This year's recommendations are based on this fearless forecast, but no worries.  Even if I'm wrong, it's like chicken soup … they couldn't hurt.

Prediction/Resolution # 1: The Job Market Heats Up/Be Ready

I predicted this one last year, but it only happened in certain occupations and regions.  This year, barring tsunamis or terrorist activities, it should heat up across the U.S.  Companies have wrung out all the efficiencies they could find from their bare-bones workforces.  It's time to start hiring again.

Of course, this doesn't mean that we're returning to the go-go late 90's, where any breathing body was snapped up by some startup Internet company.  Requirements will be a little less stringent, but employers will still be looking for standout employees.  And the most desirable candidates will be coming from the ranks of the currently employed.

It's going to be like Groundhog Day.  Some hardy souls will poke their heads into the labor market and determine that it's spring out there.  They'll emerge from underground in less-than-ideal jobs and make their moves.  A ripple effect will result and this should spur even more movement.  Look for salaries to rise for new hires, resulting in yet more dissatisfaction and job change.

Sounds good, but it's not going to be open season for everyone.  Accomplishment and in-demand skills are the key to success.  Start your research now to see what's hot in your field.  Spend time reading the trades and looking at relevant postings on the job boards.  Then, pinpoint what you've done and revise your resume accordingly.

Be Ready: One resume isn't enough.  You should be prepared to recast your resume every time you approach a potential employer.  You won't change your experiences, but you will change emphasis and use the language used by each employer.  It's called customization, and it works.

Prediction/Resolution # 2: Soft Skills Rule/Prepare for Behavioral Interviews

It doesn't matter what industry or occupation you're in … it's not enough any more to be a subject matter expert.  You've got to have serious soft skills as well.  So, what are soft skills?

Communication Teamwork Problem Solving Initiative Risk Taking Dependability Persuasion

Leadership Flexibility Critical Thinking Creativity Deliering under Pressure Organization/Time Management Cultural Awareness

I could go on, but these examples should be sufficient to give you the general idea.  Employers are looking for people who embody these admirable traits.  The difference between soft skills and hard ones is that you can't carry in examples of your accomplishments in these areas to show in an interview.

It's highly unlikely that interviewers will simply run down a list of soft skills and ask you to rate yourself.  I mean, who would say that their critical thinking is poor or that they're no good at problem solving?  (Note: I have met people who report that they volunteer their deficiencies in job search, because they believe that not being forthcoming is the same as lying. This is wrong. Sins of omission are not deceitful if someone doesn't ask.)

Soft skills aren't going to be explored in a true/false quiz.  They won't be posed as hypothetical "what if" situations either.  Interviewers will ask you to describe an experience where you successfully displayed one of these soft skills.

Prepare for Behavioral Interviews: Employers select particular soft skills that are important for the position and will ask questions such as:

"Describe a situation where you displayed and tell me what the outcome was"; or "Tell me about a time when you had to use to be successful."

They're looking for specificity here; vague or tentative responses will elicit pointed follow-up questions.  Inability to produce strong, definitive answers will eliminate you from consideration.  Obviously, you need to be ready for these kinds of questions.

How to do it?  Interview yourself.  Take each of the soft skills listed above and come up with an example of your successful display of each quality.  Make some notes about each situation, being careful to describe some measurable outcome.  A good way to frame each example is through use of the STAR technique:

S - Situation: give an overview
T - Task: describe your objective
A - Action: tell what you did (don't be shy about taking credit)
R - Result: quantify the outcome to the best of your ability

It's likely that some of these anecdotes will demonstrate more than one soft skill, so you'll probably be able to re-use them.  However, be careful not to pitch just a very few episodes to most of the soft skills.  Interviewers often ask a series of behavioral questions and you'll need to have original stories for each one. 

Don't make every one a shining example of your wonderfulness.  Come up with one that demonstrates your ability to turn potential catastrophe into some kind of success.  You should also prepare one that reveals a weakness, but shows how you learned from it.

Prediction/Resolution # 3: Your Job Will Change/Accept It

Your job is going to change, if not sooner, well ... then, later, sometime.  There are bigger changes - like your job goes to India or disappears altogether - and smaller changes - like you get a new supervisor or your department is reorganized and you get stuck with the increased workload.

Regardless, you aren't likely to have much control over the situation.  It's true that it happens to you and it probably stinks (if it didn't, you wouldn't be seeing it as a problem), but there are just a few truly acceptable responses.

You can get a new job and leave.  You can resist and complain and generally make a pain of yourself (in which case, a smaller change may quickly turn into a larger change, as in you lose the job.) Or you can accept the state of affairs and make the best of it.

That doesn't mean that you just suck it up and seethe quietly.  It means that you focus on what will be in the future, rather than what was in the past.

Accept It: Fighting job change is generally futile.  If you can't make lemonade out of these lemons, at least resist the impulse to hurl them at everyone around you.  We're all stressed these days, and I don't know anyone who has energy to spare.  Don't waste yours by sounding off at the unfairness of the situation or denouncing the shortsightedness of management.

Either find the silver lining in the situation, and yes, there often is one, or make your peace with it.  Then, invest in what's best for you.  If that means looking for a new job, then refer back to #1 and get moving!

More

Here's one more fearless prediction: JobCircle won't be holding any more Pink Slip Parties.  We'll still be around and we'll still bring employers and jobseekers together, but the name will change.  We'll be accentuating the positive.  Happier days lie ahead.

Questions about job search or career issues?  Write to me at Jamie@JobCircle.com.

Enjoy this article?  Read more of JobCircle.com's Career Coach articles.

Jamie Fabian spent more than 15 years as a human resources executive before changing careers to become a senior project manager for a growing IT consulting company.  Now in management consulting for a large Pharma company, Jamie would like to be seen as a hybrid of Tom Peters, Tom Jackson, and Tom Wolfe, but spends too much time working, driving carpool and watching mindless TV to write more than this column.  You can contact Jamie with questions and comments at jamie@jobcircle.com.