9 New year’s resolutions ideas for job seekers or your career growth

Another good year ends and now you look forward to the new year. The new year gives a feeling of new achievements, renewal, and hope. This means it’s time to sit down and reflect on the crazy year and set new goals for your new years resolutions.

If you thought of focusing on your professional growth, a possible career or working towards a promotion, then this new year’s resolutions list is for you.

To not let your resolution go down the drain like the last ones in the year of 2023, here are a few new year resolution ideas that we suggest that are measurable and attainable. This will help you to move forward in your professional growth quicker as we want you to succeed!

Here are 9 attainable new year’s resolutions ideas for you if you are a job seeker or someone who wants to grow professionally in 2024:

1. Change or update your resume

If you are planning to look for a new job, it’s time to update your resume with your new achievements and new skills you may have learnt in the past years. If you are not looking for a job, it is also recommended to update it because it will help you keep track of your accomplishments. Otherwise, you may want to take this opportunity to improve the formatting of the resume or word your points differently to give more power to your descriptions.

2. Update your Linked profile

If you updated your resume, of course, you want your LinkedIn to reflect the same information. Add in new achievement points, and skills or even ask for recommendations from your colleagues.

If you have taken a break from your career and plan to dive back into the workforce this year, add a Career Break into your Experience section. LinkedIn released this update in 2022, it will allow you to explain the purpose of the career break and give recruiters a better understanding than just blatantly thinking you were unemployed for a long time.

Another thing you may want to update is your headshot. Just like any social media profile, you want to update it occasionally.

3. Clear out your email inbox and try to stay at zero

Just like the expression: “Clean space, clean mind”. You’ll be surprised that how a cluttered inbox can affect our mental health. Seeing hundreds or even thousands of emails can be overwhelming. It makes it seems like we have piled up emails and tasks waiting for us to go through or accomplish.

If you are one of those people who have a cluttered inbox, we recommend starting small. You can unclutter the emails by sorting them into folders. Create new rules for specific emails. Unsubscribe to unnecessary marketing newsletters.

You’ll be surprised how much of a difference a clean inbox can do to your mental health and possibly give you a new perspective on the job.

4. Reorganize your home office/office desk

A lot of us are working from home or hybrid thanks to the pandemic. It would be the same thing as the previous point. A clean space is great for our mental health. We suggest decluttering your table and keeping what are essentials for a work day. Clear out unread emails or unwanted paper. Try keeping your space tidy for the rest of 2023.

5. Apply for a new job

Of course, applying for a new job is one of the new year’s resolutions we would recommend. Starting a new job is like starting a new chapter in your life. After updating your resume and LinkedIn, time to apply for the jobs that fit your career goals for 2023!

January is a great time to start looking for a new job because that’s when companies revisit their needs and budgets.

More to that, we recommend job seekers connect or network with the right people in the organization to gain more attention, and LinkedIn is one of the best ways to do that.

6. Find a few projects you want to achieve throughout the year

For those who want to focus on their professional and personal growth this year, determine a few projects to focus on. It doesn’t have a be a lot as we want it to be measurable. Establishing one or two new projects for your job to focus on throughout the year. Propose innovative ideas to your manager that you think your department needs. This will help you achieve new goals and possibly learn new skills. When the time comes to look for a new job, you’ll get to describe and demonstrate during the interview session.

7. Stay positive

Sometimes, the grass may seem greener on the other side and it makes you feel like where you are is not good enough. Especially when you are trying to look for a new opportunity, it’s a bit harder to stay positive. The feeling of being anxious about landing a new job and starting a new chapter may cast a shadow on your current job. In this case, we want to remind you to stay positive and practice gratitude; reigniting the fire you had within you when you started this position.

Finding a new purpose or reminding yourself why you got this job in the first place will help you to be more positive toward your current position. Coming back to point 6, setting a new project is like setting a new purpose. This might lead to new career advancement for yourself as well!

8. Learn a new skill

Learning new skills is like learning a new purpose and contributes to your growth. Look for skills that are related to your career. There are always new things and products available in the market to improve your industry. Learning new skills that can bring you to a new position or grow within a company is a plus for you.

9. Reach the next stage of your career

One of the ultimate goals for your new year resolution as a job seeker or employee is to grow professionally. Are you ready for the next stage of your career? Put this as your goal while working on some of the points above. These will help you to reach the next stage of your career.