January is a month that’s synonymous with change. Many of us will have made New Year’s resolutions for 2020, promising ourselves to get stronger, be better at meal prepping and read more books. If you’ve not fallen at the first hurdle, well done to you (no really, it’s tough out there right now). 

Of course, a lot of us will also be having a long hard think about our careers. Maybe it’s time to finally ask for that pay rise? Or perhaps suggest a bold, new idea? Heck, it might be time for a total career change and become a world-famous circus act? 

If looking for a new job is on the cards, you might want to know what the busiest day for new job searches is. According the Glassdoor, today (Tuesday 7 January) is the day that people are likeliest to use its website to look for new positions. The website also reports that its sees 17% more job applications started in January than in a typical month.

So what does this mean exactly? Well, obviously, there’s a lot of competition out there in January. It also means that employers will be slower at getting back to you, thanks to the high number of applications. And you’ll definitely want to give that CV a spruce for 2020 (think about all the things you achieved last year).

With all that in mind, here are some quick job hunting tips that Stylist rounded up last year. 

• Update your page on LinkedIn so that prospective employers can easily check out your current skills, experience and aspirations. Here are six ways to upcycle your LinkedIn profile today.
• Check out the UK’s 13 best careers websites to suit all industries.
• When it comes to writing your CV, Evelyn Cotter, founder of SEVEN career coaching, advises her clients to start by looking at the job spec of one or two of their ideal roles. She says: “Pick those apart, underline the keywords, and look at the use of language, skills, traits, experience desired and then see where you can mirror those in your CV.”
• Once you’ve nailed your CV’s content, Pip Jamieson, founder of The Dots, recommends keeping it to a single page so the main points can be absorbed “in a one-minute skim read”).

After asking a friend or family member to read over your application, all that’s left to do is submit it. 

And if you’re still not even sure if you want to take the plunge and go for something new, read about the women who made a career change in their 30s work.

Go forth with your new job searches, and good luck. 

Images: Getty