A great goal for 2010 is taking your career to the next level.

Undoubtedly this year has been difficult for many people – not only those who have suffered job losses, but many employees had to take on additional responsibilities or had to endure a year without any pay increases.

New challenges and opportunities

Next year will bring many new challenges – the most important issue and front-of-mind for HR Directors will be how to ensure employees feel engaged. It would not be a surprise to see a jump in staff turnover as disengaged employees are looking for better opportunities.It is expected that we will see a strong surge in the first quarter of 2010, as we can expect strong job growth over the next year. If we look at the overall trend, ads rose 1.6 per cent in the fourth consecutive month of growth, since we experienced the bottom in July 2009. Almost 100,000 jobs have been added to Australia's economy in the past three months. Economists say that the recovery is gaining momentum and that the increase in job advertising will result in higher employment growth.Many companies are operating at minimum staffing levels and are struggling to meet their growth goals. The days of a hiring freeze is over and a number of companies have commenced plans for recruiting new staff. A number of recruiters have reported a healthy increase in the number of assignments on their books.

Being Strategic

For any professional a career move requires a specific plan, or roadmap to achieve a satisfactory change. The starting point is clarity of your options and choices, by being very strategic about growing your career.Responding to job ads is not a strategic choice, as it is at best selecting which jobs you may respond to. It is much better to have a clear plan of your preferred industries, with further research of the leading companies.Through networking you will improve your hit rate of discovering the many roles that are never advertised as part of the hidden market.Most professionals can benefit from improving their skills to better market themselves and improving their personal brand. Technology and social media sites such as LinkedIn provides a great opportunity for any serious job seeker to position themselves, making it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to find you.

Action Plan

Taking a holiday break is a great time for reflection. Firstly, you want to reassess the past year. Write down all your achievements and then refine these before updating your CV – you will need a good CV for your job search. Also update your LinkedIn profile.It is normal to focus first on our frustrations and disappointments. It is much easier to identify what is wrong or missing, than to see our successes. Review your learnings and convert them into specific actions.This is also a good time of the year to reconnect with our network, particularly those you have not spoken to for some months. Catching up with your network will help you to discuss your thoughts and future plans.A great goal for 2010 is taking your career to the next level. Explore the WorkLifeGroup resources on this web site and get started on advancing your career.Good luck with your next career decision and we wish you a successful and prosperous new year.