventually accomplished? Spread the news! There’s nothing wrong with sharing your success on social media. Fill your timeline with positive updates about your work life (as long as it doesn’t go against company policy). You’re sure to inspire your friends and family and even better, you’ll have something to look back on later. While you’re busy tweeting and going live on Facebook, don’t forget about LinkedIn! There’s no other platform better for sharing your work experiences. As you update your master resume, you should also be updating your LinkedIn with necessary information. Take a step further and ask your coworkers to submit endorsements and recommendations.