CAREER RESOLUTIONS? BAH HUMBUG!

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Whether it is the improving economy or that they are more concerned with bettering their health, professionals are not thinking about their jobs when making New Year's resolutions, shows a survey developed by Accountemps, Menlo Park, Calif., a specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance, and bookkeeping professionals. Fifty-five percent report they never make a career-focused New Year's resolution and 85% indicate they did not make one last year.

"Many people focus their New Year's resolutions on ways to spend more time with loved ones or make other quality-of-life improvements," notes Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of Managing Your Career for Dummies. "But work also contributes to one's overall well-being, which makes this time of year ideal for reevaluating career aspirations and developing detailed plans for achieving them."

Messmer offers the following suggestions for developing career-focused New Year's resolutions:

Reassess objectives. Have your professional goals changed within the last year? Are new opportunities now available to you that previously were not?

Evaluate marketability. Do your skills require updating? Consider training in areas such as leadership, public speaking, and interpersonal communication.

Study trends. What are the growing industries and practice areas and which would be of most interest to you? Do you expect these trends to shift during the next 12 months?

Set realistic objectives. Allow yourself stretch goals, but make sure they are attainable. Establish a timeline for achieving them and reward yourself when you reach important milestones.