THE initial response of both the most dedicated and the most disgruntled of employees returning to work at this time of year is as though a completely unanticipated atrocity had been carried out over the festive season.

What makes this awful sinking feeling . . . which has invaded and set up home in most of our hearts by now . . . even worse is that it gradually unfolded while off work, and so the organisation cannot be blamed; it came about while we were at home, doing nothing much, walking, talking, pressing the remote, reaching for glasses . . . both types . . .

and occasionally, as needs must, cleaning out the fire.

This time of year is unlike any other and brings with its penchant for excess and festivities a corresponding dread.

Trapped between delusion and denial all Christmas, we know that around that much=heralded corner, there's a whole new year and potential for vast improvements and Much More Effort.

The recurring themes which pervade our mindsets right now are concerned with mortality and finding meaning, but where work is concerned, Januaries, all of them, bring us face to face with the dreams we lost last year and the prizes which could . . . but probably, crucially, won't . . .await us this year.

The few readers who greet this new year with a swagger into the office and new gained about their role, stop reading; the rest of us are sharing feelings of increased need for fulfilment driven by dragged-out disappointment at our achievements over the past year, fuelled by flighty aspirations for more.

More of that prized leisure time we'd always thought about during the year and expected to come our way by now. More freedom, more golf, more walks, more talks, more swims, more gins, more lieins, more nights out. More of the things that have just been taken from us as we return to the effortful behaviour that bought us that time and the wherewithal to indulge in fine wines and decent chocolate and a fridge full of goodies for the past two weeks. More of what we thought way back then that adult life would really bring about.

That's why recruitment companies are working flat out this month. That's why welfare officers, counsellors, industrial psychologists, career guidance experts, therapists and occupational advisors are all getting ready for their busiest time of year.

Those with a precise future focus, a good plan and a personality that doesn't rely on charm and luck to make changes will take the task to heart and set about looking for a new job methodically and slowly; those in a rush might just end up exactly where they are now, or worse, this time next year.

Because this is the time when many of us will really contemplate moving on, if not up, then sideways, so that something we feel we have lost can be replaced.

Even the largest box of chocolates and the biggest bottle of bubbly can't cover up to our consciousness what the break over Christmas exposes . . . if we don't 'fit' in somewhere at work then long breaks like this can mean lots of unpleasant after-effects well into New Year.

Job hunting is not the most pleasant way to begin a new year and getting it right means starting way back before the beginning. The term is really a misnomer as what anyone over 30 is doing when they seek out new employment is looking for more than a mere job.

We may be seeking a new place to work, but, often, we are committed by now to our vocation, or occupation, but we just don't like the feel of where we're at. So, we're not looking for a mere 'job', but looking for a more fulfilling life.

A hunt for a mere new job presumes jobs are basically about the work that they contain and not about the people doing that work. There's a presumption within the concept that there's basically a global 'job' and they are all about giving up something for reward founded on individual impulses of materialism and aspiration.

As the impulses toward both materialism and aspiration grow year on year, the cumulative effect is huge pressure and eventual succumbing to the weight of it all.

But it's more about people basically searching for fit, for belonging, for meaning and for an accommodation between their leisure-seeking selves and their effort-seeking selves. This alternate view says people are basically willing workers who have, of late especially, been betrayed by runaway corporate capitalism and by the emergence of dehumanising one-upmanship, Rich List morality and a hazy view on the horizon.

Where is that anyway?

In search of that place, new jobs are sought and CVs are brushed up.

Moving on when we reach the middle years is quite a different matter to moving on in our 20s. That's why making the decision to change jobs now involves so much more than designing a great CV and buying a new suit, strategically analysing the Sundays for appointments and targeting some top-notch recruitment firms.

Before we even have the right gear or thought up the show-off CV, we have to think about the type of person we are . . . how we socialise, how we make decisions, whether we prefer cautious moves or reckless ones, to work in groups or mainly alone, to be exposed to the public or not, to work with machines or with systems, concepts or technical areas.

Presuming we have gained the basic skill set and are educated or trained in work skills, many of which can be generalised to different types of organisation providing different types of service or product; the issue of change is all about knowing the areas of work at which we excel. And accepting the areas we leave aside and hope they remedy themselves. So, well before any approaches are made for new jobs, it's crucial to take time to fess up to what type of person you are at work.

If you cannot do this alone, seek out a career professional who can bring you through qualitative and quantitative assessments so you get a glimpse at your own profile and some objective insight into what type of organisation would best suit your impulses, intuition and insights, as these are ignored at your peril once you hit middle age.

Organisational commitment can become unstuck over Christmas holidays, and as it is related to turnover and to turnover intentions, the urge to move is born.

Commitment is a function of the costs perceived in leaving the organisation, the emotional attachment to the body of employees in terms of the organisation as a whole, and the employee's feeling of obligation to the employer. These distinguishable components of commitment were proposed by researchers Allen and Meyer (1990) and each has an effect both on turnover and on other organisational behaviours.

Some of those who are fed up will remain in situ, and usually their lack of enthusiasm will show. When commitment goes, so do many positive workplace behaviours.

Lack of attention to this important glue which binds us to work activity for those who do decide to move on means we seek out new jobs while wearing blinkers.

Recruiters' urge to fill jobs and gain finders' fees means they can ignore personality anomalies and glaring miss-fit clues too.

Looking for a new start in 2007 should begin with assessing accurately your contribution to 2006, admitting to the aspects of work you avoided, whether task-elated, peoplerelated or related to the larger organisation, and deciding if you want to shift your loyalty to a smaller organisation, a different occupation or just a less hectic work pace so that the joys of Christmas can permeate the entire year.

Patricia Murray is a work and organisational psychologist