What did I learn and how can I apply it moving forward?

A professional career is always future-based. What you do today determines your career tomorrow, just as what you’ve done in the past determined where you are today.

In order to consistently keep a professional career future-based, it is important to look back at what’s been achieved (or not achieved) and honestly reflect upon the learnings from each and every experience. These experiences can be an epic accomplishment, the realization of a true professional disaster, or anything in between. 

Every conversation, team project, presentation and proposal is an opportunity to reflect upon and challenge yourself to grow in your profession. A true contemplation of your work relationships and daily interactions can have a very positive impact on your success. A true analysis into the depth of your actions can also produce a mirrored reflection of someone who needs to adjust their steps to be more productive. As a job interview coach, I challenge my clients to continually ask themselves this simple question: “What have I learned and how can I apply my learnings moving forward?”

A learning is simply knowledge gained through study of a topic or experience. A contemplative, reflective learning can therefore be neutral. If you have a job interview and are asked questions regarding the company’s core competencies and you didn’t research these competencies, then you’ve learned that knowing a company’s core competencies will benefit your next job interview! There’s no need to berate yourself over a learning that exposes a need for improvement. That’s why they are called learnings! What’s important is to identify and apply all learnings. A genuine learning taken to heart will positively serve you each day well into the future. 

I encourage all my clients to take the time to review and study the interactions they have after a job interview.  I also speak to my clients after each interview so we can go over any and all learnings to assist the client in applying those learnings for the next job interview. Some clients benefit from writing their learnings down, especially the more meaningful ones.

Taking time to meditate and reflect on professional encounters provides guidance for the next interaction.  The conscious act of identifying the prominent factors related to a previous interaction can only yield more confidence regarding the subject matter, strategies, and personnel involved. This is a fount of valuable information or learnings to assist your future career.  

A large component of a future-based career is consistently answering this simple question. “What did I learn and how can I apply it moving forward?” Identifying and deliberating your professional learnings in an objective manner today will advance your career by building a better professional future through a more self-aware today.

As a job interview coach with over 30 years of experience, I offer a free 30 minute coaching consultation. I’d be happy to serve you!