The most important non-public health skill you can learn is self-reflection.

Self-reflection is the process of thinking about and evaluating your goals, thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and experiences.

It allows you to gain insight into yourself, your motivations, your values, and to identify areas for improvement.

Self-reflections allows you to gain a true sense of where you are in your journey.

5 benefits of self-reflecting:

• develop skills
• recognize your progress
• learn from your experiences
• celebrate your wins and accomplishments
• make intentional choices in your planned next steps

1. Evaluate your academic progress

You are probably somewhere in the throws of mid-terms (good luck).

Reflect on your coursework, your grades, what you’ve accomplished this semester. This is the time where you can be honest with yourself. What were the things that supported and hindered your optimal academic self? Subtract and add as necessary.

While grades aren’t the end of the world, having a grasp on course content can benefit you in the real world. People are going to be less concerned about your 4.0 GPA and more about the knowledge, skills, and experiences you bring to the table.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Are you gaining knowledge and skills to build your career?
• What areas can you make improvements or need additional resources?
• What can you use from classes to talk about with interviewers or with peers?

Continue to take steps to gain the knowledge and skills. Meet with professors and find strategies for improvement.

2. Evaluate your work and internship experience

To set yourself apart, you will need to get experiences (work, internship, volunteer) that bolster your academic achievement.

You probably have done meaningful work through various experiences. The trick is to get experiences that align with the roles you are looking for after graduation.

Find your ideal post-grad jobs and note the knowledge, experiences, and skills there are asking for. Now work backwards to find ways to gain those throughout the rest of your program.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Do these experiences align with your long-term goals?
• What additional experiences can you gain to build towards your ideal public health career?
• Are your experiences giving you the skills and knowledge you need for your public health career?

If you have not as yet, build your master resume and add all your experiences – current and past.

Have intentional conversations with your supervisors and mentors. Get feedback on your performance, understand how you can enhance your learning experience, and work to build in experiences/skills you need for your career goals.

3. Realign career goals based on interests

Begin with your end goals in mind.

As we develop in our public health careers, we learn more about current interest. Based off your reflection, you will have a clear idea of the direction you want to head in.

Our interest grow as we grow. As we learn more about ourselves. More about public health and our place in it.

Changing your mind is a superpower (when that change is intentional values aligned). Don’t be afraid to change your mind, there are always ways to translate current skills and experiences.

Questions to ask yourself:

• Have your interest shifted as you grew in public health?
• Do you need to explore drastically different areas of public health?
• If I continue on this path, will I gain all the necessary skills, knowledge, and experiences to talk to in interviews?

Reflect on where you are and where you want to be. Revise your career goals based off any changes.

You may not even know what your ideal future career is, be open.

4. Evaluate your network and your brand

Your network and brand are crucial assets (to your public health career success).

Your network are the people you know (and more importantly the people that know of you).

Your brand is how people see and associate you with (in-person and online).

Be intentional in the network that you build and the brand you create for yourself. The network you have can set you apart from others, open opportunities, and help foster your ongoing growth in public health. Your brand can help you become an expert, open new opportunities, and allow you give back to broader public health discourse.

Questions to ask yourself:

• How do people see me when they first meet me online, or in-person?
• Are you cultivating a network that will set you up for short to mid-term success?
• Who is in your current network, and do they provide value or insight into your career interests?
• Are you actively engaging with peers, mentors, and professionals to stay informed about opportunities?
• Is your LinkedIn profile or professional social media presence up to date and reflective of your skills and career goals?

Review your network (LinkedIn and in-person) – make updates and refreshes. Start to build intentional connections with interesting people and set up informational interviews. Find ways to continue to engage with public health communities, share your insights, and participate in discourse to strengthen your brand.

[Read: 5 Easy Steps to improve Your LinkedIn Profile (to get more opportunities)]

5. Set short-term actionable goals

Set realistic short term goals that will help you make meaningful progress by the end of the year.

Choose goals that you know will build momentum towards your bigger goals. This can be to build a better relationship with a professor/peer/mentor, to develop a new skill, or to expand your knowledge in an area.

Questions to consider:

• How can you use the next few weeks to enhance your public health resume?
• What specific skills or experiences do you want to gain before the 2024 ends?
• What would you have to do to feel like you were successful by the end of 2024?

Create a 4-6 week plan. Choose one or two key areas for development. Focus your energy on working towards these.

Conclusion

Doing a mid-semester check in can be the difference between finding success at the end of the year and not.

This is the perfect time to pause, reflect, and make the adjustments to reach your career goals. Remember, you are and have all it takes to get where you want to be.

5 steps mid semester check in:

1. Evaluate your academic progress
2. Evaluate your work and internship experiences
3. Realign career goals based on interests
4. Evaluate your network and brand
5. Set short-term actionable goals

Take proactive steps today to work towards your career goals. Even the small adjustments you make now can lead to long-term career success.