Have you ever felt you were stuck in a rut, professionally speaking? The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the employment pasture. That may be why many working Canadians haven't looked for a new job in more than five years. In a recent survey commissioned by Accountemps, a financial industry staffing agency, 56 percent of employed Canadians said they haven't dusted off their résumés in five years, while 32 percent said it's been more than a decade since their last job search. If your job search skills are a little rusty, Dianne Hunnam-Jones, district president of Accountemps, says it's important to become acclimated to current recruitment practices. "In order for applicants to be as successful as possible, they must keep up with the latest trends and familiarize themselves with new hiring tools adopted by prospective employers," she says. As for the reasons why many have opted to remain with their existing employers, a precarious job market may be to blame. Last year, 48,000 Canadian jobs were lost across the country. And while, according to the Randstad Canada Labour Trends Study conducted by Ipsos-Reid, Canadians seem to be torn as to whether the job market will improve in 2014, one-third of respondents said they'd be looking for a new job this year. The study polled 2,076 employees and managers who, for the most part, said they were cautiously optimistic about the Canadian economy and job market. Thirty percent of employees and managers said they have more faith in the Canadian economy now than compared to early last year. (Photo courtesy FlickrCC/Waponi)