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                                                      5 Career Goals to Kick Off the New Year

You’ve rung in the New Year and probably even made a few personal resolutions. But how
about career goals? To get 2015 off to a strong start, brainstorm ways to up your payroll game a
notch or two. Here are five ideas to get your started:
1. Know your weaknesses
Do an audit of your technical and soft skills. Review what your strong points are and note where
you could make improvements. Perhaps you need to work on accuracy or become more
proficient in Excel. Once you decide on your weak areas, add shoring them up to your list of
career goals.

2. Get training
Some career resolutions you can carry out on your own, such as being a better manager of your
time. For others, you need outside help. For example, if your understanding of wage law
compliance is shaky, take a class or attend a seminar. Most managers are more than happy to
help employees get the professional development they need to become more effective and
productive.

3. Become certified
The higher you want to climb on the payroll ladder, the more education you’ll need. Besides
years of experience, many managerial positions require the Certified Payroll Professional (CPP)
designation and prefer a two- or four-year college degree in a relevant field, such as accounting.

4. Raise your profile
Make 2015 the year you stand out and get noticed at work.  To do that, you need to take initiative.
In addition to asking for training and working toward a certification, you can:
· Volunteer for leadership roles.
· Look for ways to improve the department’s efficiency and accuracy.
· Offer to train new hires.
· Work toward being your organization’s payroll specialist who has exemplary customer
service skills.

5. Ask for a raise
Has your salary been stagnant? Now that the economy is improving and hiring is up, you have
more work than ever. 2015 could be the year you ask for — and receive — a much deserved
salary increase. Overall wages for payroll professionals are projected to rise at least 3 percent,
according to the 2015 Salary Guide from Robert Half, so make asking for a raise one of your top
career resolutions.

Don’t just make resolutions in January, only to forget about them a month later. To get ahead,
you need to set career goals — and to keep at them. Let 2015 be the year you take your payroll
job to the next level.

Accountemps, a Robert Half company, is the world’s first and largest specialized staffing firm
for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. Accountemps has more than
340 locations worldwide. More resources, including online job search services and the
Accountemps blog, can be found at accountemps.com.

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