The beginning of the year can be quite a down time. The weather is generally miserable, you have spent all of your money in Christmas and it's going to be a good few months until you can leave work when the sun is shining. It really can be a time for keeping your head down and just trying to get the few months out of the way. For that reason it may not be the time of year where you might think about finding a new job.

Nevertheless there is also the opportunity to embark on a new year and have a fresh start. So embrace the New Year and start your job search. Fortunately the New Year can be a good time of year for a job search as many employers use it as a chance to get new staff in. So how can you make sure that your job search is successful? Follow these simple guidelines.

Write a great CV

Writing a good CV should be an exciting experience. If you are not excited writing it then how can you expect someone to be excited reading it? Well yes admittedly it is not the most exciting process but it is well worth putting in the hours. To make sure the content in the CV is good you will first have to take the time to list all of your previous employment history, work experience and personal achievements. This can be quite a long task. The next thing to do is to refine what is likely to be a long and detailed list. At this stage you can be selective and choose to emphasize the work experience that is directly applicable to the job you are searching for.

If you have had jobs that have had notable responsibilities then it is important that you speak up about them. If you had a job with an unexceptional title then it is important that you make a note of the roles and responsibilities that you had within the job. Emphasize the good points and really try and sell yourself. Don't worry about sounding too smarmy or arrogant. It is important that you are not a shrinking wall flower. Remember no one else will be trying to promote you (unless you are a boxer) so it is important that you take the initiative.

Apply everywhere

The next thing you need to do is get your CV out there. The more desks it sits on the more likely you are to get an interview. This means you should take it to as many agencies as possible and send it to every job advert that relates to what you want to do. Even if you are not 100% sure from the sound of the advertisement you must remember that the more experience of interviews that you have the better you will become.

It might also be the case that the job is better than you might initially think. If you apply for a boring office job you might find that the office is a fun place or is based near town. In other words there may be things about the job that appeal to you that have not been mentioned in the advertisement and you may inadvertently find the perfect job in a place that you didn't expect.