1. Get a promotion or a raise
2. Change careers
3. Improve your work-life balance
4. Learn a new skill
5. Find a new job
6. Start a side hustle or a business
7. Improve your work relationships
8. Get a new degree or certification
9. Take on a new project at work
10. Get more job security

New Year, New Income 

If you’re looking to advance in your company or boost your income, getting a promotion or a raise is likely at the top of your list. To increase your chances of success, focus on building your skills, take on new responsibilities and demonstrate your value to your manager. 

Make sure to communicate why you deserve a promotion or raise and showcase your amazing work. Working hard, when no one knows you work hard, is not the best strategy and often leads to frustration. Network and build relationships with your colleagues and make sure your work is visible – they will be the ones advocating for you when opportunities arise.

New Year, New Career

If you’re feeling unfulfilled in your current job and want to explore new opportunities, the year switch is often a good time to look out for new opportunities. Changing careers may be the right move for you. To make a successful transition, consider taking on a side hustle, coach or volunteering in your desired field to gain experience and build your network. 

It may also be a good time to create a ‘learning plan’ for yourself: list out which skills you are currently missing and what you want to learn in 2023. Define long term goals and break them down into short term achievements to keep yourself on track and accountable. 

I start every single day with an hour of learning to keep myself up to date, interested and enable myself to discover new things in my career. Learning can be as easy as watching videos on YouTube, reading a book or listening to a podcast. Nowadays, access to information is widely available.

New Year, New Work-Life Balance

Many people struggle to balance the demands of their job with the rest of their lives. You work to support your life, you don’t live to work. Never forget this. Earning a lot of money, having a lot of perks and getting loads of promotions, is worth nothing if you don’t have the time to turn these benefits into ‘real life’ benefits. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, consider setting limits on your work hours. Block slots in your agenda when you are not available: mornings, evenings and breaks during the day. Remove work applications from your personal phone or set up a work profile to block notifications outside of work hours (Android, Apple).

You can also consider changing your schedule. For example, I have my full Friday blocked for concentrated work and I will not accept any meetings on Friday, in order to keep my headspace clear and get things done.

New Year, New Skills

Investing in your own development can be a great way to improve your career prospects and stay competitive in the job market. Developing your skills is always a great goal – as these skills are often ‘interchangeable’ between companies. They make you more attractive on the job market. 

Consider taking a class or workshop to learn a new skill that is relevant to your field or that you have always been interested in. This could be anything from coding to public speaking to project management. 

Again, break down your learning into small steps. Putting a New Year Resolution that says ‘become a full stack developer’ will most likely not turn out positive. Break this down in different coding languages, projects and certifications you want to obtain with set milestones.

New Year, New Job

Changing jobs ain’t the same as changing careers. Sometimes, people are very happy in their current career path but they want to explore other jobs or roles within this career. Finding a new job can be a challenging (but rewarding!) process. To increase your chances of success, make sure your resume and LinkedIn profile are up to date and tailored to the types of positions you’re interested in. 

Networking and reaching out to industry professionals can also be helpful, as they may be able to provide insight or make introductions to potential employers.

New Year, New Side Hustle

My personal favourite – explore opportunities outside of the traditional corporate track. If you’re looking to diversify your income or pursue a passion outside of your day job, starting a side hustle or business can be great. Especially if you focus on creating a ‘lifestyle’ business (monetising something you really like to do in your personal time).

Starting a side hustle can take a lot of time (believe me) but the rewards and energy you will get from it are significant. To get started, consider what you’re good at (unique skills) and what you enjoy: find ways to turn those skills into a viable business idea. Don’t care about external ‘judgement’ or ‘opinions’ – just do it.

New Year, New Relationships

Ok, do not start dating at work – BAD IDEA.

But… consider starting to build more and better relationships at work. While we spend loads of time in our personal life to meet new individuals, we for some reason do not build the same relationships at work.

Wherever you work, there is talent and people that know people. Build positive relationships with your colleagues to learn from them, get coaching or start a new project with them. By building relationships you will be more approachable, visible and you will receive more feedback in order to grow yourself.

New Year, New Degree

Sometimes we make bad decisions – we all do. The same can be true for our education. I always regretted what I studied myself. The same might be true for you and an excellent way to enhance your career prospects is to increase your value in the job market by obtaining a new degree or certification. 

For example, I studied Business Economics but started to get coding experience by building websites and obtaining certifications online. This ‘coding way of thinking’ has certainly helped me get the job I have today. Consider your career goals and the type of positions you’re interested in. Research different programs and schools offering the education you need. 

Make sure to commit, either financially or by allocating (obliged) time blocks in order to educate yourself further.

New Year, New Project

It always surprises me how many people who are working at your company ask for ‘tips and tricks’ on how to get the job you are doing. Instead of asking for tips and tricks, try to get relevant experience. If you want to work in marketing, schedule a coffee chat with a manager in marketing and ask if they have any projects you can contribute to. 

This will be the easiest and best way to build exposure for yourself and get relevant working experience when a position might open in the future. No one will deny ‘free’ help or help from someone outside of their core team. Another strategy is to just do a project (without the manager buy-in) and propose the result as a potential improvement of their already existing work.

New Year, More Job Security

2022 has been a painful year, especially in the tech industry. There is no way to deny this and it will stake a couple of quarters before things might go back to normal. Increasing your job security in today’s volatile job market might not be a bad idea.

Focus on building your skills and demonstrate your value to your employer (again: hard work is useless if no one knows you work hard). Consider if your department might be affected during a lay-off and if so, consider how you can build value for or switch to another department. Being proactive here is so crucial in order to increase your job security. 

Start building a safety net with other industry professionals in your network as they might pick you up and introduce you to other companies when things go different as planned.

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