It's a new year and time to take charge of your career.  Whether you just got a job or you've been in one for a while, now is the time to make things change.  You can start looking for a new job at a new employer or you can start getting noticed where you are.  Is there a position you want?  Go after it.  Start demonstrating to your supervisors and senior management that you have the potential to move up in the company.  How?

Whether you are ending the year with a new job or deciding to look for one in 2017, how you leave your current position can say a lot about you as a person.  It doesn't matter if you are leaving a job you hate or love, you must leave it professionally.  You never know who you will be working with in the future or if you will need a reference from a past company/supervisor.  Resigning the right way shows your integrity and reflects on how you might treat your new employer.  Little things can make or break your career and your reputation.

Part of building your personal brand is showing the world what you do.  Putting your writing and/or design samples, media clippings, speeches and other collateral pieces online can greatly build your presence.  That's what it's all about.  If you are out there, you will be found.  Your portfolio should be a reflection of who you are professionally. 

Your six seconds, what does that mean?  Studies have shown that hiring managers/recruiters scan your resume and they scan it for 6 seconds.  It's scary to think that a decision will be made in that short timeframe.  That's not a lot of time but, as a recruiter, I can tell you that it's enough to get an impression of the candidate.  Whether it's less than six or more, it still means that you have to get your message across quickly and targeted to the reader.  So what can you do?  Here are   things that you can do to make your six seconds count.

New opportunities, does it seem like they are elusive?  Ever wonder why you didn't know the job you wanted was available?  Whether you are actively looking for a new position or just open to looking at new opportunities, LinkedIn now has a new tool to help you.   It will let recruiters know that you are interested in seeing what's available without telling everyone else.  It might help you find your dream job or just let you see that the one you have isn't that bad.  And who doesn't want to know what's out there?  ' It's easy to do, just follow these steps.

Writing a perfect cover letter is extremely hard and time-consuming and it's extremely important. It should tell your story and grab someone's attention so they want to meet you. Yet it must be concise and to-the-point. The average hiring manager/recruiter will only spend about 5-6 seconds scanning your cover note before they make a decision to contact you. Can you tell your story in 5 seconds? While it's not easy, it can be done. You just need to follow some simple rules:

A new job is an exciting and stressful time. Everything you will be doing is new - new responsibilities, new staff, new boss and you might even be in a new city or doing a new commute. It's tempting to just keep a low profile until you are comfortable in your new environment and with your new duties. But that's not necessarily the best thing to do. You want and need to make a good first impression so here are 5 things you must do in your new job.

The rules to follow up after an interview are simple. First, you must do it and second, you must do it correctly. If you don't follow up, you risk presenting yourself as uninterested in the opportunity or rude. You want to show that you are courteous, attentive and a good communicator.