With a new year coming up – what better time to make that bold move towards a better job, a better career – and, yes, a better life into the bargain? Come on, you owe it to yourself. Here are Monsters 5 top New Year’s resolutions that you could take to make sure you get what you want in January.

CV Update

First up – and we can’t stress how important this is – make sure your CV is newly updated and uploaded to ensure that employers can find you and have the latest information to see about your skills and ambitions.

Your old CV soon becomes out of date and gets buried as new CVs go to the top of the pile when employers come searching.

Online Presence

Yes, you thought it was fun running naked through Trafalgar Square and posting the pictures, but it’s not a good look for finding a job. You need to make sure your online presence is also as good – and as professional – as it can be.

Employers and recruiters will almost invariably check you out on social media channels before giving you an interview. Make sure it’s a nice result for them!

Professional Social Networking

You’ll increase your visibility no end using professional social media networks. They give employers an ‘in’ to who you are and what you’re doing. It’s a sort of pre-interview gambit for time-pressed recruiters and you need to make sure they get a good, fast, engaging look at you. You might even end up with a job that isn’t advertised.

Skill Up

If you were wondering why you’re not getting anywhere – or you’re stuck in a career rut – it could be time to skill up. Find out whether you’re as skilled as you think you are. Maybe you need a refresher course on something; you simply may have been overtaken by events.

Finding out what the next level of skills are that you need – and plotting a course to acquire them – will give you the positive lift you need to find a better job – or go for a better position!

Get a Plan

Create a hit list (not of the people you can’t stand) but of the companies or types of job you really are interested in. Not knowing how to progress is usually because you haven’t created a plan.

Draw up a list of the companies you’d like to work for and approach them, whether they’re advertising vacancies or not. Many high flyers and career go-getters will freely admit that most of the jobs they’ve gained were not formally advertised. These people have made the approach themselves to the companies they have chosen – and persevered.

You’d be surprised how having a plan and targeting the type of job you really want gives you an enormous amount of self-confidence – and works. After that, of course, and following tips one to four above, you’ll probably find that people start coming and looking for you without you having to do anything. That’s the strange way life seems to work.

Good Luck!