New year's resolutions for your job search

Another year over and after the debauchery of Christmas, the focus is on New Year. We start pledging to do more impressive things, be better people and generally improve on what we did the year before. While undoubtedly joining the gym and losing weight top the most common new year's resolutions, we've come up with the following handy resolutions to help you get ahead in your job search and further your career.

1. Be more daring
Depending on your industry, there will not be the same number of jobs from one region to another. If you see that your profession is more dynamic, be a bit adventurous and up sticks to another town or region. Companies appreciate the mobility of candidates. This proof of motivation may even encourage recruitment.
If moving isn't feasible, consider internal mobility. In the same company, you can change jobs or service under certain conditions. A solution that can be motivating when moving away is not an option.

2. Talk yourself up more!
If you've got your sights on a promotion or a pay rise this year, you need to do the ground work. Identify what your strengths are. Perhaps you're versatile with many transferable skills or perhaps you're a dab-hand with foreign languages. Whatever the case, quanitify your values with facts and figures and wow your employer into giving you that promotion.

3. Tidy up those online profiles!
Recruiters have one common reflex when receiving applications. They open the godmother of search engines and they Google you. It's paramount that employers find what they want to see, while that they don't see what you'd rather not share with anyone outside of your close knit friend circle. This means double checking those security settings for personal networks and making sure professional network profiles are well filled in, relevant and interesting. 

4. Personalise every application.
At one time, a well written CV and Cover letter were enough to land yourself a job. Now, bulk applications just don't cut it. Hiring managers pick up on generic applications all too quickly and put them straight in the ‘no pile'. Recruiters expect you to be well informed about their company, and have a well thought out arguments to answer the common interview questions such as; “what do you know about our company” and “how would you fit our company culture”. To land the job you want, you need to personalise each and every application you send out.