Happy Thanksgiving: Time to Reflect and Prepare for Your Next Career Step This Weekend!"

Hello!

As Thanksgiving approaches, it's the perfect time for reflection and planning, especially regarding our careers.

In this edition of my newsletter, I share some tips you can use right now, this Holiday Season. If thoughts about your next professional move have crossed your mind, let's turn them into a structured conversation. Whether you're reconsidering a previous decision or exploring new opportunities, I'm here to provide guidance and support.

If you have not thought about your career strategically in the last few years, this Thanksgiving is the perfect time to do it. Maybe you have concerns about a layoff, especially given all the press lately. In this newsletter, we outline 4 strategies to take advantage of some of your downtime in between turkey and football and get your professional house in order.

Invite key contacts over to your home on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday

This might sound like a radical approach, but think about it. If they accept, you have solidified a fantastic relationship. If they don’t accept which 99% won’t, you get credit for the ask. Be genuine, and think about people you want to spend time with and can help you with your career. Help you with your career, not just your next job.

You have a greater chance of having someone over if they are single and live close to you. If you think about it, why don’t you employ this strategy during the year and not just on Thanksgiving Day weekend?

Reach out electronically with a present

Wish them happy Thanksgiving and provide them with a newspaper article they would find valuable. Simply reaching out to wish somebody a happy Thanksgiving is nice, but it does not scream "relationship building". Find an article that they would truly value in their personal life.

If you don’t know their interests, there are always safe topics like sports, wine, and travel. You can also look at the very bottom of thier LinkedIn profile to see which individuals or companies they follow. Furthermore, you can reach out to a common colleague to simply ask what your contact values on the personal side.

Use the time to think about your career

After the turkey coma, set aside some time to think about what you want in 2024. Are you really happy at your job or just bored stiff? Are you being paid fairly? Do you have the proper title? To help you with these questions, check out the video titled “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek and email me your thoughts at [email protected].

Christmas is coming soon, and the yearly bonus cycle starts all over again. Since life gets hectic, Thanksgiving is a perfect time to carve out an hour or two to think strategically. So many of us never really take the time to think about our careers.

Build yourself an insurance policy.

Unfortunately, it is layoff season. Whether it’s Citi eliminating whole layers of management (300 announced a few days ago) or your firm’s usual annual pruning of talent, why not get your resume and LinkedIn profile in A+ shape? When was the last time you updated your resume? When was the last time you optimized your LinkedIn profile to attract high-quality recruiters?

Unfortunately, what I have noticed in my 25 years on both the buy side and sell side is that the professionals least likely to think they’re going to be laid off are in fact laid off. I have seen grown men come to tears when told the news. We live in a world of expectations and when these are violated, the whole world shifts upside down.

There are so many activities to take advantage of the Thanksgiving downtime. Today we have outlined my favorite 4.

If you leverage any of these 4 strategies, please email me and let me know!

Mike Mittleman

[email protected]