New year’s career resolutions for job search success in 2025

Are you looking for a new job or to jumpstart your career in 2025? If so, know you aren’t alone! CharityVillage has tons of career advice available to help you find success this year. Let’s start with these 7 helpful resolutions you can put into action right now, as we kick off the new year.

1. Stay organized. Keeping organized may be easier said than done, but it is nonetheless imperative to appropriately manage, file, and store any digital and physical records and/or resources associated with your job search. This can include filing different versions of your resume, tracking your application statuses, and filing away any notes you’ve made while job searching.

2. Manage expectations. When job hunting, especially in 2025, it is important to remember that many applicants are struggling, and many hiring managers are extra busy, often juggling a larger workload than usual. It is very possible that it may take longer to hear back after submitting an application. There can be a lot of competition for jobs that are available, so keep your expectations hopeful but realistic and be gentle with yourself if your job search takes longer than you’d hoped.

3. Upgrade your skills. When the job market is competitive, upskilling and/or reskilling can help boost your hireability. Upskilling is learning to expand and enhance one’s current skill sets. In contrast, reskilling is learning new skills outside of one’s current abilities and knowledge. Therefore, reskilling is usually done to pivot careers, while upskilling is an integral way to advance and improve in your current career. In 2025 and beyond, digital skills (data analysis, web design, AI management) will continue to be in demand as technologies related to automation and AI become more interwoven with many roles. Other in-demand skills include project management, communication, and emotional intelligence.

4. Update your resume and cover letter. Invest in the time and energy needed to make the best version of your resume and cover letter possible. Read this article for how to critically refresh your resume.

5. Make connections. If you haven’t already been doing this, now is the time to build and maintain your professional connections. Look for events in your area or online for like-minded professionals. Some great places to start include signing up for a continuing education event and joining professional groups online or in person through Facebook groups, Meetup, and LinkedIn.

6. Define and expand your job hunting objective. Without a clear goal, your job hunt can be aimless. A job-hunting objective is key to keeping your job search focused. A job-hunting objective is a formal statement that specifies your job-hunting goals. This should include your timeline for finding work, what you need out of a new position, and your job-hunting strategy. Note what things are ‘must haves’ and what things are ‘would be nice’ items. By having a specified objective, you can quickly identify what roles you want to invest your time into applying for. While it is important to focus your job search to remain efficient and effective, do still allow yourself to consider roles that may not perfectly align in this objective. Keeping some flexibility in your job search could open up the possibility of a dream job that you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.

7. Take a break. Job search burnout is a real problem. Sometimes the best thing you can do is take a step back. Maybe this is for a few days, a week, or even a month. Just put the resumes and job postings aside. Find what you enjoy in life again outside of your professional pursuits, and be ready to return to your job applications with a fresh perspective.

Looking ahead to a successful 2025

In the new year, let’s all make a collective pledge to give ourselves the time, energy, and grace needed to thrive in our careers. For more information on job hunting, check out CharityVillage’s FREE Handbook for Job Seekers Guide.



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