Was Your New Year’s Resolution To Find A New Job?

by Peter David on January 19, 2007 in Uncategorized

How are you doing on finding that next great job or assignment? An article in the Journal of Clinical Psychology shows how many of us keep our New Year’s Resolutions and for how long. The survey reveals a decreasing percentage of people who keep their New Year’s resolutions as time goes on:
– past the first week: 75%
– past 2 weeks: 71%
– after one month: 64%
– after 6 months: 46%

How can you better the odds and not be discouraged by those statistics? Take some, or better yet, all of the steps below and increase your odds of achieving a new job in 2007.

• Take action today! Even if the action is a little step like updating your resume or making a networking call to a recruiter.
• Take time. While taking action today is key, remember changing jobs takes time. Just as for most of us our first date was not the person we would marry, so the first job interview/offer may not be the “one.”
• Look at your passions. List what you love in your current job, what you are good at, and seek a job with those ingredients.
• Talk to people. Talk with family and friends about your passions and desire to change jobs. Talk with the recruiter that calls or call them (use them as advisors like a doctor or lawyer). Call professors or colleagues you took classes with in the past. They are great sources of information and connections.
• Seek ways to enhance your skills. Take a part-time job or consulting job where you can develop new skills, volunteer for a non-profit where you can gain experience or take a class at the college or university in town.

I feel blessed to work for EdgeLink which is the best place and job I have ever worked. I am using my skills and passions, and I found this job through networking after leaving a “bad fit” job. There is hope for a great job and there are great places to work.

Here is to wishing you the best year yet, and may you find an amazingly fun job in 2007.

Resources and References:

How happy are you at work? Take a short quiz at the following site:
http://www.fabjob.com/tips213.html

Auld Lang Syne: Success predictors, change processes, and self-reported outcomes of New Year’s resolvers and nonresolvers, by John C. Norcross, Marci S. Mrykalo, Matthew D. Blagys , University of Scranton. Journal of Clinical Psychology, Volume 58, Issue 4 (2002).