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Weekly Newsletter Vol. 121 - December 24, 2025

Generating your Lead Story…

How to Set Yourself Up for a New Job Opportunity in the First Week of January 2026

Every year, I see the same pattern.

Hiring leaders come back from the holidays with fresh budgets, renewed urgency, and pressure to move quickly. Roles open fast. Interviews get scheduled fast. Decisions get made fast.

And most candidates aren’t ready.

They wait until January 2nd to update their resume. They “plan” to be more active on LinkedIn. They tell themselves they’ll start networking once postings go live.

By then, the best opportunities are already in motion.

If your goal is to start 2026 with interviews on your calendar, here are the five most important things I would do as a candidate—starting now—to be positioned for success in the first week of January.

1. Fix Your Resume for How Hiring Actually Works (Not How You Think It Works)

Your resume should not be a biography. It should be a decision-making document.

Most resumes fail because they:

• List responsibilities instead of outcomes

• Bury leadership and scope

• Don’t clearly answer: “Why should I interview this person?”

By mid-December, your resume should already be:

• Role-aligned (tailored to the level you’re targeting, not the role you had)

• Metric-driven (revenue, scale, teams, budgets, impact)

• Skimmable in 10 seconds

Example shift:

❌ “Responsible for customer service operations”

✅ “Led national customer service operations across 58 retail locations, delivering $70M+ in annual after-sales revenue and improving NPS by 9 points in under 12 months.”

Hiring managers don’t read resumes—they scan for proof. Give them proof immediately.

If your resume doesn’t clearly communicate level, leadership, and results, it won’t survive January screening pressure.

2. Align Your LinkedIn Profile to the Job You Want, Not the Job You Had

LinkedIn becomes extremely active the first week of January. Recruiters are searching. Hiring leaders are posting. Referrals are happening quietly in DMs.

Your LinkedIn profile needs to do three things instantly:

• Signal seniority and clarity

• Reinforce your resume—not contradict it

• Make people comfortable introducing you

That starts with your headline.

Not:

“Experienced Leader | Operations | Customer Service”

But:

“Customer Service & Operations Executive | 15+ Years Driving $70M+ After-Sales Revenue | Automotive, Manufacturing & Tech”

Your About section should read like a short executive brief:

• Who you are

• What problems you solve

• What scale you’ve operated at

• Who you’ve worked with

And most importantly: remove vague language. “Results-driven,” “dynamic,” and “passionate” don’t get interviews. Specifics do.

January hiring is fast. Your profile must reduce friction, not create questions.

3. Rebuild Your Network Before You Need It

The biggest mistake candidates make is networking after they apply.

The best opportunities in January are filled through:

• Warm introductions

• Former colleagues

• Quiet conversations before a role is public

Before the New Year, I would identify:

• 20–30 people I trust or have worked with

• Hiring managers in my target companies

• Recruiters who specialize in my space

• And I would reconnect with others without asking for a job.

Example outreach:

“Hey — I’ve been reflecting on 2025 and planning my next chapter. I’d love to catch up before the year wraps and hear what you’re seeing in the market.”

No pressure. No pitch. Just relevance.

When January hits and opportunities open, those conversations turn into:

• “We’re hiring, want an intro?”

• “Your name came up internally.”

• “Can I pass your resume along?”

Networking is not a January activity. It’s a December investment.

4. Engage in Content So You’re Familiar Before You’re a Candidate

Visibility matters more than most people want to admit.

• Hiring leaders notice people who:

• Comment thoughtfully on industry posts

• Share informed perspectives

• Engage consistently without being self-promotional

You don’t need to post every day. You do need to be present.

This might look like:

• Commenting on a leader’s post about industry trends

• Sharing an insight from your experience (“Here’s what actually moved NPS for us…”)

• Reposting content with a short, intelligent takeaway

By January, familiarity creates comfort.

When someone sees your name on their screen after weeks of engagement, you’re no longer a stranger—you’re a known quantity.

And known quantities get interviews faster.

5. Treat Job Search Like a Campaign, Not a Reaction

January rewards people who already know:

• What roles they’re targeting

• Which companies they want

• What story they’re telling

Before year-end, I would be crystal clear on:

• My non-negotiables (role level, scope, culture)

• My positioning statement (“I help X do Y by Z”)

• My interview narrative (why now, why this role, why me)

When hiring managers move quickly, clarity wins.

Candidates who hesitate, waffle, or “need time to think” often lose momentum—not because they aren’t good, but because someone else was ready.

Final Thought

The first week of January doesn’t reward motivation. It rewards preparation.

If you want interviews early in 2026:

• Your resume must already be strong

• Your LinkedIn must already be aligned

• Your network must already be warm

• Your presence must already be visible

The people who win in January are rarely the most desperate.

They’re the most ready.

If you prepare now, January won’t feel stressful—it will feel inevitable.

You can’t make this stuff up

_{(*Disclaimer: these are real experiences provided by RME's community of job seekers and hiring managers)}

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_{*We do not receive any compensation for these promoted products/services, nor for any offers or discounts listed. Rather, we provide a platform for recruiters, hiring managers, and companies to present opportunities to job seekers.}

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