Making 2010 All That 2009 Wasn’t for Jobseekers

As a jobseeker, this is a good time to take what you learned in 2009 and fine tune it to create a new future for yourself in 2010.

2009 was certainly a year of lessons. We learned not to take anything for granted, not our jobs, our assets or ourselves. We learned that we had to set new goals, meet new people, gain new skills, and find a new job or even a new career path. Many of us learned how to live on less and developed new survival skills we never knew we’d need.

If you were new to the job market or re-entering after a long time, you were introduced to networking, even speed networking, and you probably delivered your first “elevator speech.” Did you even have one before?

Social media—from FaceBook to LinkedIn, Plaxo, Bing, Twitter and blogs—more than likely took root in your career plan. These newer communication tools connected you with the wider professional arena in your field of expertise or interest.

2009 gave us new tools for taking 2010 by the horns, seizing the reigns of what we can control—ourselves. Now it’s time to use all that learning, improve upon it, and make 2010 all that 2009 wasn’t.