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Three Simple Ways to Expand Your Professional Network

November 6, 2011 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

Over the last 25 years, networking has emerged as a tangible tool for finding employment. This trend began in the US during the recession of the late 1980s, following the collapse of Corporate America. Rather than counting on job security, people had to learn to rely on their personal connections to help them find their next job.

Even before the ’80s, Dr. Mark Granovetter of Harvard University conducted a study, concluding that 63% of all jobs were found through networking. After the year 2000, numerous source-of-hire surveys, the US Department of Labor, and other agencies have come to similar conclusions.

In February 2010 and in March 2011, CareerXroads (a staffing-strategy consulting firm in Kendall Park, NJ) revealed in their 9th and 10th Annual Sources of Hire Surveys ** that “Referrals are the #1 source of external hires.”

Their findings are backed by statistics from 30+ firms surveyed, reflecting that 76.7% of people who landed employment in 2009 and 77.8% who landed in 2010 knew someone who connected them with the hiring managers. In 2010, 50.3 % of these positions were filled through internal transfers; the remaining 27.5% were attributable via referrals; these percentages were similar in 2009.

So, whether you want to get hired from the outside or promote from within, it pays to expand your professional network. Why? Because when you are on the radar of hiring managers who are familiar with your skills and abilities, you will be top of mind for them for job openings, versus complete strangers who answer online ads.

Of course, networking is not a quick fix. It does take time to make new connections and build relationships. Even so, you have to start somewhere. Here are three ways to expand your professional network and increase your chances of meeting people who can connect you with hiring managers:

1) Professional associations: This is one of the best channels for strategic networking inside your profession. You can meet and network with members through conferences, workshops, online e-list discussions, or taking on leadership roles. Look to these three resources to find an association which will fit your needs:

Association Gateway: http://www.asaecenter.org/Directories/AssociationSearch.cfm
Weddles: http://www.weddles.com/associations/index.cfm
Job-Hunt.org: http://www.job-hunt.org/associations.shtml

2) Job search support groups: These are structured, facilitator-led groups designed to help unemployed (or underemployed) people get back to work quickly. You can network with other members who may know key contact people in your target employers. To find a job search support group in your area, check out Job-hunt.org: http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-networking/job-search-networking.shtml. Select your state from the list and see the groups listed for that state. When you find one that appeals to you, click on the group name to visit their website.

3) Volunteering: Many companies are involved in volunteering, and encourage employees to volunteer individually or on team projects. Through volunteering, you might meet hiring managers or board of director members from local companies who can see your skills in action. If they have positive experiences with you, your efforts might even lead to full-time employment, within that company or elsewhere. To search for volunteer causes which resonate for you, go to www.idealist.org, www.volunteermatch.org or http://www.catchafire.org/

With job security being more fleeting than ever, it really is about “who you know,” not “what you know.” Networking could be the key to your next dream job.

* Download a copy of CareerXroads’ 10th Annual Sources of Hire Survey here: http://www.careerxroads.com/news/SourcesOfHire11.pdf

Filed Under: Networking

The Three Biggest Mistakes Jobseekers Make on LinkedIn – and How to Avoid Them

October 29, 2011 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

LinkedIn has evolved into a top social networking site where jobseekers can get found by hiring managers searching for top talent. It is also a tool for jobseekers to build credibility with their networking contacts who can recommend them for potential employment opportunities.

Your biggest challenge on LinkedIn is to position yourself as a valuable candidate, without looking like a desperate jobseeker. If you are not attracting job opportunities through LinkedIn, see if you’re making these three serious mistakes with your profile:

Mistake #1: “Job Search” Language in Headlines and Current Employment Status

Common, generic examples are: “<fill-in-the-blank> Professional looking for <entry, mid, senior>-level position” [Headline] and “Actively exploring direct hire, contract, and consulting opportunities” [Current Employer].

This type of message will be a turn off to hiring managers, like the useless resume objective: “Seeking a challenging position in a progressive organization.” Employers don’t care about what you want; they are interested in knowing what kind of problems you can solve for their company.

Use a professional headline that conveys who you are, what you do professionally, and in which industry; but lose the “job search” wording. Instead, edit the “Opportunity Preferences” and check the box that indicates you are open to “Career opportunities.”

If you’re unemployed, put some entries into your current employment status, to show that you’re not just sitting idle, waiting for opportunities to fall into your lap. You can list that you’re a consultant in your area of expertise (even if you’ve just started your practice) or describe a volunteer project you’re involved in.

Mistake #2: Redundant / Repetitive Network Updates

If you have “Status Updates” enabled, your network will be alerted every time you make the slightest edit to your profile. While these pings might improve your search engine ranking, your contacts will be annoyed with these repetitive updates, when they see that nothing major in your employment status has changed.

A better strategy is to temporarily turn off “Status Updates” when editing your profile. Go to https://www.linkedin.com/settings/, scroll to “Privacy Controls” then click “Turn on/turn off activity broadcasts” and uncheck the box which says: “Let people know when you change your profile, make recommendations, or follow companies.”

When you have made an important change, click the “Share Profile” button to the right of your profile. This opens a prewritten email you can send to your contacts, notifying them that you changed your profile and would like their input. Doing so will create meaningful interactions with your contacts, without boring them with minor edits to your profile.

Mistake #3: Status Updates Unrelated to your Profession

Put yourself in the shoes of a prospective employer. When they visit your LinkedIn profile page, what will they see about what you have to offer? Will they see whatever career advice you’ve been reading, or some religious or political commentary? These types of posts or “likes” will do nothing to support your professional value, unless you are a career coach, clergy member or politician.

A better strategy is to post information which conveys your expertise to your network, recruiters and potential employers. These can be your own blog posts or links to industry-related articles. Here’s an example post from someone in sales: “New sales lead tracking software to replace ACT is here: <article link>”. Hint: use http://bit.ly/ to shorten links.

LinkedIn can help you make the best impression on both your network and the hiring community. If you avoid these three mistakes and follow my suggestions, you’ll go from desperate jobseeker to savvy online networker.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: LinkedIn

What’s Your Networking Style? Contact Collector or True Connector?

October 19, 2011 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

When I started my business in 1991, I had never heard of “networking” until a client invited me to a monthly dinner meeting of a business networking group, called “The National Network of Sales Professionals.” This group consisted of solo business professionals (like me) who shared best sales practices and leads.

Shortly afterward, I joined this group and remained active until it folded in 1999. Besides giving and receiving referrals, I participated in fundraising projects, served as publicity chair for two years, and eventually became the group’s business manager. I am still happily connected to several people I met from this group who are clients, referral partners or friends.

During my membership, I didn’t have high expectations that business would come my way, nor did I count the business cards I collected. I just showed up at meetings and took part in the activities. What I discovered was that referrals were byproducts of me simply being myself and having meaningful interactions with fellow members.

My networking style has carried forward to how I conduct myself today, amidst the social media maze of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and others. Both online and offline, I am mindful about the quality of my connections and the potential for relationship-building instead of treating networking like a “numbers game,” striving to amass a large number of friends, followers or fans.

People who are only concerned with the numbers are who I call “contact collectors.” I watch them rapidly giving and collecting business cards at live events or racking up online contacts, without considering the nature of the relationships they are trying to establish. In contrast, I’m much more interested in making true connections.

Apparently, true connections also work for people in career transition. In February 2010 and in March 2011, CareerXroads (a staffing-strategy consulting firm in Kendall Park, NJ) revealed in their 9th and 10th Annual Sources of Hire Surveys that “Referrals are the #1 source of external hires.” What this means is that employers will hire people recommended by folks who they know, like and trust, over complete strangers.

If you want to build true connections, do two things: first, be selective about who is in your network; second, know the value that you can bring to each other. For example, when someone wants to connect on LinkedIn (or you’re the one making the request), ask yourself these questions:

1. Do I know this person?

2. Have my dealings/interactions with this person been positive?

3. Would I be willing to write this person a recommendation?

4. Can I comfortably ask this person for a recommendation?

If you answered “yes” to questions 1 and 2, this person qualifies as a true connection. Questions 3 and 4 are more relevant for longer-term relationships. Either way, you can still apply this thoughtful approach to any setting where you’re meeting new people.

Whatever your networking style might be, I can attest that being a true connector instead of a contact collector will help you build authentic, credible and solid relationships with people who will support your personal and professional goals — and vice versa.

Filed Under: Networking, Social Media Tagged With: Relationships

How To Keep Your Resume Updated

October 13, 2011 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

Keeping your resume updated should be a continual career management practice as you change jobs or promote within your company. You never know when a promising career opportunity will unexpectedly fall into your lap, which will require sending a resume to the hiring manager on a moment’s notice. Besides this, in today’s shaky economy, you can’t predict when you may become suddenly unemployed and back into a job search.

If your resume is several years out-of-date, you’ll be ill-equipped to confidently enter the job market. In crisis mode, you might put together a “quickie” resume that probably won’t sell you to your best advantage. Instead, be prepared by updating your resume while you’re employed or in your early days of a severance package; you’ll have one less thing to worry about when you do need it.

How far back to go? According to most hiring managers, all you need to include is the most recent 10-15 years of work experience. Since it is now October 2011, you need not go back further in your career history than October 1996, give or take a few months. You can either eliminate prior experience or abbreviate it, i.e., describe the positions in short paragraph form at the end of your resume, without listing dates.

What information to include? List your most recent employer and your current position, including if you’ve been promoted or had a lateral move. Next, put your former employers and positions held in those companies. Include any accomplishments as well as awards, college degrees, certifications, licenses, computer skills and foreign language skills you’ve acquired or industry associations you’ve joined. If you have gaps in your work history, you can incorporate volunteer projects, part-time work, and temp, contract or consulting assignments. (Download this Resume Update Form, to organize your content.)

How to describe your work-related tasks? If you have company-prepared job descriptions, use these as a basis for résumé content. Or, think of your typical workday from beginning to end and just write freely about your work tasks; then edit accordingly. Otherwise, go to the O*NET, type your job title into the “Occupational Quick Search” box (in the upper right-hand corner); then see what content appears under “Tasks.”

What file formats to use? The most acceptable formats to use are MS Word (.doc or .docx) or an unlocked PDF; this means when you are converting the file to PDF, say “no” to any passwords required for saving or printing the document. You will also need text file versions (.txt), for online postings and applications. (Download my primer for creating text resumes.)

How to store your resume safely? Computers crash and files get lost. I cannot tell you how many clients have emailed me for copies of their resume because of these reasons. Thankfully, I’m a digital pack rat and can usually find their documents stored in my computer or external drives. I strongly advise keeping your documents backed up on a CD or USB drive.

Having a current resume can be a less daunting process when you keep it updated on a regular basis. Doing so will assure that you’ll be prepared to hit the job market running and be ready for the next career opportunity that comes your way!

Filed Under: Career Marketing Materials Tagged With: Resumes

Take Small Steps to Reach Your Big Career Goals

December 11, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

Want to reach your career goals more deliberately, with fewer roadblocks? Look to the principles of Kaizen: small steps toward continuous improvement. An excellent book on this topic is: One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way.

The author, psychologist Dr. Robert Maurer, has proven that Kaizen can help people achieve career and life goals in a gentle, non-fearful way: “Rooted in the two thousand-year-old wisdom of the Tao Te Ching-’The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step’- Kaizen is the art of making great and lasting change through small, steady increments.”

While working as a corporate consultant in the mid-1980s, Dr. Maurer became intrigued with Kaizen principles. When he saw how successfully Kaizen worked in business settings, he felt confident that he could adapt Kaizen principles to help his private clients who had trouble reaching their personal and professional goals.

Dr. Maurer saw Kaizen as a way for his clients to reach goals by getting past their natural fear of change, creativity and success. He concluded that his clients’ struggles were due to simple brain physiology, specifically the amygdala of the brain cortex, which controls the “fight or flight” instinct. Typically, when people begin a new goal or project, the amygdala automatically sets off an alarm which triggers fear, shuts down the “thinking part” of the brain cortex, and prevents forward progress.

According to Dr. Maurer, the key to using Kaizen effectively is to “tiptoe past the amygdala” and “keep it asleep” by breaking down a large goal into small, comfortable steps. By taking small steps, the brain’s cortex continues to work and starts to create “software” for desired changes which constructs new nerve pathways, builds new habits, weakens resistance, and speeds goal attainment.

To further understand this model, look to the diagram below, from page 25 of the book:

Large goal >> fear >> access to cortex restricted >> failure

Small goal >> fear bypassed >> cortex engaged >> success

For example, if you cringe at the idea of networking for job search and career purposes, start with one small step: write down the name of just one person to contact: someone who would take your call, no matter what. Next steps could be lifting the phone, dialing the number, and saying “hi” when your contact says “hello.” Most likely, since you already have a good rapport with this contact, your chat will go well, which will help you be less fearful of making your next call.

Kaizen has worked for dozens of Dr. Maurer’s clients. One compelling case study he cites is a stressed, single working mom who needed to exercise for health reasons; but she was resistant and fearful of it, besides being time-crunched with family and professional obligations. By first agreeing to march in place for 60 seconds in front of the TV every night, she joyfully expanded to full aerobic workouts within a few months.

Dr. Maurer describes six ways to implement Kaizen in chapters 2-7. One is “taking small actions” which are tiny and almost trivial. Using the networking example, think of how it can be divided into even smaller steps, i.e., picking up a pen. Another is “asking small questions.” With the same example, a small question could be: “Why is networking so scary for me?”

To learn more, visit Dr. Maurer’s website: http://www.scienceofexcellence.com/index.php or purchase his book from Amazon.com.

About the Author:

Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin is a career coach in private practice, who works with executives, managers, and professionals who are ready to make a change in their employment situation, but don’t know what that change looks like or what their next steps should be. She uses a proven, 8-module career coaching program to help her clients identify and land ideal career positions much faster than they ever could on their own. Joellyn will be happy to discuss your situation on a free call. Contact her at 508-459-2854, joellyn@career-success-coach.com or visit http://www.career-success-coach.com to learn more.

Filed Under: Goal Setting, Mindset & Motivation

Ten Things I Know About Resume Writing

December 11, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

1. Length is relative: Your resume’s length depends on your experience and profession. If you’re a recent college graduate, one page will do. If you’re a seasoned executive, two or more pages are acceptable. Even though electronic resumes aren’t affected by length, some job boards impose word count limits for online postings.

2. Go “chronological”:This format lists your jobs from present to past. Hiring managers like this format, because it’s easier to understand your career progression. Avoid functional formats – skills and achievements at the top, employers at the end – because hiring managers will have trouble matching your achievements and skills with each employer.

3. Scrap the objective: The overworked objective: “Seeking a challenging position in a progressive organization” is your resume’s ticket to the trash bin. Hiring managers don’t care about what you want. When reviewing a resume, they’re tuning into Channel WIIFM: “What’s in it for me?” All they care about is how you can solve problems for their company.

4. Brand yourself: Replace the objective with a title, which reflects your professional brand. Examples: Benefits Administrator; Java Software Programmer; Not-For-Profit Executive; Retail Store Manager. Adjust these titles, depending on the position you’re seeking, only if your résumé’s content substantiates your ability to do the job.

5. Use keywords: Resumes posted online are read by scanning software, targeting specific keywords, to select or reject candidates. Your résumé must contain keywords specific to the job requirements as well as your profession and industry. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume, 5th Edition, has a great chapter on keywords.

6. Flaunt accomplishments: Accomplishments convey how well you did your job, i.e., with sales increases, cost savings, or productivity improvements. Include 4-5 accomplishments under each job. Quantify in tangible metrics, e.g., “Expanded $1 million territory by 25% ($250,000) annually.”

7. Describe employers: Write a business description under each employer. Doing so will convey clear information about companies which may be unfamiliar to hiring managers. This descriptor, which can be 1-2 sentences, should include the product or service offered, clients served, sales volume, and number of employees.

8. Customize: Avoid using an all-purpose resume. Customize your résumé for each position you apply for. Use the job description in the ad for clues about how your experience matches the position requirements then write the content accordingly. Include your most relevant experience and minimize other career history.

9. Deflect age discrimination: List the most recent 10-15 years of your experience (with dates) which is what interests hiring managers the most. Summarize or abbreviate prior experience, without listing the dates. If you received your college degree over 15 years ago, you can omit dates of graduation.

10. People – not resumes – get jobs: Career CrossXroads’s 9th Annual Sources of Hire Survey revealed that networking is the most effective strategy for landing employment: 51% of US job openings in 2009 were filled by internal transfers and promotions; 26.7% of external hires were filled by referrals. So, don’t just post your résumé and wait. Tap into your network to find an inside contact who can hand deliver your resume to hiring managers in companies where you want to work.

Filed Under: Career Marketing Materials Tagged With: Resumes

He wanted tenure but chose high school instead – could your next career move be backwards?

October 5, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

Career Lessons Learned from Actor Luke Wilson:

Even though I’m not much of a movie buff, my husband and I usually watch one together on the weekend. A recent pick was the indie film Tenure, which at first I thought was a so-so, run-of-the-mill comedy. But the surprise ending carried a meaningful message about choosing an ideal career path, which really resonated for me as a career coach.

Tenure takes place at a fictitious New England college. Charlie Thurber (played by comic actor Luke Wilson) is the most popular English Literature professor on campus. He loves his job and his students love him. He even coaches a new professor (played by Gretchen Mol) to loosen up in the classroom and bond with her students. Even so, Charlie longs for tenure, which would bring him job security and a sizeable pay raise.

When one of Charlie’s literary articles is finally accepted for publication in an obscure online resource, the Dean and the academic committee grant him probationary tenure, with ONE condition: he works closely with a designated colleague to get more articles published; or his tenure would be revoked.

I wondered: Would he accept the conditional tenure? Is he going to become a prolific academic writer, while continuing to be a great teacher?

The answer came to me in a surprise ending: Charlie is walking down a school corridor into classroom, but not at the college: at a high school, as the new English Literature teacher. When he introduces himself to his students, his winning personality has them at “hello.”

Clearly, Charlie took a leap of faith by rejecting the tenure track in favor of what he did best and enjoyed: teaching English Literature and making it meaningful for his students. He knew literary article writing was not his strong suit and that he would be fighting an uphill battle to get articles published. He would have exhausted himself in the process, compromised his teaching abilities and put himself at risk for losing tenure and his job.

The lesson learned is this: When the job you’re doing is something you’re good at and that you enjoy, you bring your professional best to your employer, coworkers and clients. No one wins when you struggle to be someone you’re not, doing tasks that burn you out, in exchange for a paycheck and the lure of job security.

Your assignment: Go through your career history and create a list of all the job tasks you’ve ever done. Put an X through your least enjoyable activities and put a circle around your favorites. Keep this list top of mind before accepting your next position, and you’ll choose wisely like Charlie.

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About the Author:

Filed Under: Career Change

The Luck Factor: How to Increase Luck in your Life – The Four Essential Principles by Dr. Richard Wiseman (A book review)

October 4, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin 1 Comment

Do you ever wonder why some people appear to be luckier than others? You know, people who always seem to have a constant flow of good things which happen to them?

The good news is that you can become one of these lucky people. You’ll find the answers in this step-by-step guide: The Luck Factor: How to Increase Luck in your Life – The Four Essential Principles, written by Dr. Richard Wiseman, British psychologist and magician.

From three years of research, which included 400+ volunteers (ranging from “lucky” to “unlucky” people), Dr. Wiseman dispels myths of “luck” and has determined that “luck” is not a magical ability or something people are born with. Instead, “luck” is a way of thinking and believing, which people can learn and practice, to create more good fortune in their lives.

In his book, Dr. Wiseman summarizes four essential principles which “lucky” people have in common:

1) They create, notice, and act upon chance opportunities in their lives. They are more extroverted, build and maintain a strong “network of luck,” have a relaxed attitude toward life, and are open to new experiences.

2) They make successful decisions by using their intuition and gut feelings. In turn, they listen to and trust their gut feelings and hunches, and take daily steps to boost their intuition, whether through meditation or other solitary activities.

3 They expect good luck to continue, happily anticipate that their goals and dreams will come true and strive to reach them, amidst slim odds; and they keep going, despite failures and setbacks. They also expect interactions with people to be lucky and successful.

4) They can transform their bad luck into good fortune, by seeing the positive side of bad luck, believing ill fortune will work out for the best in the long run and taking steps to prevent bad luck in the future.

Dr. Wiseman’s engaging, down-to-earth style literally takes you by the hand, in his quest to help you become a luckier person. In the introductory chapter, he asks you to take a brief “luck profile” questionnaire which you’ll refer to as you progress through the book.

One chapter is devoted to each of the four principles of luck, (stated above), each of which has three sub-principles. As you read through these chapters, you’ll be asked to complete other simple exercises and questionnaires which Dr. Wiseman used in his research.

Your cumulative scores on the exercises will help you determine where you fall on the “luck” scale: lucky, neutral, or unlucky. You will also be given simple exercises to help boost your luck score in any one of the four principles.

To get the most from this book, Dr. Wiseman suggests writing your questionnaire responses in a “luck journal” where you’ll also track your observations about luck for 30 days, in a program he calls “luck school.” He cites case studies of “luck school graduates” who have significantly boosted their luck by diligently practicing the principles and doing the exercises.

Learn more about Dr. Wiseman’s research about “luck” from his website or purchase The Luck Factor from Amazon.com.

About the Author:

Filed Under: Mindset & Motivation

Conquer Negative Self-Talk Which Sabotages Job Search and Career Success

July 26, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

Job search is a healthy balance of “activity” and “attitude.” Activities are creating résumés and cover letters, applying for jobs, networking, and interviewing. The “attitude” part is how well you handle poor responses to résumés you send out, why another candidate was chosen over you, or why you don’t hear back from hiring managers when they said they would call.

If you have a positive attitude, you can quickly rebound from these setbacks. But negative attitudes and beliefs will project onto others and keep you from moving forward. You might be thinking “I’m too old – who will hire me?” even though your interviewer doesn’t have any issues about your age. This negative and stressful mindset will actually prevent you from convincing the interviewer why you’re perfect for the job.

Some say that reciting “affirmations,” present tense statements which you would like to be true in the future, will help you feel better. Ex: “I’m earning $200K annually.” Yet, if you know this statement is false, your mind will argue with “what is” causing you to suffer over stressful/negative thoughts and feelings.

Byron Katie, author of Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life, says “Suffering is optional.” She offers a method of inquiry called “The Work” – four questions and a turnaround – to challenge stressful thoughts and feelings and diminish their power over you.

Here are the basics:

First, isolate a stressful/negative thought: Ex. “There are no jobs out there.” Then, challenge this thought by asking yourself four questions:

Question #1: “Is that true?” Answer “Yes” or “No.”

Question #2: “Can you absolutely know that it’s true?” If you look closely you might see that it is not true or as true as you first thought it was. Answer “Yes” or “No”.

Question #3: “How do you react when you believe that thought?” See Emotions & Reactions List to Question #3.

Question #4: “Who would you be without that thought?” Allow yourself to imagine what your life would be like without that thought. See Emotions & Reactions List to Question #4 (same document as above; scroll to the second page)

From having questioned the thought, you probably feel better and are seeing other possibilities. Now you’re ready for the turnaround where you’ll restate your original thought to be its linguistic opposite:

Negative thought: “There are no jobs out there.”

Turnaround: “There are jobs out there.”

Ask yourself if the turnaround is as true, or even truer, than the original thought. You might say “maybe jobs aren’t as plentiful as they once were, but there are jobs.”

Next, write three examples of how this turnaround is true. You may recall people you know who landed or have read about recent hires in your newspaper’s business section.

Last, write down actions you’ll take, consistent with this turnaround. These might be making networking calls or attending another job fair.

To begin tackling your negative thoughts and beliefs with the four questions and a turnaround, download a “One Belief at a Time Worksheet” here:

Learn more about these concepts at Byron Katie’s website or purchase her book from Amazon.com

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About the Author:

Filed Under: Mindset & Motivation

A 10-Point Checklist to Define Your Ideal Career

March 24, 2010 By Joellyn Wittenstein Schwerdlin Leave a Comment

You’re finally ready to make that long-awaited job or career change. When beginning your search, you might say to yourself: “I want to see what’s out there;” or “I’m willing to look at anything which will pay a decent salary.”

Leaving yourself “open” to many kinds of jobs might get you employed quickly. But in the wise words of baseball player Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” This might be a job you accept impulsively, only to find out it wasn’t what you thought it would be, causing you to quit within a few weeks or get fired for poor performance.

If you want long-term career satisfaction-not just another job-you’ll have to do some serious research and decision making. Don’t rely on a potential employer or a recruiter to do this work for you; if you do, your career goals become theirs – NOT yours!

To help define what your ideal career might look like, use this 10-point checklist:

1. Company size: Do you want to work in a large company with opportunities for growth up the corporate ladder? Or in a small company with consistent yet satisfying responsibilities? Or would you consider self-employment?

2. Deal-breakers: What tasks have you done in past jobs which you want to avoid? What type of company or workplace culture would you never work in again?

3. Environment: What type of workplace culture is right for you? Do you prefer an environment that is controlled and predictable – or unstructured and variable? Do you prefer to work independently or under close supervision?

4. Fulfillment: What work will call on your strongest, most enjoyable skill sets, so you’re challenged and happy at work? In which industries can you do your best work?

5. Location: What city or rural location do you prefer? What might be your commuting time or travel requirements? Would you work from home?

6. Personality Type: How do you prefer to focus your attention (with people or by yourself), take in information (using hard facts or ideas), make decisions (based on logic or people and values) and orient your environment (organized and planned or spontaneous and open)?

7. Salary: What are your 5-to-10-year income goals? What benefits package will satisfy you?

8. Specialization: What areas of expertise can you master, so you’ll always be in demand?

9. Values: Which values – emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, spiritual, work/lifestyle — must be present for you to be your best in your work?

10. Work Preferences: Are you more energized by working with information, people, or things? A combination of all three? In which order?

According to Law of Attraction principles, you’ll draw into your life whatever you give your attention, energy, and focus to. Once you get clear on all 10 areas above, you’ll have a much better idea of how your networking contacts can help you in your search. Plus, you’ll be pleasantly surprised when career opportunities which meet these criteria start showing up for you!