Does a new year mean a new job or career?

January is always one of the busiest months for me in terms of writing resumes and LinkedIn profiles and meeting with people who need coaching help to determine what their next step should be work-wise.

There are two areas to pay attention to and work on if you are yearning for a change. They are focus and packaging.

Focus is an extremely important element of finding a new job or switching careers. It isn’t a good idea to update your resume or LinkedIn profile if you are not clear about what you want to do next. It also is difficult to network with people if you are unable to describe your ideal opportunity because they won’t know how to help you. So spend the time necessary to assess your skills, your achievements, the environment you thrive in, and what gratifies you before you launch yourself into the market.

Packaging means that your resume, social media presence, and oral/written communication are aligned and represent you in an interesting and relatable way. Unfortunately, scanning and algorithms are still an important part of job search so using the most prevalent keywords is also necessary.

Happy New Year!