5 Ways to Jump Start your Job Search this Year
written by Jameela Hollingsworth
So the new year is here, and we’ve written those resolutions like we are supposed to … now what?! If one of those resolutions is to change your job, we can help!
Here are five ways to help you get started on your job search:
1. Update your resume
When updating your resume, be sure to include:
Any qualifications you would have earned last year
Changes in address and telephone number
Changes in references
Any additional duties you may have taken on in your current role
2. Create a list of potential contacts you wish to send it to
You shouldn’t send out your resume to random contacts without any direction. Instead, you should create a list of companies you’re interested in working with and send your resume there. The list will also help you when you are doing follow-ups to see if they received your application.
3. Draft contact email
Your resume is your first step through the door.
This is the recruiters’ first introduction to you as a candidate. Thus, your introductory email has to stand out over the hundreds of emails they receive daily.
Tip: Be Yourself! Personalise your email and use elements of your personality to give the interviewer a sense of who you are. Keep it professional, but still be yourself.
“Your resume is your first step through the door.”
4. Clean up your social media
Many recruiters use social media as a major recruiting and reference-checking tool; it is a way of forming a first impression of you before the interview. If you are job hunting, you should ensure that your social media accounts are PG-13 and contain no content you would not wish your future employers, parents or in-laws to see.
Thank me later.
5. Update your LinkedIn
LinkedIn is changing the head-hunting game in a major way! It’s an online resume that allows you to see who is checking your profile. Also, you get to make connections with professionals all over the world, and it even allows you to share bodies of your work.
It’s like Facebook for recruitment and professional networking. If you haven’t already created a LinkedIn profile, do so now.
Updated February 2024
About the Author
Jameela Hollingsworth is the owner of the HR Boss, a Caribbean millennial career consultancy with a readership in over 27 countries. The HR Boss was founded with the mission of helping Caribbean millennials kick butt and take names and be the Boss they were destined to be. The HR Boss is currently on its regional Career Tour with seminars in Barbados, St. Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.
Jameela is a qualified HR practitioner with over six years of experience in Jamaica, Barbados and St. Lucia. Currently, she serves as the HR Business Partner for a regional group of companies.
When Jameela isn't being the boss she was destined to be, she spends her free time traveling with the important people in her life and being Olivia Pope.
