New Year, New Start

After the bright lights and merriment of Christmas, the cold, dark days of January can feel empty and bleak. But the good news is that this relatively quiet time gives us the opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made in the last year, and to make some positive changes for the year to come. So if you want to put your best foot forward in 2018, here are some ideas to get you started!

Start by refreshing your CV

This is a chance to revel in what you achieved during the last year, no matter how big or small. Did you complete any training or gain any new qualifications? Does your CV reflect the fact that you now have another year’s experience under your belt, perhaps with increased responsibilities? Are there any new job titles you should include, or new projects you could mention?

Temporary work can really help to strengthen your CV, as it allows you to showcase a variety of projects and companies (and even different industries) within a relatively short space of time, as well as demonstrating that you’re adaptable and quick to learn.

Likewise, if you’re a permanent employee, regularly refreshing your CV can really boost your confidence by reminding you of the skills and experience you’re gathering in your current role. This might be just the encouragement you need to take your next step up the career ladder…

Think about your career path

With your CV newly polished, it’s time to think about what you want from the year ahead.

Are you ready to expand your horizons and make a move from your current position? Think about your transferable skills – how could you turn them to your advantage in another role?

If you have a dream job in mind – what are the stepping stones that lie between your current situation and reaching that goal? Do you need to take a sidestep in order to gain more experience, or are you ready to forge on ahead?

Perhaps you’re not sure what you want to do, and you’d like to try a variety of options to find the type of job that suits you best. Or do you simply want to get some money coming in, and keep your confidence up and your skills fresh while you consider your options?

Think about your team

It’s not only candidates who can make the most of the ‘calm before the storm’ in January. For employers, the beginning of the calendar year can be a rare chance to get things in order before day to day activity ramps back up.

This is a time to be strategic: to review and learn from the past year. Were you understaffed or overstretched? Was there a skills gap in your team which held you back? Do you have ambitious plans for the new year, for which you’ll need new energy, new ideas and new talent?

We can help you work out what and who you need, and with a fantastic pool of talented and enthusiastic candidates to choose from, we could be on the way to finding your new team member before you’ve even had chance to take the decorations down!

While other people are signing up for expensive gym memberships and starting draconian diets, we hope you will join us in making some much more achievable (and ultimately more rewarding!) resolutions for 2018.

To discuss how Time Recruitment can help with the recruitment of your potential new employee, please get in touch with us, mentioning this blog, at carolineburns@timerecruitment.co.uk