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Career Path Expressway Tips: Picking Up Speed

August 21st, 2008 8:11 AM

A friend of mine asked for help in her job search recently, having struggled in the south Florida job market for the better part of a year. Knowing something about this issue, and having driven along the Career Path Expressway™ over the years, here are some of the ideas shared with her. Perhaps they would be useful for others; remember, there are no short cuts.

1) Use LinkedIn for all it's worth. Always be networking, and always be reaching out to new contacts. For a view on this, involving the concept of "weak connections" and their value see this blog entry by Patty Azzarello, a business coach and ex-colleague of this author.

2) Create an email campaign that will position you to all your contacts about what you're looking for and what specifically you'd like their help with (i.e., contacts, introductions, etc.).

3) Use your university or college alumni association for contacts, and also possibly for career counseling. It's there if you ask.

4) Participate in networking meetings (e.g., Execunet, etc.) for your area of expertise, and volunteer for a committee if necessary.

5) Decide with clarity what you want to do, and what type/size organization you want to work with (this really helps you zero in on your target companies).

6) Read, Ask the Headhunter - Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job, by Nick A. Corcodilos. Excellent approach to getting a job you want and that you can do, successfully.

7) Phone people. Speak with old contacts. Get out of the house. I'm amazed how helpful people will be once you ask them, and re-connect, even after many years of "non-contact". Email is helpful, but there's nothing like speaking live via phone (other than face-to-face, of course).

8) Hire a coach. Invest in yourself. Get feedback on your history, your c.v., everything you can. Yes, it costs, but....

9) Read every resource you can that touches on industry, people or trends that you want to be involved in, and find some way to take action, get introduced or otherwise leverage the new information or contacts that you discover in these media.

10) Always ask for other contacts, so that your "1st degree" contacts can introduce you to other contacts, and so forth.

11) Keep asking yourself, "is this really what I want to be doing?" OR "is this really where I want to work and who I want to work with?". This is critical to make sure you don't go for jobs that aren't right for you. (see no. 6, above).

12) Don't BS yourself. Even though you need a job and income and benefits, you also want to match your skills, talents, experience and interests (your passion) to the career opportunity that best serves your ongoing employment direction.

13) Be creative. Don't go in the front door, if you can get someone to introduce you to a hiring manager and take you in the side door. Find a way and make it happen.

14) Understand that timing is everything. Your timing is not always going to match that of your contact or the target company, so work with it, and keep track of all "next steps" and follow-up, follow-up, follow-up!

Others have commented that these ideas and tactics are effective. The only result that matters is landing the next, appropriate career offering. Bottom line, you have to focus, pursue and never give up. It's up to you!

Thanks for reading, and drive safely on the Career Path Expressway™. If you have other tips or ideas, post a comment or drop me a line: DCabrera@TopExec.org.

Posted by Daniel A. Cabrera on August 21st, 2008 8:11 AMPost a Comment (0)

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