4 New Year Goals for Jobseekers

This year, you may be looking to improve your employability or make a career move. Here’s 4 New Year Goals for all Jobseekers.

As we entered the New Year, many of us will have set some realistic (and unrealistic) goals for the coming 12 months – getting fitter, sleeping better, eating better or making a better effort to stay connected.

You may also have resolutions, or goals, to find yourself a new job. With that in mind, we’d like to send you on the right path with our advice on 4 New Year Goals that all job seekers can work towards.

1. Update your CV and LinkedIn Profile

Of course, updating your CV (and your LinkedIn profile) can take some time, but it’s important to remember that for employers this is the first impression of you they receive.

While you may know how brilliant you are, prospective employers don’t necessarily, and it’s your responsibility to use these to bring them on a journey of your skills, experience and background.

By taking a proactive approach and using your most recent professional experience, you are increasing your opportunities, as recruiters will oftentimes initiate contact with passive jobseekers.

See our recent article about building your online personal brand for job hunting.

2. Improve your Skillset

The reality is, achieving your dream job, in any sector, involves competing against other candidates and your ability to stand out is your key differentiator. In many cases, when it comes to the crunch, this is about skills.

By striving to improve upon your skillsets on a continuous basis, or indeed by learning an entirely new skill that is in high demand within your sector, you will have added value and increased your employability above other candidates. Also, you are putting yourself in a better position to negotiate your salary.

Recent years has shown that more and more professionals engage in lifelong learning – that is, taking a continuous interest in your professional and personal development by learning beyond your initial degree.

3. Audit your Online Presence

Potential employers will almost definitely search for your LinkedIn profile (which is great, as having them land here is one of your goals after all), but their research may not stop here.

Employers like to get a more holistic view of their prospective employees, to understand them on a personal as well as professional level, so you must take this view in auditing your online presence.

Consider how you present yourself on social media, online forums and anywhere else that you may be present, making sure that all visible elements display you in the best light.

4. Expand your Network

As a result of the pandemic situation, networking is now entirely online-based, and engaging with and expanding your professional network is so important in increasing your employability.

Reach out to your current connections, engage with industry-relevant content, attend webinars and get your professional identity across. At the end of the day, it only increases your chances of getting noticed by recruiters.