New Year, New Career: The Fresh Start Effect
Let the new year be the year you find a job you love. 96% of workers were looking for a new job in 2023. So if you are considering a new move there is no better time than a New Year it brings a new outlook, a fresh start, and a time of change.
There are two major reasons for searching in the New Year, not just the fresher outlook and mindset.
The job market winds down towards Christmas, with employers usually holding out until the New Year continuing with the resources they have. With budgets tight, training time is limited December is usually a pause on new hires. This means that come the start of a New Year, budgets are reset, and employers are internally analysing teams to ensure that the next year is successful, which will likely result in assessments of necessary roles.
With an abundance of roles, decisions need to be made. Would you like to stay in this sector? Or even in this role? Are you an admin temp sick and looking to stick down roots in a marketing role? Take steps to further develop your skills and decide what you want from the new year and beyond. A career, role, or organisation change is nothing to be afraid of.
The second reason, research suggests, is the phenomenon of “fresh start effect” This means you are more likely to succeed with a “temporal landmark” behind you, these can be the start of a new week, month, year, school term, or a birthday. The motivation that a “temporal landmark” encourages also leads you to feel more confident about yourself, this confidence could help you achieve a new role, and coming over more confident will help you at the interview stage and even when writing your CV.
As a nation, we tend to underplay our achievements, and shy away from “bigging” ourselves up, but why should you? Remember things you’ve done that could entice an employer, did you organise a Macmillan bake sale? Are you head of the team activities? Can you play the piano blindfolded? It’s not always about your skillset, yes you need to be able to do the job to the required standard but don’t underplay any other achievements you have, remember people like people not stale CVs with pages and pages of “I am a hardworking individual” why are you a hardworking individual? Be your biggest fan.
So, whether you’re buying a 12-month gym membership that you will never use but are too ashamed to cancel or you’re going to cycle more i.e. the first two days until you decide it’s too cold and you’ll start again in May.