Hello 2018.

January is often the time when passive looking, turns into full on job searching. Holiday vacations are over. Bonuses have been divided between Christmas shopping and savings accounts.

If your goal is to find a new job this year, it’s time to get moving.

You can begin by starting on this list today.

Get Your Materials Together

First, make sure you resume is recruiter and hiring manager ready. Your resume is your calling card so make sure that it is a marketing document, which shows the impact you’ve had on your current and previous employers.

A boring employment history is not going to impress anyone. Employers want to know how you can solve their problems, you resume should clearly demonstrate your value in modern, easy-to-scan format.

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In our competitive job market, many candidates are competing for each position. There is only one winner and there’s no prize for second place.

Everyone looking for a job has heard that it’s important to send a thank you note. But the percentage who follow through is small.

That means, sending a thank you note is a sure way to stand out in a positive way.

It’s one of the quickest, and easiest, ways to get an employer’s attention. To keep you top-of-mind once the interview is over.

Here are 5 ways to make sure you continue to be remembered in a good way.

#1 Act Fast

Send a thank you ASAP. Try to email a note as soon as you can. Have a thank you template that you can revise as needed depending on the specific job interview.  Unless your handwriting is illegible you might want to follow up with a handwritten note as well. When was the last time you received anything besides a business letter in the office mail?

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There’s a lot of career advice online. I’ve certainly written my share. Despite all the easily accessible career information, several myths seem to remain.

The most obvious is that the best way to find a job is to apply for as many employment ads as possible. It’s not. Spending all day working the job boards is unlikely to land you a job.

Creating a list of target employers and strategically networking your way into the company will yield better results.

Here are 6 common job search myths that continue to persist.

#1 You can’t get a job through social media.

While you may not get hired by sending a tweet, employers are increasingly turning to social media for recruiting purposes. Corporate and contingency recruiters have been on social media for years. Many post jobs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and even twitter.

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Despite being a business networking tool, LinkedIn is still considered social media. The “social” in social media is why it’s essential to have a photo.

While some people feel that including a profile photo might open them up to discrimination, there is no way to hide from a potential employer. Sadly, discrimination does exist. However, you can’t prevent an employer from thinking you are too old or too young or too whatever.

The key is to have a recruiter- and employer-ready photo that shows you at your best, business self.

Add Photo Do’s

While a photo taken by a professional is nice to have, it’s not critical. A clean head shot, wearing appropriate attire, and preferably smiling is all that you need.

While you may think that employers will respond to a serious look, studies show that likable people are more apt to be hired and promoted.

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Like most things, a key element of job search success is planning. Unfortunately, many job seekers just jump right in. They begin looking at job ads and internal opportunities.

Bad idea.

Most people wouldn’t just put their home on the market without some planning. They would consider different neighborhoods, maybe research realtors, and evaluate mortgage rates. They would appraise their home and find out what they should repair or replace to get top dollar.

Yet every day, people decide that today they’re going to start looking for a new job. Once they find a few exciting opportunities they dust off their old resume and realize it needs an overhaul.

They quickly find that jumping into a job search without planning doesn’t lead to success. Here are 5 things you need to do before you begin your job search.

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For better or worse, 2016 is over. Time to make 2017 a great year. If one of the ingredients of your great year is a new job, it’s time to get going.

Even if you’re not actively looking, you should make many of these activities part of your life. You should always have your resume ready to go and an ongoing practice of networking.

If you are actively looking, get started on this list today.

Get Ready

First, make sure you resume is recruiter ready. Your resume is your calling card so make sure that it is a marketing document, which clearly demonstrates your value, not a boring employment history. Your resume should convey how you can solve a potential employer’s problems and be presented in an modern format.

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Today marks one of the most historical elections of our lives. It’s also the end of a divisive election season. One that most of us are eager to see end.

While this is not a political post, there are many career lessons to be learned from this election cycle. Here are 3 things to remember.

Be Careful with Email

My grandmother used to say don’t put anything in writing that you wouldn’t want to see in the paper. Today, that goes for email as well. While it’s unlikely that your email will be hacked by a foreign entity you can’t control who, besides the intended party, will read it.

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While being employed makes you more appealing to employers, looking for a job while you’re already working has its own set of challenges. Finding a way to take calls from recruiters and interview, and still keep your job search under the radar.

While sneaking out of the office for interviews can be tricky, other things, like being dressed appropriately for a job interview, just need a little planning.

If you work in a casual office wearing an “interview outfit” will likely be a red flag to your current employer. Just as someone coming into a casual environment for a job interview is easily spotted by everyone else working there.

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If you’re feeling stuck in your job search, it might be time to take a fresh look. This may mean changing your perspective, stepping in a little closer or taking a step back. It may mean considering the idea of doing things a different way.

I read a lot of books. Not a lot of fiction. Primarily books that will help me improve my services or help me improve myself. Right now, I’m reading a book on mindfulness by Joseph Goldstein cofounder of the Insight Meditation Society.

In the beginning of chapter six, I came across a passage that particularly caught my attention. It immediately resonated with me and I thought it would do the same for people who are frustrated in their job-search efforts.

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If you haven’t looked for a job in the last decade, or even in the last five years, you will find that things have changed. A lot. While searching employment ads used to be THE way to find a job, today it should be only one component of a job search.

Technological advances have transformed the way people look for work. The best strategy is to take a multipronged approach.

Stop Relying On Ads

Combing the job ads used to be the way you found a job. Today, searching employment ads and applying for jobs online should be only one part of your job-search strategy.  Many jobs are found through networking, online and offline. Schedule at least 2 networking events a month if you’re actively looking for a new opportunity. A referral can sometimes open doors.

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