Get Ready for 2026 - 5 things to do over the holidays

Relaxing over the Christmas holidays

The Christmas holidays are a great opportunity to reflect on your career to date and think about what you want from the future.

Whether you want to stay where you are, look for promotion, seek new challenges or move on, there is plenty you can do to get ready for a big push in the first quarter of 2026.

Here are five things you can do over the holidays:

1. Decide on what you want from your career We all want a job and career that we love, but few of us find it first (or second) time. Take a while to reflect on what you want from your career, be it: - Promotion - More money - New challenges - Change of company - New sector - New direction
   

2. Update your CV and get your toolkit ready Review your CV and ensure it is aligned with your target role and career. Add in your recent achievements, great projects you have completed, any successes and things you have worked on outside of your normal job description, particularly if it is relevant to your next career. How to write a winning CV Get your 'toolkit' ready - this should include all the resources you will need for your job search including copies of any blogs and articles you have written, documents highlighting your successes, examples of your key transferable skills and a list of your CPD.
   

3. Update your Networks and LinkedIn Profile Your networks - both professional and private - can help you enormously with finding a new role, career and with getting a promotion. Take a look at your current networks to see who might be able to help you and who you can quietly mention you are on the look out to. Your networks might include teams, departments and leaders in your current employer, industry and sector institutions, local business organisations, local business friends and your social networks. You also need to ensure your LinkedIn profile is up to date and reflects your new direction. See our recent blog - Five Easy Ways to Enhance Your Profile
   

4. Search for Opportunities Today's job market is very diverse and widespread and you can find opportunities everywhere, which can be a problem in itself! You need to use your networks to find 'hidden' jobs, use the power of LinkedIn and set yourself up to get headhunted. You can also get ready to search on line by finding relevant job boards, specialist websites and company websites that will have relevant opportunities for you. It is all about marketing yourself in the right way to the right people.
   

5. Get ready to be Interviewed You can't escape being interviewed as part of the job process and we all want to do well and be judged positively, irrespective of whether we get the job or not, although that is the objective! You need to anticipate the questions you will be asked about your background, knowledge, skills and motivation for moving. See our Guide to Being Interviewed
   

At the same time as doing all of this relax and enjoy the holidays!

For a great read over Christmas get our latest book - Your Next Career: Developing Your Job Search Strategy & Toolkit available now on Amazon