Creating career resolutions are a critical component for your success, and a new year brings new opportunities. Julie Redfield, talent management expert at PA Consulting Group, offers the following New Year’s career resolutions to take on in 2012 to help advance your career:  

• Build my professional network: reconnect with school friends, prior employers and others in my profession. You never know where that next opportunity will come from!

• Identify a mentor, at least two levels up from me, and ask them for career advice. (People love being asked for their opinion, and often mentors will open up doors for you).

• Clarify my priorities and 2012 objectives with my boss. Ask what a “great” performance would look like for me.

• Identify one person in the office that I don’t know, and make an effort to get to know them and learn what their career aspirations are.

• Make sure my boss knows my career aspirations.

• Dress like I’m the CEO. (You always want to dress for the job you want to have.)

•  Set a daily list of priorities for myself.

• Ask my boss every Monday what’s on his or her worry list, and offer my help.

•  Give at least one person a genuine compliment every day. Be specific with what I appreciate about that person.

• Rather than join in the water cooler conversation about something negative, I’m going to ask people what they are going to do about solving the problem.