By Sharon Bishin, Corporate & Employability Trainer

Here’s one last piece of employment advice for 2013 – take a breath!

Before you head into 2014, it might be a good time to review your job search goals and here are a few suggestions to prompt some reflection:

Look backward. Honestly evaluate what has worked and what has not in your job search to date. Are you conscientious about setting up Informational Interviews? Are you taking courses to brush up on necessary job skills? Are you tracking your efforts and making them consistent?
Look forward. Are you reflecting on the kind of job, tasks and team that would mesh most effectively with your values, interests and competencies?
Have you added volunteering to the mix to either enhance some new skills within a less-pressured context or simply to help others?
Plan it. Are you using the SMART (Specific/Measurable/Attainable/ Realistic/ Timely) model of goal-setting to break down overly-large goals into manageable pieces? Example: Aim to finish your CV, but assume it will take a full five days of 2-hour sessions to put it together, spacing out the writing of just three of the challenging Accomplishment Statements a day.
Do it. Put your goals on a calendar and follow through.
Reach out. Job search can be a lonely, daunting experience. Use the Ometz employability workshops or one-time sessions (*see below) to connect with information and people who are also focussed on finding work and candidacy-improvement strategies.
Relax. Spend some quality holiday season downtime enjoying the people you love and surrounding yourself with folks who support you in your efforts. Get some exercise in there, too.

Come back to employment hunting in 2014 energized and refreshed;
it will be a good year!
Check the Ometz calendar for our weekly workshops as well
as some ‘value-added’ sessions*:

February: ● Blogging 1 & 2 ● Jobs in Finance
March: ● Presentation Skills