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New Year, new job:

People whose New Year’s resolution is to find a new job should start putting together a game plan now. You’re miserable at work and you’ve had it. Or maybe you’re just starting out and haven’t quite gotten around to finding meaningful employment. You’ve vowed that 2006 will be your year — the year you find your dream job.

A lofty resolution, indeed.

“It’s not easy,” said Vanessa Grigoli, 24, of Middletown, who graduated with a master’s degree in business administration from Monmouth University last January and didn’t find a job until recently. “My biggest problem was I didn’t have any experience.”

Finding a new job — like fulfilling other resolutions such as losing weight or stopping smoking — takes sacrifice, discipline and a game plan, employment experts say.

It requires using new-age advice such as knowing what will make you happy, and heeding traditional suggestions such as writing a compelling resume. And in an uncertain economy when employers say they are hiring one day and change their minds the next, it requires a unique ability to handle rejection.

“You have to really be centered and know what you’re good at,” said Christine Nichlos, president of Options Employment Resources in Tinton Falls. “People have to take ownership of things. It’s not like it was before, when you aligned yourself with an employer and they help you carve (a career) out. It’s nowhere near what it used to be.”

The job market might be a free-for-all, but employment experts said job hunters can take some steps to make the process more manageable:

Know yourself. It helps to know what makes you happy. Do you like working by yourself or being part of a team? Are you shy or outgoing? Do you want to make a lot of money or do you value your free time?

Do you get queasy at the sight of blood? A medical career might not be for you. Do you feel guilty asking people for money? You might want to avoid sales.

“You need to first understand where you fit in the puzzle,” Nichlos said. “What are you really good at, what do you love doing, and hold your guns there. That’s where you’re going to be successful.”

Keep your chin up. No one can blame you for being a bit down. You might have been laid off after years of loyal service. You might have been rejected countless times. You might be waiting for a hiring manager to return a call you left a month ago.

But once you’re in the door, your prospective employer doesn’t have to know the depth of your frustration.

“If you come into a situation, an interview, and have a positive attitude, it’s a little contagious,” said Barbara Davis, who owns employment agencies in Red Bank and Freehold. “People realize that, and when they are hiring they want somebody who is positive anyway in their environment.”

Find the job openings. There was a time when help wanted advertisements were in a centralized place: the local newspaper. Now there are general Web sites, industry Web sites and company Web sites. There are job fairs at local colleges. There are databases at government agencies.

All these avenues notwithstanding, as many as 60 percent of jobs are found through networking, said Beverly Baskin, a career counselor who has offices in Marlboro, Freehold Township, Forked River and Woodbridge. That means job hunters should let everybody they know — neighbors, relatives, friends, colleagues — they are searching for a job.

“Contact both the personal and professional network by phone, by e-mail, personal visits, and leave with that person a copy of your resume,” said Richard White, director of career development at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

“Like the pebble in the pond, one ripple leads to another. The hope is one contact will lead to the second and third, and you’ll get closer to the hidden job market, where someone knows someone is leaving a job before it hits the newspaper as a classified.”

Polish your resume and interviewing skills. Nina Ebert, president of A Word’s Worth, a resume and writing service in Plumsted, said resumes should include a summary paragraph stating what you bring to the table, qualifications, experience and examples of a job well done. They should be succinct and contain certain buzzwords that she said human resource managers are looking for.

Don’t be modest, but don’t lie; you can expect to be asked about the resume’s claims during an interview, Ebert said.

During an interview, dress professionally, take out extraneous earrings and hide tattoos. Look the interviewer in the eye. Be enthusiastic, but hide your nerves, Ebert said.

“The one thing you definitely don’t want to do is intimidate the employer,” she said. “You have to be humble. This is an employer’s world.”

Start your New Year’s resolution early. Holiday parties –aside from your company’s –are a good time to make contacts and spread the word you are job hunting.

“Don’t fall into the trap of thinking until waiting after the holidays,” said Frank Wyckoff, owner of Snelling Personnel Services, which has offices in Eatontown, Lakewood, Freehold Township and East Brunswick.

“Now is the best time to look,” he said. “First, you have less competition because a lot of people are thinking that. And the companies doing the hiring want to do it before the new year to use up (last year’s) budget . . . and train the person so they are up and running as soon as possible.”

In retrospect, Grigoli said she didn’t have a game plan coming out of Monmouth University and she set her expectations a little high. Eventually, she decided she probably wasn’t going to make $50,000 a year right out of school, so she went to Snelling, which last week placed her with Systems 3000, an Eatontown software company.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Grigoli said. “I’m excited to start a new chapter in my life.”