If you completed a successful career transition in 2010, there is a New Year’s resolution you may want to consider adding to this year’s list: Find someone who is on a career path similar to yours, but unemployed, and make a resolution to help that individual successfully find his or her next opportunity. Volunteering an hour a week of facilitation and collaboration is likely to make a significant difference in someone else’s search.

This resolution and commitment is not about a quid pro quo arrangement or about networking; this is a one-way selfless commitment toward helping someone else achieve the career success you have found. It is the concept of paying it forward.

The concept of paying it forward is about doing what you can to help another individual who eventually considers reinvesting the time you spent by helping someone else in a similar fashion once he/she has landed a next opportunity.

As a career coach, I routinely see the disadvantages of individuals who have previously spent weeks or months non-productively working through a career transition alone. Similarly, as someone who has just completed a career transition, you are likely to have alternative thoughts and strategies that would be highly beneficial to someone still in the search process. It is also likely that as part of your transition there were others along the way who made a difference for you.

Therefore, this week’s tip is that you reach out and connect with someone who is in the midst of a job transition to make that one person’s job search feel less isolated and more productive.

The career transition question for this week is, “Who can you help achieve his/her career goals in 2011?” If you found professional success in 2010, find a way to pay it forward in 2011, and it will be a Happy New Year.

Send your career-related questions to me at nsynko@SynkoAssociates.com. To learn more, visit our website at Synko Associates or follow this column each Monday in AnnArbor.com.