‘Looking for a new job’ is a popular New Year resolution every year, along with ‘going to the gym’, ‘eating healthy’ and ‘spending less’.
Whilst we can’t help you with your budgeting or sticking to a fitness programme, we hope the information below will help you in your career search in the year ahead.
(if you’d like to read more tips click here to see our New Year resolutions from previous years, we’re sure they’re still helpful this year!)

1 Get refreshed!

A good read through your CV looking for what might be missing and what’s no longer relevant is a great start. Have there been new projects you’ve worked on, new skills you’ve learned or new technologies you’ve mastered? Make sure they are all on there. Similarly if there are details that no longer fit with what you are looking for then considering take them out. They could free up room for the new, more relevant information and help recruiters and hiring managers really see what you can do. (click here to read more CV hints & tips and to download a Free CV template)

2 Check out the changes on LinkedIn

LinkedIn profiles have gone through a lot of changes in 2012 including:

• what information is shown on your profile
• new sections and attachments you can choose to add to your profile
• new ways to demonstrate your skills and experience

Click on “edit profile” and look at the recommendations on the right hand side. Suggestions include: Projects, Languages, Volunteering and Certifications.

Why not have a look at profiles of those in a similar role to you and see what they use and how you can stand out from the competition.

3 Keep Track!

If you are applying for multiple jobs through different job boards, different recruiters and different companies it can quickly start to feel quite complicated. A simple spreadsheet can be helpful to keep track of what jobs you’ve applied for, relevant contact details, progress dates, reference numbers and job details. We’d also recommend taking a copy or a print out of any job adverts you apply for to remind yourself of what they are looking for and any advertised details such as salary, benefits etc.

4 Get automated

Once upon a time Friday used to be main day new job adverts would appear in the paper so it was easy to know where to look and when. But of course now adverts can be uploaded posted, shared, tweeted and emailed at any time, on any day. Luckily there are ways to let technology do the searching for you and keep you posted so you don’t miss anything. Two simple suggestions we’d make would be to use job alerts on job boards, recruiters websites and even LinkedIn as well as looking out for RSS feeds which you can add to readers such as Google reader.
(You can sign up for Escape’s daily or weekly job alerts once you register on our site and you can add our RSS feed by copying the url found here into your chosen reader )

5 Ask for feedback

From your CV and LinkedIn profile (if you use one) to interview techniques and your experience and skills there is often a real benefit to getting feedback from others around you.
There may be some areas your friends and family can help with but remember you can always ask for feedback on your application from your recruitment consultant or the hiring manager you have applied to. In particular, your consultant should also be able to give you feedback and recommendations on areas such as your salary expectations and market conditions in your sector.

These are just a few ideas on to help with your job search this year. We’d love to hear any hints and tips you have, why not share in the comments box below.