​​As a worker, knowing your skills and talents will help you excel by seeking out and performing in a role that fits your strengths. Knowing yourself requires more than a general sense of intuition about your abilities – it also takes rigorous assessment.The following steps can help you identify what you have to offer.Find out what drives youA majority of millennials say purpose is a priority in their career. This is important to know in assessing, because where there is passion, the drive to succeed, learn and improve follows. Ask yourself what you would do if a paycheck wasn’t on the line. Nurture this curiosity and desire to explore new things, which translates into Learnability, and continual improvement.Identify what’s not workingOn the opposite spectrum, you should identify what you don’t like doing at work, or even if you hate your job. This is likely to be correlated with poor performance. Is the problem to do with your tasks and responsibilities? Or is your low job satisfaction more to do with a difficult boss or coworker? If the problem is your duties, try taking a career assessment questionnaire or seeking out the help of a career consultant. These can help you identify roles in other industries that you may not have considered. If the problem is your boss, you may solve the issue by transitioning to to another department or into another role within the organization.Seek outside perspectiveYou may feel like you know yourself better than anyone else, but you’re not necessarily the most objective evaluator of your own skills. Instead, you can view yourself through the eyes of an employer by taking a professional skills or personality assessment and leverage the results to identify your strengths. Similarly, you can find a career coach to help you better understand your value to employers. Finally, ask your boss, a co-worker, or trusted friend to provide you with feedback.In the end, knowing where you excel – and where you fall short – requires a blend of both introspection and external help and input. Knowing where your true talent lies will help nurture and grow where you have the most potential, and where you can thrive right now.

​​Will this new year bring another transition for you? Here are strategies and skills to help you during potential career transitions in the coming year.  ​Assess your goals A new year can be an opportunity to assess what you want out of work and your life, including perks like flexible scheduling or remote work. Rather than immediately falling into a job search, evaluate your last or current job: What aspects did you like or dislike? Is it time to make a change? Where do you want to go next? Is entrepreneurship an option? Create a life map of where you would like to be in three to five years. Feeling like you have more control over the situation will lessen your perception of stress. ​Manage your timeSearching for a job is more than a full-time job. Sometimes it feels like you can’t keep up, and other times it feels like all you do is wait. It can help with peace of mind to set aside times to actively search, to write follow-ups, and even to wait guilt-free. Don’t let the job search take up your entire life. ​Set incremental goalsA new role or career may be your ultimate goal, and achieving that end can sometimes feel overwhelming. To help you get there, set incremental and smaller steps to achieve. You can also pick up freelance work, consulting, contract jobs or even volunteer positions. This part-time or temporary work can help pay bills or bolster your resume while your searching for a permanent job. Don’t overlook these opportunities while continuing to pursue full-time work. Finally, remember that whenever you are feeling overwhelmed or like you have lost control of the process, take a break. Go for a walk or perform an activity that you enjoy.You need downtime to help maintain your mental health, and you can always resume again later. 

​​For the first time in more than a decade, a single historical event has affected millions of careers at once. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted not just jobs lost, but also career trajectories for those who were expecting to move up in their organizations or find new responsibilities.​The good news is that the large-scale change in work situations has helped change how employers think about “career gaps” on the resume. It’s no longer just about taking a step back in a career –– it can also be seen as stepping up to help families and communities. As a result, LinkedIn has updated profile options to elevate “stay at home parent” roles or sabbaticals for family leave. Here are other ways job candidates can rethink and reframe their job gaps, especially in light of the COVID-19 impact.  ​​Become a mentor You can continue to show leadership skills beyond a job title, such as signing on to be a mentor for an organization or an advisor to a start-up. If you want to be a mentor, finding the right mentee is a lot like the other side of the equation. Network and talk to key people in your company or network about the type of person you want to be a mentor to, and be specific. You can also check with your alma mater about alumni/student mentoring programs you can join. Becoming a mentor can be a valuable addition to your experience and resume.​​Keep improving job skillsThere are no shortage of ways to re-skill and upskill with online education and courses, and not having a full-time job can provide more opportunity for growth in soft skills. This includes communicating, critical thinking, meeting deadlines, being well-organized, collaborating and the ability to analyze and innovate. Employers are seeking these skills more than ever as they are broadly applicable across job titles.​Step into volunteer rolesConsider volunteer roles that add expertise and knowledge to your tool kit. Use volunteering as an opportunity to try something new, perhaps a career you always wanted to explore. You may find it as exciting as you dreamed, or it may lack the glamour or fulfillment you envisioned. Follow your passion – when you are giving back to something you believe, it is much easier to learn new skills.​Ultimately, employers will be much more understanding of gaps in your resume during this past year, given the circumstances. At the same time, this is an opportunity to keep learning and growing –– and find what you really want to do in your career.​

​​Moving from college to the workplace traditionally requires major adjustments, including acquiring new skills on the job and learning to balance independent projects. Right now, economic and public health uncertainty only adds to the stress on college graduates. But stepping back, slowing down and taking concrete steps can help mitigate anxieties and improve your outlook. Here are ways to help navigate the unchartered waters. ​Build a mentor relationship In college, students can easily stop by a professor’s office hours or book an appointment with your academic advisor or job counselor. The same principles of mentorship are just as important to getting started in the workplace. After you graduate, you have to be more proactive about securing your own mentor. Having a mentor will enable you to learn what employers expect from new grads and you can use the information to make yourself job ready, and also help find new opportunities in sectors that are hiring. ​Take a skills inventory Does your resume reflect all that you are capable of accomplishing? Make sure that you reflect not just your major and hard skills, but also soft skills like learnability that shows you can make adjustments during turbulent periods. Research from ManpowerGroup has concluded that 65% of the jobs Generation Z will perform do not even exist yet, and right now is certainly a time of disruption and change. Show how your past has prepared you for a future that is evolving and being invented in front of us. ​Be open to new forms of work Look beyond the full-time permanent roles. In some sectors, hiring is ramping up right now for temporary or short-term work. Taking a temporary job to help meet demand may provide an in to a company, or an end in itself. Today, nearly 9 in 10 workers are open to NextGen work– part-time, contingent, contract, freelance or temporary. As younger workers bring tech-savvy skills to the workplace, new graduates can turn to flexible employment opportunities where it is needed most. ​Reach out to help others Right now, it’s easy to develop tunnel vision with respect to your own needs. No one will blame you for that. But many others are going through the same uncertainty, and seeking ways to help is not a zero-sum game. Over time, how you treat others builds a reputation. Recognizing others need assistance, offering to be of service through small acts like proofing someone else’s resume or sending an email with encouragement will become an extension of your resume. Do it for its own reward, and it’s likely to help deepen and expand your network as well. ​After years of being in the school system, it will take new grads time to transition to a new world –– and that’s never been true more than now. For college graduates, it’s important to be patient, keep being productive where you can be, and keep the faith.