Happy new year! It’s a time for starting anew and taking stock of what you hope to achieve this year. With 11 workdays until the start of classes, I thought I’d share one thing you can do each workday to achieve your career goals.

If you accomplish all 11 of these, you’ll be taking great strides in your career development from clarifying your career interests, developing job search skills, learning workplace skills, and meeting people who may provide invaluable insight and introductions.

1. Try out a job simulation with Forage.

A job simulation mimics the real-life responsibilities of a job. Sims are an excellent way to test out different jobs for your fit and to learn more about the skills and knowledge typically needed for that job. Platforms, like Forage, offer free job simulations designed by some of the world’s top employers.

Check out our curated job simulations. Filter by your career interests.

2. Learn a new skill with LinkedIn Learning.

Yes, you just finished a semester. Can’t you take a break from learning? NO!

Well, a break is helpful to get rejuvenated for the spring semester. But learning a new skill can also be hugely beneficial. UMass Lowell gives students free access to LinkedIn Learning’s library of 1000’s of short courses.

Looking for a place to start? Skills like Excel, project management, presentation design, writing (especially business emails), Canva and hybrid/remote work are great all-purpose professional skills. LinkedIn Learning also offers courses more aligned to specific careers or type of work.

3. Enhance your AI fluency with Anthropic’s AI courses.

The need for AI skills in the job market is dominating the media. But not every career requires the same skill development. However, AI fluency is needed for nearly every career.

This is why I like Anthropic’s AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations course. This course is about when and how to use AI in whatever career you pursue. Plus, there’s an extra course—AI Fluency for students—that includes practice in using AI for career planning.

4. Update your resume and your LinkedIn and Handshake profiles.

Now that the fall semester is done, consider updating your resume, LinkedIn and Handshake with project descriptions from your classes, a list of relevant courses, part-time jobs or internships, and skills you demonstrated.

Run your updated resume by our staff. We offer virtual resume reviews every workday, even during break.

5. Organize your job search.

The state of today’s job market may mean that you will be applying to hundreds of jobs. When you get the call or email for an interview, you’ll want to remember what it’s about.

Job sites like Handshake, LinkedIn, and Indeed track your applications through your account. But you may want an easier way regardless of how you apply—through a job site or directly on the employer’s website.

There are job search organizers out there, like Huntr and JobScan. DO NOT PAY FOR THEM! The free versions are usually more than enough.

Spreadsheets can also be a useful tool. But my favorite is simply sending the webpage to Apple Notes or Microsoft OneNote. By keeping them all in a job search folder or notebook, you’ll always be able to reference them.

6. Have a career conversation with someone working in the field you’re interested in.

Not enough college students talk with people about their careers. Career conversations, also known as informational interviewing (PDF), are an untapped strategy to learn about careers and employers and to develop a relationship with someone who might play a big role in your career development.

In general, professionals are very willing to talk with college students and to help students with their careers. Because of this, don’t just consider people you know. Consider alumni and others to approach. Use UMLConnect to reach alumni who have already volunteered to talk with students. Use LinkedIn to reach more alumni and others who do work similar to your career interests.

7. Follow organizations you’re interested in on LinkedIn and Instagram.

You can learn a lot about employer culture and opportunities by following them on LinkedIn or Instagram. I’ve learned a ton about opportunities from Center for Communication on LinkedIn and about ALKU’s workplace culture (@lifeatalku) on Instagram.

On Instagram, look for employer accounts that include “jobs”, “careers” or “life” in the account name.

8. Add 5 connections on LinkedIn.

Use LinkedIn to develop your professional network. It is the best tool out there, but only if you use it. Simply having an account isn’t enough. Invite people you know including your faculty. You may discover that they know someone who does the exact career you want to.

Pro tip: When connecting with someone who may not know or remember you, don’t just use a simple invite. Include a personal note to help them know who you are and why you want to connect.

9. Practice interviewing with InterviewPrep.

While your resume gets you the interview, your interview gets you the job. Put just as much preparation, if not more, into your interview skills. We offer in-person practice interviews, but you should also practice with InterviewPrep, our virtual interview platform. Employers are using one-way recorded interviews for initial screening. Practice for this scenario by keeping your answers to 90 seconds or less.

10. Thank your faculty, mentors or professional connections.

People matter in your career development. The new year is the perfect time to show your gratitude to faculty who really impacted you, to mentors and advisors who are always in your corner, and to other professional connections.

Pro tip: If you loved a fall course or just learned a lot, send an authentic thank you email to your faculty. Grading is over, so this is all about gratitude.

11. Learn how to write a cover letter and other job search emails.

Business emails are something most college students haven’t done yet. By learning how to write effective cover letters and other job search emails, you are demonstrating critical business communication skills.

While many of these steps can be done on your own, always remember that the staff in the Career & Co-op Center are here to support and guide you on all aspects of your career development.

Even if you don’t get to all of these before classes begin, progress on a few can go a long way. It’s all about making a plan and taking action.