Will you look for a new job in 2025? If you answered yes, then over the holiday period spend some time evaluating what you want next in your career. Think about what is important to you. If you look back over your career to date, what motivated you to make the choices you made. Have these choices made you feel excited and fulfilled in your career. Are they still making you feel this way or have things changed for you.
Take time to reflect on what you enjoy and what you don’t enjoy in your career. Everyone needs a purpose in life and your career is a big part of this.
Are you now trying to figure out if your current job or career is the right choice for you? If you are going around in circles, getting more and more confused, try taking a few hours out of your day and doing some self-evaluation.
To help you start the process of looking for a new job in 2025, follow these 3 steps –
STEP 1 – DEFINE
Before you look at your resume and LinkedIn profile it’s important to “define” who you are. Here’s what to think about first, if you are looking for a new job in 2025:
𝗪𝗛𝗢 – Who am I? What are my values, what is important to me? What are my personal attributes?
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 – What are my skills? What have I achieved in my career? What are my strengths? What comes naturally to me? What career achievements am I most proud of? What makes me happy? What energizes me? What do my colleagues and friends say are my skills?
𝗪𝗛𝗬 – Why should a company employ me? What benefits would I bring if they did?
This helps you to create your own value proposition. This is a way of understanding and communicating your ‘professional self’. It helps you communicate the value you bring to the job market, based on who you are and what you have done in your career. The key components to your Value Proposition include your Professional Identity, Your Values, Your Attributes, Skills and Achievements as well as the benefits you will bring to an organisation.
If you want to go deeper into your career journey, and create a detailed picture, then an excellent book on career change and job search is, “What Color is Your Parachute” by Richard N. Bolles. This is also a particularly helpful book for anyone just staring out in their career.
STEP 2 – COMPLETE
➤ Your Resume – Once you have defined your value proposition, update your resume. See your resume as your personal sales document. Ensure page one has the following information – personal details (name, mobile, email) career profile and accomplishments or competencies/skills, a career summary/snapshot (listing company name, your position, years you worked there)
➤ LinkedIn Profile – Ensure this is 100% complete and optimized before you reach out to your network. You wouldn’t send an incomplete resume to a job advert. Don’t reach out to anyone on LinkedIn, before your profile is “perfect” Remember, the first thing someone will do is look at your LinkedIn profile. Think about what it is telling them. Never expect anyone to read between the lines, they don’t have time.
➤ Elevator Pitch – “Tell me about yourself?” – practice your answer. It should be a maximum of 2 minutes duration. 80% of job interviews will start with this opening question. Your answer sets the scene for the whole interview. Make your answer succinct, authentic and relevant to the job you are being interviewed for. Record or film yourself to hear how you sound and see how you look. Also time yourself to ensure you keep within the 2 minutes.
STEP 3 – CREATE YOUR PLAN (to find your new job)
To help you find your new job, create a daily and weekly job search routine Doing this helps you focus on finding your new job in 2025. Know what you want and create your end goal. Set time frames and dates and monitor your progress. Keep a note of all your activity, try using an Excel spreadsheet and create your activity tracker. Read here if you need ideas on how to do this.
Be persistent, when you are job searching, this is so important. You drive it and you always follow up.
Make your network your focus. Spend 70% of your time here and 30% on recruiters and job boards.
Finally, think about your job or career change as an expedition not just a day trip. Prepare yourself that changing jobs or careers is not an overnight thing but is an exciting journey. Expeditions take time and careful planning to ensure their success.
If you are 100% committed to change, then you will keep on that journey regardless of how challenging it may be. Believe in yourself and never give up!
If you have recently lost your job then check out my recent article on coping with job loss. Read it here
Whenever you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:
- Career Clarity – Gain career clarity and get a personalized career roadmap.
- Personal Brand – Creates a LinkedIn profile and Resume that gets you job interviews.
- Interview Coaching – Nail your job interview and get the job offer.