But, will this really get you what you’re looking for?  Odds are, no.  This is the career search equivalent of throwing the proverbial wet toilet paper against the wall and seeing what sticks.  It highlights one of the key differences between job search and career management.  These are not the same.

When it’s time to make a change — whether by choice or necessity — most of us think about landing a professional role that not only gets us employed, but that offers at least some degree of professional satisfaction.  Said another way, we want our next job to be not just a paycheck, but a fulfilling role that is aligned with long-term career plans, growth, and (gasp) even some enjoyment.  It can be done!

What’s the missing step?  Consider the critical career management components of assessment and goals.  Many of us make the mistake of heading directly for the resume update in our search process; our advice is that this is not where we should begin. Rather, we suggest going through a thorough an assessment of our past/present/future career path that leads to clearly defined goals.  These goals, in turn, determine our career management and search strategy.  The revised resume is an output of this process. Said simply: When it’s time for a change, our advice is to make sure that “what comes next” is directly aligned to well crafted plans based on where we’ve been and where we want to go.

Firing out an updated resume to online postings is not the answer.  Career management, not just job search, is the ideal.  We’re happy to help.

Posted by Brian Rutter

Brian Rutter

Brian is Managing Director of Career Management Coaching at Thinkinghire, a Washington, DC-based Career Management Coaching and Executive Recruting firm. He can be reached at brian@thinkinghire.com.

If this is not how you would currently describe yourself, but would love to, have no fear. There’s a way to make some changes in your life and not switch jobs or lose a paycheck in the process.

Let’s face it: January has come and gone. New Year’s resolutions are a thing of the past. But, since the year is still young, this is a perfect time to begin thinking about the things that really matter to you in your professional life and put a plan in place for the remainder of the year to try to make some needed changes. Call it the professional housecleaning that we all need to do each February. Before the holidays, most of us created and received approval of our annual business objectives. Great.  We know what we need to accomplish by December 2011, but have we really figured out how to do that and keep that important passion spark alive in our everyday work life? When we match up the things we need to do, with the things we’d like to do and are truly important to us, we arrive at the crossroads called Career Management. It’s the place where we either approach our jobs with passion and zeal, or we take each day like eating a mouthful of stale crackers.

Granted sometimes there are circumstances that prevent us from having a job we really enjoy – and that is truly a difficult place to be. And, having navigated through a very intense couple of years of slim pickings in the job market, one could argue that we should just be happy that we have a job, given the number of people who remain unemployed.  Still, I think it’s important to question where is the love in your professional life, and start the planning for how to get there in the future.

Do you have some skills that you lack in certain areas of your profession?  Maybe it’s time to take an inexpensive and time-efficient course that can help you fill in the skill gap.  Do you have the ability to work from home but never seem to take the opportunity?  Perhaps now might be the time to take that benefit for a test drive.  Small things can make a big difference.

Grab a great new business read or join a professional organization to meet some new people. Get out there and network – maybe even outside your current industry. The point is, just try to do something you haven’t before. You never know where you might find the spark that can really ignite a much needed change in your professional life.

“Crystal Ball:  What is 2011 going to bring us??”

Ahhh.  Ooooooohh.  Ohhhhh. Im getting something – hang on… Here it is:  Crystal Ball says “Still hard to find work, but a bit easier than last year.”  
Wow, that was pretty unimpressive and now I’m wondering why I keep this thing in my closet.   Let me see if I can shine it up a bit and get some more insights…

Ahhh.  There it is…  I’m getting something now – “If you take the time to prepare for your search, you will find a job faster than someone who doesn’t.”

Hmmmmm.   I think next year I am going to use fortune cookies to write this article instead.  This isn’t going too well.

One more try.  OK –  Here goes:  Crystal Ball says: “ 2011 brings fortune and opportunities beyond your wildest dreams.”
 OK!! That’s more like it!

While I think that the ball may have exaggerated a bit on that last prediction, I think the ball could be more on track than off. The fourth quarter of 2010 brought a surge of new hiring opportunities that we hadn’t seen in a while.  December’s numbers show us an unemployment rate that is beginning to drop slowly, a very welcomed relief.  For many organizations, January begins a new fiscal year, and with that usually brings along new position openings.  If you are looking for  a job, this is all good news. So let me put the ball aside for a minute and give you a few predictions of my own that I hope will be helpful:

• Hiring for Full-time positions is going to be on the upswing. After a period of layoffs and downsizings, companies will need to replenish its talent as the economy slowly improves, hiring will resume.  As has been the case, I believe companies will continue to be conservative and will operate within shorter financial vantage points than in pre-recession times.
• Consulting opportunities will increase. The work needs to get done, and companies have fewer people to do it, and an attractive option is to bring on temporary or contracting help.  The difference in 2011 is that the average rate for contractors and temporary help will be lower than previous years, but will still be high enough to make consulting/contracting a viable option for candidates.
• This year we’ll see many people on the move. The past few years have been challenging for those in leadership roles- doing more with less, fighting layoffs, etc,  So much, that leaders could begin to look for new opportunities.  With the economy on the upswing for now, making a career move could be a possibility for more people than in recent years.
• Marketing is going be a focus for many companies this year as companies look to grow- something they have not been able to do easily in recent years.  We are starting to see agencies winning larger accounts, vendors securing larger accounts- all this points to greater opportunities for those in the industry.

For now, that’s all I’m going to even try to predict… If you want more, let me know and I’ll gladly lend you the crystal ball from the closet.

First posted at Capitol Communicator

First posted at Capitol Communicator

I have to go to a networking event tomorrow night.  The truth is, up and until the event, I dread the thought of going.  But once I get there, meet some really interesting people and feel like I’ve moved my career forward in even some small way, I always leave the event feeling great.   If you are like me, this is pretty typical.  Networking is such an important part of our professional lives, and the fact is, we really can’t afford to not do it.  So, the question then, is, how do we do it most effectively?  Recently people have asked me about the value of networking in their job search, and have asked me for a few thoughts on what makes for successful networking practices. Here are a few rules that I try to live by:

Be curious, Be Interested: Have you ever walked up to someone at an event, clearly putting yourself out there, introduced yourself, and then heard the sound of crickets?  Terrible feeling.  Well, at least you made the first move toward a potential contact and indicated interest.  The problem is, there was no dialog launch point.  In networking effectively a simple rule to live by is that you need to express a clear interest in the person you are trying to network with.  When you express an interest in someone by asking a question, chances are they will respond positively and the door to conversation opens.  Everyone wants to talk about themselves- it’s one thing they know a lot about.  Next time you network, try this trick, and you might not hear the crickets ever again.

Be Motivated: Getting to an event is half the challenge of effective networking. Put a calendar together listing a few events that you have a level of interest in attending.  Place a priority on them like you would on any other business appointment.  You might not attend all the events on your calendar, but even if you attend just one more than you did last month, you will have made some progress. Still not motivated?  These following truths might make you place a few upcoming networking events on your iPhone calendar:

• Widening your range of contacts opens you to more opportunities personally and professionally. Opportunities equal dollars, so networking can actually put money in your pocket.
• If you are looking for a job, you’ll need about 80-100 pairs of eyes to help you find your next opportunity.  Networking is a good place to start finding eyeballs.
• When you have more contacts, you have more resources to help you solve problems that may arise and make you look like a rock star in the workplace.
• More contacts means having access to more information- information that you usually can’t find on the web, or through published materials.

Be Confident: Be fearless in trying new approaches to your networking strategy if things are not working for you. Remember the old saying:  If you do what you have always done then you’ll get what you have always got…

Let me know if these tips pay off for you.

First posted on Capitol Communicator