Year-End Review: Reflecting on Your Professional Growth

We’re about a month into the economic fourth quarter of 2024, and the job market is showing signs of slowing, but not much. Inflation rates are the lowest they’ve been in three years, and unemployment has slightly decreased from last month.

These are mostly positive metrics that demonstrate an optimistic view of what’s to come in 2025. But don’t just take our word for it. According to recent projections from the chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, “the labor market picture remains one that is fairly robust, even though it has cooled off.”

Now that you know the state of economic growth and labor market predictions going into the end of the year, it’s time to turn your gaze inward. How have things changed for you professionally over the last year, and what career goals do you want to set for yourself next year?

Taking stock of how far you’ve come and what you want to continue to work on in the future is a great way to set yourself up for career success in the years to come. If you’re not sure where to start this reflection process, however, we’ve put together a list of questions and helpful information to get you started.

Before Diving into Your Reflection

There are two things to keep in mind before you begin answering the following questions:

One, this reflection is purely for your own personal use. Nobody else is going to see it. That means there’s no reason to be dishonest or cushion your areas of improvement. Deceit will only end up hurting you in the long run, and somewhat defeats the process of reflection in general.

Two, keep track of your answers. Whether this means you write everything down in a journal, or make spreadsheets according to some of your responses, just make sure you have access to this information somewhere. There’s little point in measuring growth and setting goals if you forget everything the next day. Experts agree that writing things down not only helps with memory, but it also aids in a process called ‘encoding’, which is directly linked to behavior.

“Encoding is the biological process by which the things we perceive travel to our brain’s hippocampus where they’re analyzed. From there, decisions are made about what gets stored in our long-term memory and, in turn, what gets discarded.” – Mark Murphy, Forbes

Ask Yourself…

Are you feeling ready for some honest self-talk? Do you have paper and a pen on hand? Great. Then let’s dive into these questions. To make things a little easier, we divided the questions into four overarching points of reflection: Growth, Goals, Networking, and Balance.

Growth:

• What did I do to promote professional growth over the last year?
• What new skills did I acquire?
• What books did I read?
• What courses did I take?

If you want to learn more about the relationship between potential earnings and additional schooling, check out this guide to educational return on investment from the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.

Goals:

• Did I meet the professional goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year?
  • If yes — How did I accomplish this?
  • If no — What can I try to do better in the coming year?

As we already mentioned, writing down your goals is a great way to keep track of what you want to accomplish short-term and long-term, but it’ll also help hold you accountable. You can reference these lists at the end of next year to see what you were and were not able to achieve, making this part of the reflection process much easier.

Networking:

• How do my networking relationships look going into next year?
• Are there individuals I’d like to form a stronger professional connection with?
• How can I be a better professional resource and/or mentor to my peers and those below me at the company?

Did you know that effective networking has been shown to result in higher quality job offers as well as career success overall?

Balance:

• How well did I balance my work and personal life this year?
• Did I ever feel symptoms of burnout or extreme boredom?
• How do I better prioritize my mental and physical health going into next year?

It was estimated earlier this year that a shocking 82% of employees were at risk of experiencing burnout in 2024. And for those of you thinking everyday work stress and burnout are the same thing, think again. Burnout is associated with everything from fatigue to an increased sense of negativism and hopelessness in all areas of life. It’s a serious problem, and one of the many reasons you should be prioritizing your mental health just as highly as you prioritize your professional growth.

Growth Internally Vs. Externally

All these questions, you might have noticed, are focused on what you’ve done or can do in regards to growing professionally. That said, professional development isn’t solely dependent on how much additional training you get or how many networking events you attend. If the company you work for, or the field you’re currently working in, doesn’t have many growth opportunities to offer you, that’s a massive career barrier.

According to a study from this year, “23% of American workers are not satisfied with their opportunities for growth and development at their place of work.” If you are one of the nearly a quarter of American workers who don’t feel they have any upward mobility at their current job, then it might be time to start looking for something new.

Which leads us to the final question we think you should ask yourself — Did you use CyberCoders when hunting for your last job?

If not, you should rethink using our services this time around. Our expert recruiters are here to guide you through every step of the hiring process, land you an interview in days, and ensure that you’re getting paid what you’re worth. To learn more and find the perfect job to start the new year off right, check out our website today!