A New Year, Fresh Momentum For Your Career: Ready, Set, Go
“Find a new (or better) job.” If this is your New Year’s resolution, you will be in good company with one out of four Americans who set goals
at the start of the year.
But what’s the best way to keep your resolution? Especially given that a majority of individuals who make promises to themselves in the form of resolutions don’t keep them.
Here are three ways to help yours stick:
1. Get Ready
Create your own inner circle of trusted friends and supporters. Tell them three things:
a. What interests you
b. What you do best — skills and interests
c. How you plan to conduct a search
Then make the big ask: Now that I’ve shared this with you, will you hold me to it? Will you ask me regularly how it’s going and encourage me to keep it up?
Why this works: Peer pressure. It is harder to give up when you’ve said what you want to do out loud. In addition, people who know you are looking can keep an eye out for jobs that might fit you — and put in a referral or a good word on your behalf. (Did we mention that referrals are one of employers’ favorite ways to find new employees?)
2. Get Set
There’s no need to rush out to the 50 percent off Calendar sales to get better organized…use StartWire’s free tools to:
a. Find and apply for jobs (check out our Express Apply features under Application Connect)
b. Track where you’ve applied (you may be able to receive auto updates on your application status)
C. Download an electronic record of your job search activity (StartWire keeps your data confidential but allows you to generate a report you can use to update others on your search. If you are receiving unemployment, you may be able to use this for your Work Search record.
3. Go!
Even if you applied for a job in November and are waiting to hear back, follow up! Following up and making a habit of applying for jobs as soon as you see them listed is a good way to stay visible for employers — especially if you’ve asked contacts inside a company to put in a good word for you.
As always, we’ll continue to give you tips that you can use for your job search in 2013.
Regardless of whether we hit the fiscal cliff or not, we will be back next week with tips you can use to protect yourself from economic slowdowns and unemployment.
Let’s make it a great year!
