New year, new job: recruiters give 4 top tips for jobseeker success

Article

The success of your new-year job hunt depends on four foundational steps.

These must-do tasks will prime you to recognise a good opportunity, apply quickly, and have a stronger chance of securing your new role.

Better yet, they’re easy to do. Keep reading to learn how to make your new year the most successful yet.

1. Lay the groundwork with a career assessment and goal audit

The first of our job search tips is to assess what you want versus what you have. The most thorough way to approach this is to make a list of the factors that matter most to you as a professional, such as how interesting and meaningful your work is, the opportunities in your current role, and how well you like your employer and their company culture.

Trusted salary benchmark reports, like our 2026 Salary Guide, are useful tools for assessing the perks, benefits, and salaries currently offered to professionals in your role, giving you a clear picture of the options available. For example, sabbaticals, bonuses, and upskilling are some of the top perks employees are negotiating for in 2026. Charting everything out clearly like this can make searching for a new job more efficient and targeted.

2. Update your professional brand

Now that you’re clear on how you’d like to develop your career, what your professional strengths and goals are, and the kinds of opportunities you want to apply for, it’s time to update your professional touchpoints. This includes your LinkedIn profile, any social media accounts you use for work, and—most importantly—your CV.

In the current hiring market, speed is everything. Being one of the first applicants through the door or having an updated CV ready to send to an interested contact could make the difference between a successful application and missing the window of opportunity. Moreover, AI screening is increasingly common in job application processes, making it critical for applicants to understand how to pick out crucial keywords in job ads to ensure their CVs make it through to the recruiter.

Updating a CV can be as simple as adding new achievements and milestones (with percentages, figures, and specific examples), new qualifications and achievements, fresh contact details (if applicable), and a mission statement that reflects your current goals and values.

3. Cultivate an advantageous skill set

Now that the foundations have been set, it’s time to begin cultivating the skill set that will help you secure your new opportunity. Our 2026 Salary Guide gives a comprehensive breakdown of in-demand skills per role and in-demand roles per sector, so you can make targeted choices. For example, many roles now require AI literacy, digital competency, and communication and analytical skills.

Good skill sets aren’t cultivated overnight, so we recommend taking a long-term, holistic approach. This could include shadowing colleagues, volunteering to support various projects and initiatives, and targeted training through your employer or independently. Remember — qualifications don’t mean much without practical evidence to substantiate them, so try to back it up on your CV with hands-on experience.

4. Play the long game

The final of our job search tips is to work on it over time, using a multi-pronged approach. You can increase your visibility and your chances of finding a new opportunity by attending industry events, reconnecting with old colleagues, and committing to regularly posting and commenting on LinkedIn.

It’s also smart to make active job-hunting part of your approach, too. Sign up for job board notifications, schedule time to search for new roles each week, and upload your CV to recruitment websites to help find that perfect role.

Finally, playing the long game also involves patience. It could take a while for your dream role to come along, and once it does, the interview process may also take time. But the right job is worth waiting for!

Explore the Robert Half 2026 Salary Guide to learn more about salaries, perks, benefits, plus in-demand skills and roles for the year. To kickstart your 2026 job search, browse the latest roles now or visit the blog for more career advice.

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