The New Year is almost upon us and many job seekers will soon be making resolutions and plans regarding their careers for the year to come. Whether you are currently unemployed and looking for work or seeking a new position, there is a myriad of resolutions you can make to launch your career or take it to the next level in 2015.
Today we will look at 5 resolutions. Depending on where you are with your job search or career, some of those resolutions may seem like big moves, or if not, they are at least good reminders of a few things you can do to advance your search.
Know Your Worth
This may be easier said than done, but knowing your worth is absolutely crucial if you want to land your dream position, get a promotion, or simply understand why you are where you are – and move forward. The market is as competitive as ever but it’s never too late to ask yourself a few questions that can help determine your worth.
What can you do better than anyone else? What do you bring to the table at your current job that holds the most value? What are 5 things that your current and past employers often compliment you about?
Feel free to write your own questions to evaluate your value. Try to keep those short and to the point. You will want to be able to use those answers in an interview to tell potential employers what you can do better than the other candidate, and why they should hire you. Not only will this exercise help boost your confidence, you may also learn a thing or two about yourself.
Try New Job Searching Techniques
A lot of job seekers use word-of-mouth, social media, and job boards to find themselves great jobs. But let’s not stop there. If you have used those techniques in the past, why not mix things up a bit this coming year? Have you thought about enlisting the help of an agency like Adecco?
If you’ve never though of using social media for your job search, now might be a good time. In fact, we have a few guides that you might find useful.
Refine Or Specialize Your Skills
Whether you are a recent graduate looking for work, or you’re in need of a career change, learning new skills or perfecting existing ones is, and has always been, a sure-fire way to get ahead when looking for employment. Maybe you’ve been working in the same field for a few years and the technology or techniques have evolved. If that is the case, it’s never too late to take a course, either online or offline, to improve your skills.
If you consider yourself more of a jack-of-all-trades, maybe it’s time you specialize and have a stronger focus on key technologies or industries.
Use Better Methods & Tools
Typically, job seekers will use and reuse the same methods and tools to keep track of their progress and successes. If you’re feeling like you’re not getting the positions or jobs you deserve, it is very possible that the methods and tools you use aren’t best suited for your situation.
Do you blindly send resumes to companies in your industry, or do you take the time to write personalized letters and keep track of when and who you’ve sent your resume to? After an interview, do you write down some notes about experience? A simple change like using a spreadsheet to keep track of your progress can yield amazing results. Some job seekers even use Pinterest for this.
It can help you keep track of many things, such as the name of the organization, their contact information, how you got this contact, the date of your interview, detailed notes on how it went, etc… You’ll surely feel more confident in your approach once you start keeping track of your efforts.
Attend Job Fairs, Conferences & Events
There are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of events all around the country for job seekers like you. While the internet is an excellent job searching tool, there is nothing like attending a HR event or conference. To get you started, we compiled a list of the top 10 HR conferences in 2015 in the U.S. Of course you could also find more local events organized by your city or a business group in your area.
No matter where you are in your career, it never hurts to put yourself out there and attend a conference or job fair. You might even find a great position by networking with the many recruiters and hiring managers present at those events.
Comments are closed.