The Undercover Recruiter

4 Tips for Achieving Your Professional New Year’s Resolutions

Although many resolutions are focused on personal development—like losing weight or quitting smoking—many of them are catered toward professional development, such as getting a promotion or finding a better job. Since New Year’s resolutions are notorious for being abandoned by February, it’s important to approach your professional goals with a concrete plan within your reach. To discover some helpful tips on reaching your own New Year’s resolution, consider these.

Resolution #1: Get a promotion

Almost every working professional believes he or she should have a promotion, but a much smaller portion is actually working toward making this wish a reality. To get that coveted promotion, you have to put yourself in a position where you truly deserve it. This means working harder, investing more time and effort in your company by submitting ideas for improvement, and furthering your education to qualify for higher positions. The latter approach can be one of the best ways to show your boss you are a true go-getter. Although you may put your heart and soul into your work, you can still take advantage of educational opportunities by considering online alternatives to further your degree.

Resolution #2: Quit your job

Quitting your job puts you in a slightly less favorable position than the one presented above, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a negative or dramatic step. New years are about new beginnings: out with the old and in with the new. If you’ve been slaving away at an unfulfilling job with little sign of advancement or improvement, quitting may be a pragmatic decision.

However, if you truly believe your decision is reasonable, then be reasonable in your approach. Submit a formal letter of resignation that respectfully discusses your decision with your boss and co-workers and gives the company adequate time to find a replacement and tie up loose ends. Leaving on good terms not only benefits the company, but also benefits you when searching for a new job.

Further reading at So You Want to Leave a Job You Hate.

Resolution #3: Find a job

Following resolution number two, finding a job can be one of the most difficult resolutions to achieve when the economic odds are against you. However, remaining diligent and assertive throughout your search will generally pay off in the end. The first thing you should do is use every resource possible to help you find a job. This could include connecting with the career services department at your alma mater, industry associations, networking groups, and former professors and peers to discover new job leads. All of these resources can put you in the right place to land the job you’ve been searching for.

Resolution #4: Improve your professional appeal

Improving your professional appeal usually goes hand in hand with any other professional goal or resolution you may have this year. To improve your professional appeal, and to avoid getting into a monotonous routine at work, you can work on your professional development by taking advantage of a number of opportunities. Education should be a number one focus, since it usually has the biggest impact on an employer’s opinion of you. Consider going back to school either in a traditional setting or online to enhance your degree. You can also take training courses relevant to your profession to obtain specialist certifications and give yourself extra credibility. If you’re not finding any luck in the job market, consider trying out internships to gain experience and develop connections with other professionals in your industry.

Making resolutions is easy, but keeping them is tough. Commit to following each step that gets you closer to a new job, and you might be celebrating next year with a better job and a promising career.

Further reading at 7 Little Known Ways to Jump Start Your Career this year.

Jesse Langley lives near Chicago. He divides his time among work, writing and family life. He writes on behalf of Colorado Technical University and has a keen interest in business blogging and social media.

Image credit Astragony

Filed Under: Career Management, Life Skills, New Year, Professional Tagged With: Career Advice, Life Skills, new year, professional

Who Else Wants Perfect New Year’s Resolutions?

Having done recruitment for long, I know that most of us have a think over the holidays and come up with revolutionary plans for January and the year ahead. Some of us follow through on these plans, some of us don’t. What are the factors that make for effective resolutions? Well, these are rules that work for me and people around me so I thought I’d share them well before you start getting to work on next years action plans.
1. Make them achievable

Don’t cheat yourself when making resolutions. If your goal was to quit smoking this year and the last 7 years, you are not very likely to kick the habit next year. If you set a goal that you won’t achieve, it will only have a demoralizing effect on your psyche and you are worse off. Be honest with yourself and set objectives that will challenge and stretch you but definitely are achievable with hard work.

2. Make them measurable

What gets measured, get done as the wise fellow said. Buying a house on stilts, travelling to Patagonia, auditioning for the X-Factor are all goals that you will know when you have achieved. Merely saying ‘learning old church Slavonic’ isn’t good enough, it has to be more detailed than that. Make it: ‘will take 50 lessons and pass exam level B and be able to order fine wine at a restaurant in Slavonia’. If you can come up with milestones or through goals, that’s even better as you can track your progress easier.

3. Write everything down

We already know that goals that are not written down are simply dreams, this goes for New Year’s Resolutions as well. Start working on a master list of what you want to achieve, break it down into categories and set estimated finished dates. These lists and deadlines will be hardwired into your brain and your unconscious will take you closer to your objectives every day.

4. Spread the word

You have to commit to your resolutions and by telling the world, i.e. your friends and family, you establish accountability. If you tell everyone you are running a marathon next year, they will pester you with questions for the next 12 months so you had better get out and train.

5. Support network

If you can, try to buddy up with someone else that has the same objective as it’s great to have peer support at hand. This could be friends or it could be other like minded folks online, at the gym, at your philately club etc. A support network is extremely useful when you ground to a halt or when you achieve a through goal and find yourself a bit lost for what to do next. People love to talk about their own exploits and how they got there so make use of others’ success.

6. Reward yourself

Remember to encourage your small wins with little rewards. These rewards will keep you going when you need it the most. Rewards can be anything from a cup of ginger tea to a weekend in the city of lights. Whatever rewards work for you, remember to hand them out when appropriate.

7. Flexibility

Remember that what seems like the perfect plan in December could all change once January kicks in. External factors will always move the goal posts and you have to factor these in. Just because your resolutions are an annual thing doesn’t mean you cannot change them as you go along, just like you would with any goals in life.

Examples of resolutions

If you are stuck, why not do your bit for the environment and recycle other people’s most common resolutions? Here is a little list:

• Change jobs (very popular in January, fizzles out in February/March)
• Buy something big (a house, car, boat, dilapidated factory in Pennsylvania)
• Get fit (sign up for a gym, start cycling, taking the stairs at work)
• Get involved in your community (charities, local government, activism)
• Work on your personal brand (all the rage nowadays)
• Start writing again (manuscript, book, blog posts)

Your turn

What are your resolutions for next year? Please share and inspire others!

Image credit Hamed Saber

Filed Under: Life Skills, New Year, Personal Development Tagged With: Career Advice, Life Skills, Personal Development

5 Fail Proof Tips to Setting and Reaching Personal Goals

This article is all about goals, why they are important, how you can set them and finally how to achieve them. First off, what is a goal? Well in this context, a goal is a personal objective. Something you want to achieve within a specific period of time.

All successful people are goal oriented. They know exactly what they want they are working toward the achievement of their goals every single day. They tend to accomplish far more than the average person in all aspects of life.

Goals are flexible and can be used for short term tasks such as booking a holiday or long term goals such as graduating from university. So how do we actually work with goals? There are myriads of ways to do this; I will present the 5 steps I have found working well. Remember that this is an important life skill so pay attention…

1. Decide exactly what you want

The more precise and clear your goals are the easier it will be to know when they are complete. Just like in business, objectives should be specific and measurable. Ensure they are achievable and that are within the realms of reality otherwise you will run the risk of them becoming demotivating. For instance, the chances of me winning a Nobel Prize this year are very slim but me doing my next Toastmasters speech before Christmas could actually happen.

2. Write it down

If you do not write your goals down, they will merely be wishes. Something magical happens when you put pen to paper, your writing etches its way into your subconscious. I have found that writing by hand is more powerful than on a computer, just as with any learning.

3. Make it time bound

Make your goals time bound by setting deadlines and sub deadlines in case you break it down. Give yourself a realistic but aggressive time scales so that your goals challenge you. Goals are here to get things going as we all know that life is not a dress rehearsal.

4. Get it out there

By this I mean put the list of goals up very visible at home or at work, or i you prefer to put images of what you want to achieve up. When we see our goals, we are sending an important message to the brain that activates us, and we then take steps to do what must be done to attain those goals. Tell the world about your goals as well, this will make it very hard for you to pull out If you have ever run a race for charity for instance, you know what I mean.

5. Take action immediately

You have to have momentum going and you should ideally be taking an action every day to bring you one step closer to the achievement of your goal. An example could be if you want to own a brand new Rolls-Royce, take action by ordering a brochure or even book a test drive.

Bottom Line

So that was the 5 steps, not exactly rocket science. It sounds easy enough but the trick is to keep things up and move closer to achieving your goals every day. I have found that the more clarity I have on goals the more likely I am to achieve them. Working with goals has worked really well for me, especially when writing them down and seeing them every day. Your subconscious gets to work and sometimes it feels like you attain a goal on autopilot.

So take time to sort out what you want and then place your order… Having said that, if you do not have that clarity already it’s best to put something down now and you see these goals developing over time. Remember that goals aren’t carved in stone and as they are yours, you can change them as often as you like.

What are your experiences?
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Filed Under: Career Management, Life Skills, Personal Development Tagged With: Career Advice, Life Skills, Personal Development

6 Simple Steps to be Happier at Work

We spend a lot of time at work, from Monday to Friday probably more waking time in the office than with our families and loved ones. If we are to cope with this, we have to make sure we make the most out of our work time and enjoy it.

1. Positivity and smiling

Positive thinking can feel labored at times but has been proven to work in multiple of studies. Smiling is infectious and is the simple form of positivity that uses what psychologists refer to as the theory of self-perception (if you see yourself as happy, you will become happy). Being positive leads to efficiency and well being for yourself and the people around you. When you radiate positivity in an office, others will be picked up as a result. When trying this out, make sure you stay away from any negative people as they are bound to bring you down.

2. Moving around

Walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator in the mornings, go for a walk at lunch and walk around the office when making phone calls. Energy comes from oxygen, oxygen comes from motion so the more you move about, the more energy you get. I don’t know about you, but when I have lots of energy I tend to be a happy camper.

3. Declutter

There are books dedicated to this single point. Make sure you have a clean workspace and environment around you. Clutter brings you down on a subconscious level – it looks like even more work to be done. Have a clear structure and organization on your desk so you can swiftly leave a task and come back to it later. You should also have an effective workflow and make use of in- and out-boxes.

4. Change your routine

The same old routine day in and day out will wear you down slowly. Try using a different pen, have a tea instead of coffee, change your telephone greeting etc and see how it feels. Variety is the spice of life they say, this applies to work as well. Big corporations shuffle things around all the time, even if a division is performing it can always to with a shake up and change things – so can you.

5. Eat quality food

Have a proper breakfast and lunch, with high quality food that will provide you with energy throughout the day. If you want snacks in between, stay away from chocolate, candy and sodas. The sugar levels in these products will give you a buzz from which you will come crashing down only a few minutes later. You don’t want to give yourself mood swings by having the wrong type of food. Stay on the healthy and nutritious side and you will feel better and have more overall energy (and you will be happier with your body as a result).

6. Go on vacation!

If all else fails, get yourself out of the office for a few days and recharge your batteries. Switch off completely, turn off any handheld devices and just relax. You will come back with a new perspective on things and you will be a happy person, hopefully with lots of great memories to share.

Can you think of any other simple steps?

Filed Under: Career Management, Happy, Life Skills, Personal Development Tagged With: Career Advice, Life Skills, Personal Development

Life Lessons by Steve Jobs

You might have seen or heard about this video, it’s the commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Standford back in 2005. It is very inspirational and worth investing your time to watch.