KEY POINTS:
While you're in a contemplative mood after a feed of turkey and ham this Christmas or your thoughts start to wander as you doze on the beach, you may choose to cogitate on your future career prospects. Better still, start thinking about it now. For when you pack up the bach and head back to the old grindstone in the new year, there's no better time to look for a new job.
And the stage is certainly set for a new start early next year. Despite Statistics New Zealand recording a 0.4 per cent fall in employment over the last September quarter after a particularly strong June quarter it does, however, remain a job-seeker's market.
Indeed the Treasury estimates that the unemployment rate will remain under five per cent until 2010. Couple this with the continued defiance of the New Zealand economy to conform to consistantly gloomy forecasts, and job seekers are certainly in a strong position to get the role they have always wanted.
According to New Zealand Herald's key account manager for employment, Matt Anderson, January and February are the biggest months for employment advertising.
"Demand is such that we publish about 80 pages of employment portfolios over three days in January. It's certainly an active time in the market," he says.
Despite the increase in activity in the employment markets, New Zealand now has a far more international approach, says Nicola Pohlen, a director of recruitment firm Pohlen Kean.
"We have found more recently that it doesn't slow as much [over the holiday period] - you can come back on January 3 and find that some clients have actually just gone straight through and they just continue. Where we used to have a gap and where it used to go quiet, it doesn't."
Pohlen believes that companies start planning for the new year and they feel that they are going to have more choice if they hold off [employing people] now and go into the new year.
"You finish your projects and you have things you want to get done and then you go into the new year and you think 'right, what is my vision for the coming year?' so you are a bit more proactive."
That's not to say that businesses are not preparing to recruit staff now.
"Clients are dealing with Pohlen Kean now in preparation for the new year. It is also candidate driven. Companies know that people are busy with their own lives up until Christmas and that perhaps they're not thinking about changing career," she says.
"When they've had time to reflect over the holiday period they stand back, clear their heads and think 'right, what do I want for this year and where am I going?' and therefore there is more choice of candidates coming into the new year. It's a push-pull, driven both by clients and candidates.
"You've got to wonder whether there's a bit of a tradition in that too - perhaps it links around people's new year resolutions."
Pohlen finds that many people, rather than change their role, will seek out new responsibilities and challenges in the job they are already in.
"If people don't change their role, they will ask themselves what they want for the year and hopefully they will have that career conversation with their employer first. I think in a contemporary organisation it is quite acceptable to have those career discussions whereas historically it has been 'oh no, I need to find something else - I don't want people to know what I am thinking. It's less threatening nowadays."
Gary McAuliffe, director of the Career Planning Centre in Rotorua, believes that people unhappy in their job may not have to leave an organisation and find another job in order to find satisfaction in their workplace.
"People often benefit by breaking down and identifying the facets of their job that they enjoy and those they don't.
"We ask: 'What are the specific attributes or qualities you don't like about your job - the things that happen at work or the environmental context that generates the dissatisfaction?' Then by identifying it they can actually deal with it in their own way.
"People don't enjoy work because there is a fundamental clash between what people want out of their job and what they are currently getting out of their job. If there is a mismatch between these things then now is the time to act. You can do this by micromanaging your career - making those small tweaks that might be done in consultation with a line manager or supervisor to make the small changes that can make a big difference.
"If you don't do that on a continual basis then what happens is you get to a point five or ten years down the track where you are completely miserable and a macro change must be made which means you essentially pack up and go somewhere else. People must actively manage their career."
If a 'macro' change is imminent, McAuliffe suggests finding a new organisation with a corporate culture that suits your personality.
"You could be very happy doing one set of tasks in one culture, but completely miserable doing the same set of tasks in another culture. So the organisational culture is critical and people have to learn how to read that."
McAuliffe says that a corporate culture can often be discerned by looking at the advertising.
"For example the difference between the Vodafone and Telecom ads. Vodafone is very much a hip, youth culture and certain people will look at that and say 'Man, I'd like to work for them' but they wouldn't work for Telecom because they are seen as the old auntie."
McAuliffe suggests listing the values you want from your work rather than a plain job description.
"Try to express or articulate the job you are looking for not by the title but by a set of values and then go looking for the organisation that will actually acommodate them. That's how you find your ideal job. "
TWO KEY STEPS
1. PRIORITISE
* Think about what elements of your current job that you enjoy. Look for those in any new position.
* Identify and prioritise the most important factors in a new position such as salary, prospect of promotion, status and the team you work with.
* Decide on an optimum work/life balance - a new career could mean many more hours at the office.
* Corporate culture - is your prospective organisation a good 'fit' for your personality?
* Ethics - does the new position compromise your ethical beliefs in any way?
* Do you need to change organisations or is it possible to 'micromanage' your current role?
* Skills - are they transferrable to the new position or is some training/education needed?
* Other considerations may include your willingness to relocate, travelling time, business trips and time away from home.
2. GIVE YOURSELF A FIGHTING CHANCE
* Revamp your CV - there are a lot of jobs, but also a lot of people looking for them. You have to stand out.
* Set your sights at a realistic level - it is hard to stay positive in the face of successive rejections.
* Remain persistant - don't give up on the dream of a job you enjoy.
* Do your homework - Now you have a bit of free time to research the companies you're targeting.
