Its that time of year when we start looking towards the New Year and wondering what it has in store for us.

When it comes to our career, the New Year is the time when we often start thinking about making a clean break and getting a fresh start by setting New Year goals.

Often this means looking for a new job but setting New Year goals doesnt necessarily have to be strictly related to looking for a new job. There are plenty of things you can do in your life that will help to make a positive impact not only in your work life but in your personal life, too.

Here are some suggestions for making some changes in your career to help you make your work life more productive and interesting:

1. Start small. If youre working long hours, start by leaving work 30 minutes earlier than normal. If you bring work home every night, start by taking 1 night off. Work on getting the proper work life balance.

2. Read more. I like to alternate between reading books related to my career and fun books that I read for pleasure. It helps to mix it up a bit and keep things interesting plus it helps me to ensure I keep learning. If you commute to work on the subway or train and have plenty of time on your hands, bring a book. I took the train for almost two years earlier in my career and was always amazed when people took the train and just sat there doing nothing day after day. Use your time effectively and bring a book.

3. Join a gym or find another athletic pursuit to keep in shape. This is especially important if you live in the northern hemisphere and are currently snowed in. In the winter, it can be easy to hide indoors and put on weight waiting for the weather to improve. Keeping in good physical shape not only makes you feel better about yourself, it can provide you with more energy too.

4. Update your resume. You really should be updating your resume regularly and adding in new details as they arise but if you arent updating it on a regular basis, do it now. If the ideal job pops up, youll be ready to apply right away rather than having to rush to update it. Plus, updating your resume helps you to visually see everything youve accomplished recently and lets you see if your career is progressing as smoothly as youd like.

5. Plan your next vacation. The Christmas period is supposed to be a holiday which is probably why so many people wish you Happy Holidays but in reality were usually so busy running around doing things to get ready for it, we dont have time to relax. Start thinking now about your next holiday and where youll go. So many professionals end up putting off holidays and accumulating vacation time year after year, then they wonder why they hate work so much and always feel tired.

6. Learn to become a better networker. Networking whether casually or for business purposes is a very powerful tool that most people neglect. Dont look at networking as something that needs to produce tangible results immediately, simply decide to consciously get out more, talk to people that you meet and keep in touch with them. Youll be amazed at how trading business cards with other people and sending follow up emails with your contact details in your email signature can open new doors for you. Ive received return emails from people one year after first emailing them! They kept my email on file and when they needed to contact me, simply replied to the email I sent them a year earlier.

Carl Mueller

My name is Carl Mueller and I'd like to thank you for learning a bit more about me!

I feel that I have numerous relevant experiences during my career that come in useful when helping people with their careers:

I know what it?s like to work internationally, having worked overseas (in New Zealand, from 1994-1998).

I've survived several corporate downsizings while many of my colleagues were being laid off.

I have also experienced being laid off twice myself during corporate downsizings.

I know what it?s like to be self-employed.

I've helped many people find better jobs. I started to work as a professional recruiter in 2000 first as an Information Technology (IT) recruiter and then in general recruitment across many industries including IT, manufacturing and marketing. Since this time, I have helped many people find their dream career and it?s a great feeling.

I experienced one of the slowest hiring periods in recent memory especially during the general hiring slowdown that followed the Y2K frenzy in 1999, the bursting of the dot com bubble in early 2000, and then the employment market bottoming out following September 11, 2001.

These were certainly not great times to be a job searcher in most industries nor was it a particularly good time to be a recruiter.

Following this, I began running the day to day operations of an Internet-based company in early 2003 that focused on developing online software and subscription-based websites for consumers. It was then that I fully realized the power, usefulness and potential of the Internet which really spurred me to set up my own website which you can view in my Personal URL section below this bio.

I?m also a Platinum Ezine Articles Expert as recognized by EzineArticles.com, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. This special designation is earned by having consistently high-quality articles published and viewed on their website. All of my submissions are related to helping you find your dream career and many of my articles get reproduced on other websites by their webmasters.

Good luck with your career and I hope I have been of assistance to you!