There is an old saying that goes like this, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.”

I tell my clients, “You MUST have a target, because if you shoot at nothing you will absolutely hit it . . . NOTHING.”

One of the things job seekers today do most often to sabotage their job search is to be unclear about their perfect job.  When asked what kind of job they are looking for, many will answer, “Any job. Any shift. Anywhere.”  I understand about keeping your options open, but the truth is that you will not be happy in just ANY JOB.  Unless you are specific about what you can and will do in your next position, other people can’t help you find opportunities.  If your job search does not have a clear target you are very likely to hit that target . . . which is NO JOB.

Here are the 4 key ingredients you MUST be clear about in order to define a target for your job search:

1. Job Satisfaction. What do you do well that you would like to do in your next job?  What skills, knowledge and abilities would you like to use in your next career position?  What gives you energy on the job, and what sucks the life out of you?  What are you good at, and why?  These are key questions, because if you don’t have job satisfaction you will not be happy or productive in your next career — which ultimately will lead to looking for another job soon.  More than 2,500 years ago Confucius said, “Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.”  Some things never change!
2. Growth Opportunities. What kinds of growth opportunities will keep you engaged in your next job?  Is it important for you to have the opportunity to move up the corporate ladder?  Or are you more satisfied by doing work that is physically engaging or mentally challenging?  Without opportunities for growth you will, sooner or later, become disengaged from your job . . . which leads you back to the job hunt (see above).  It’s important to know yourself and what learning, development, growth opportunities you need in order to stay engaged.
3. Work Environment. Do you work best in a large company or a small one?  Do you need to have a team of people working along side of you or would you rather work alone?  Are you willing to travel or do you prefer to have a routine schedule every day?  Is relocation an option?  To where?  What kind of corporate culture fits with your personal values? Do you like a fast paced environment or one that is slow and relaxed?  What kind of boss or manager do you work best with? These are questions that you need to research before you agree to your next job. The wrong environment can be deadly to you and your career!  Do your homework BEFORE you start looking for your next job.
4. Salary Requirements. What do you need to make in order to be satisfied?  What is your target salary?  Do you need health insurance, or are you covered under your spouse’s plan?  Are retirement benefits important? How about vacation, training, etc.  One problem I see too many times is that people put the salary question first.  That’s a BAD idea!  As we have discovered above, if you aren’t satisfied on your job, don’t have opportunity for growth, and are working in the wrong environment you will not be happy.  If you are not happy in your career it doesn’t really matter how much money you make, because you are not likely to stay there long.  Salary considerations are important, but only so far as they fit in with the other three keys to your perfect career.

Identify these 4 keys to your perfect career and your job search will start to move along quickly.  By being clear on what you are looking for, you will see more opportunities and you will help others (i.e. your network) help you find potential jobs.  Get a clear target and you will have something to aim at!

If you liked this post, you might also like . . .

Join Our Email List Email:

If you are going to build a house you will want to have a blueprint.  Otherwise how would you know if you were supposed to install a window or a door? How would you keep the roof from falling through the floor without the proper placement of the pillars?

If you are going to develop your personal brand you will want to have a strategy — a blueprint for building your personal brand.  Here are the four pillars of that blueprint.

1) Know Your Product. When marketers go about designing brand identity they begin by studying the major products in the line(s).  Wht is it? What does it do?  How does it work?  What are the feature?  What benefits does it provide to the customers? In this case the product is YOU.  What do you have to offer your current or next employer?  What are you capable of doing for them?  Most important, what are you WILLING to do?  Get as clear about this as you can.  Be specific about what you want and are able to do.  Write it down. Study it.  Create a matrix.  When building a personal brand, you must begin with product knowledge.

2) Know Your Perfect Client. The next pillar is the ability to identify with great specificity who your perfect client is.  Who is going to “buy” what you have to offer?  Who’s needs can be fulfilled by the promise offered through your brand?  This will also help you figure out how to position your product to be attractive to your clients and customers.  In this case, your clients/customers is you employer or potential employer.  Figure out what s/he needs and make your value proposition look attractive to them. Marketers conduct market research in order to be able to clearly define every minute detail of their customers.  In the job search we call that “informational interviews.”

3) Match Client Needs With Your Product Strengths. In traditional marketing, this involves the creation of a variety of marketing channels through which you promote your product’s message. Advertising professionals have found that this is most easily done through the telling of stories which place their product directly in the hands of their perfect customer.  How can you do this as a job seeker? Can you tell a compelling story that will capture the attention of a potential employer and show them how you can meet their needs?  [Hint - resume's are probably the LAST place you should try to accomplish this pillar!]

4) Sell, sell, sell. The final pillar in your personal brand blueprint is the ability to sell what you have.  In order to accomplish this you must be diligent, creative, charming, persuasive, and a skilled negotiator.  A good sales person simply helps the buyer make a decision that s/he wants to make.  What do you need to learn in order to become a good salesperson?  Remember, you only need to make ONE sale every so often, and your product is something that you are intimately familiar and (hopefully) very fond of!

That’s the blueprint for a successful personal brand strategy.  Come back tomorrow when we talk about how to promote your brand.  Happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 19.

The next few posts will focus on developing your own personal brand.  We will address questions such as: “What is a personal brand?” “Why do I need to develop my personal brand?” “How do I create a personal brand?” and more. Of course, you don’t really “create” a personal brand.  You already have one.

Don’t believe me?  Google your name followed by your home town. If you have a Facebook page or LinkedIn profile your name probably comes up on the fist page.  Perhaps you are listed in the phone book.  Maybe you have recently been mentioned in a local news article.  All of these things are part of your personal brand.

Scary? Get over it.  It’s already out there and you can’t do anything about it.  What you CAN do is manage your personal brand so that what people see about you is what you WANT them to see.

Personal branding was popularized by an article by Tom Peters first published in Fast Company Magazine (“A Brand Called You”) over 10 years ago.  He starts out the article by writing: “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

When I read that 10 years ago I implicitly KNEW that he was right but I didn’t understand HOW a person could go about creating their own personal brand.  The only brands I knew of were huge corporations with hefty advertising and marketing budgets.  What could a lone individual do to create their own personal brand?

Then along came the Internet, and social networking, and web 2.0, and Google, and . . .

Blogs, Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn and many other applications entered the scene and made it virtually impossible for anyone to keep from creating a personal brand, whether they wanted to or not.

Here are a few things you can do to manage your personal brand:

1. Be clear about the image you intend to project. If your have more than one message you run the risk of confusing people about what you are all about.
2. Make certain your brand message is consistent across all platforms.  For instance, your resume and LinkedIn profile must be in sync.
3. Back up any broad statements with objective proof.  Show numbers, dates, etc. of what you have done the backs up your claim.
4. Keep it brief.  Can you state your value proposition in 10 words or less?  If not, you run the risk of being forgettable — the death nell of any brand.

Come back tomorrow and we’ll cover some more details about creating and managing your personal brand.

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 12.  Tomorrow’s post: “What Tiger Woods Can Teach You About Managing Your Personal Brand”

Where did the year go?

Have you achieved all your career goals this year?  Did you find that perfect job you were hoping to get?  Are you satisfied with your job performance?  We are in the end of the year “Red Zone” – the time to take a look back at 2009 and prepare for 2010.  Here are 3 areas to look at NOW to improve your career next year. This is what I call the “A, B, C’s of Career Management.”

A – Annual Review

Review last year’s annual review and plan for next year’s.  Just as you change your smoke alarm battery on New Year’s Day, make this an annual habit.

Did you get an Annual Review last year?  Maybe it was in the beginning of the year, or perhaps it was in the summer.  NOW is the time for you to dig through your files and find it.  Look for areas where you got good marks and include that in your LinkedIn profile and “wins” list (see below).  Now take a look at the areas for improvement you and your superior set out for this year.  What have you done to move forward in those areas?  If you have already shown improvement it may be time to shoot your boss an email indicating your progress.  S/he will likely put it in your file so you can discuss it at your next review.  Be sure to share your “wins” with you boss as well.

Focus on accomplishments (activities), not on responsibilities of the job. Accomplishments will help you stand out from the crowd.

EXAMPLE — a client told me she had re-organized the office supply purchasing process and ended up saving 50% on supplies. Great job!  Even better, she asked her boss to put a copy of the “proof” for that activity in her file for her annual review, which doesn’t take place until June. She helped her boss and herself by this little strategic move, and it didn’t take more than a couple of minutes.

What could YOU have your boss put into YOUR file?

B – Brand Review

What is your personal brand?  How do you want to present yourself when people think of you?  Take a few minutes to look over and update your brand as it exists from the last year (or more).  You may want to revise your USP (unique selling proposition), or update your collateral material (business cards, etc).  Don’t forget to update your blog and website. Perhaps add a twitter account.

Don’t forget LinkedIn. Your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important tools you have in the job search.  In today’s world, potential employers and recruiters will Google your name to learn more about you – that’s a given.  LinkedIn helps your name and profile jump to the top of the Google search results.  You might want to ADD or DELETE something from your profile to update it. (Remember to include the “wins” you find while cleaning out your files (below).  It may be time to ADD or DELETE links from your profile.  How about contacts?  ASK FOR 3 RECOMMENDATIONS.  Now is the time to do it, while you are still on the top of your customer’s mind.

C – Customer Review

Go through and clean up customer Files. For many of us already to this the end of the year.  As you go through your files trying to decide what to shred and what to keep, here are a few ideas that can help you improve your career.

• NOTE WINS – what did you do this year that you consider to be a “win” for your career?  Keep track of these accomplishments and quantify the results as best you can.
• NOTE KEY CUSTOMERS/PARTNERS – who did you work with that might be willing to give you a recommendation?
• THANK THEM – you are already planning on sending out Holiday cards, aren’t you? Why not include a brief note of gratitude for what they have done for you.  Be as specific as you can. A hand-written note goes a LONG way these days.
• FIRE your 5 Worst Customers.  If you are in sales, run your own company, or have clients you no doubt have some people who suck away your time and energy.  They are never happy with what you do for them, and you probably aren’t too happy to work with them either.  Well, you don’t have to.  You are hereby granted permission to fire your 5 worst customers.
• REPLACE them with 5 new customers who fit your PERFECT CLIENT profile!  You will glad you did!

What you do now, at the end of 2009, can help you propel your career forward in 2010.  We hope these tips help you end the year strong, and begin the next with a bang!

I promise, doing just one or two of these things will move your career or job search forward!  Doing all of them religiously every year will make you outstanding!  What are you waiting for?

When you are out of work (or going through a significant life change) little things can make you feel frustrated, overwhelmed, angry and/or irritable. Today’s post is intended to help you move past those feelings and live in the reality that is today.

Today I will point you in the direction of some great resources that will help you put this job search time into a positive light.  One is an interactive diagram that is based on the work of William Bridges in his book, “Transitions.”  The other two are a couple of very well written blog posts that encourage us to think about focusing on living in the present and utilizing the gift of time wisely.

Here’s the link to the Bridges interactive diagram:  http://careeradvice4u.com/moodle/file.php/3/Transitions/engageTransitions.html.  Note, you will need to sign up for a FREE account at Careers 2.0, but it’s totally worth the brief hassle!

Our guest blogger, Larque Goodson, shares with us what she is learning about herself while on a job search.  Yesterday she wrote a post asking for Santa to bring her “presence”.  How many of us could use a heaping dose of that?! (Read Larque’s thoughts at: http://happyasalarque.wordpress.com/)

My good friend Megan Strand writes a blog (InCouraged) on a variety of subjects encouraging people, especially entrepreneurs, to take inspired action. The theme for this week was: Creating and Honoring Space…the spaces in which you sometimes find yourself, the space necessary to rejuvenate those creative juices. I am inspired by her thoughts.

OK.  That’s it.  Now click on the links above and check out the goods. Then go and enjoy the day. . . the weekend. . . and your wonderful life!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 4.  Tomorrow’s post: “How To Deal With Stress While Searching For A Job.”

Welcome December!  This month I am participating in a 30 Day Blogging Challenge with some other bloggers.  As you know, this blog is all about helping people find a new job. Not just any new job, mind you, but rather, the perfect career. That’s why we write about acing the interview, cutting time off your job search, and using Internet job boards (like LinkedIn, Monster.com, and Twitter).

This 30 day blog challenge will allow me to develop some new material to use in the Careers 2.0 website.  That means two things for you: 1) you get the opportunity to add your 2 cents to the conversation, and 2) you get it for free before everyone else! This blog is all about offering free job advice, free job resources, free resume examples, and much more. We deal with topics such as networking, building a personal brand, working with recruiters, unemployment, interviewing and salary negotiation. What would YOU like to see us cover during the 30 day challenge? I hope you will participate by adding your thoughts to the conversation.  Actually, it won’t be much fun without you! Oh, and don’t forget to pass the links along to your fellow job seekers.

While the long term goal of this blog is to help everyone in America find the perfect career for this time in their life, my short term goals are a bit more attainable. Here are my goals for 30 day blog challenge:

1. create 5 posts on Personal Branding as it relates to the job search.
2. create 5 posts on interviewing and interviewing tips for job seekers.
3. add 50 followers to Facebook blog list.
4. add 200 people to newsletter mailing list.
5. get 3 posts to get picked up by a national venue.

Thank you for joining (and encouraging) me on this 30 day blogging journey.  And don’t forget, happy hunting!

30 Day Blogging Challenge – day 1.  Tomorrow’s post: “Do You Have A Professional Photo?”

Social media posts this week confirmed the three most popular reasons to give thanks – family, friends and a four-day weekend.

Scores of posts and tweets about blissful days away from work have me wondering … does anyone like his job? Do hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans spend every day grasping for a chance at a job just so they can dream of a four-day weekend?

One friend gave me this perspective; “Don’t get me wrong, I like what I do and I don’t mind my job, I just don’t want to be there.”

So it seems like this recession offers the ideal time to evaluate the way we work and make improvements that benefit the employee, the employer and the environment. News articles and blogs point to a shift in how we exchange goods and services and earn money. Thankfully the shift includes flexible options.

Small businesses are springing up like wildflowers in the Pacific Northwest. I doubt these new business owners expect many four-day weekends, but they don’t have to worry about getting fired. They work long hours, yet can arrange a work schedule that starts earlier (in pajamas if desired), accommodates family time and is all around more flexible. It’s hard to hide from the office, but you are the boss.

Home offices are another viable option for disciplined people. Truthfully, if our bosses said, “here is your stack of work for the day, leave when it’s done,” most people would not be in the office eight hours a day. Those that can avoid distractions will be more efficient and hopefully more content.

An idea I am really fond of is flextime. The brilliant concept is widely popular in other countries and could answer issues of recession, conservation and life-work balance. As suggested by the name, the flex differs from person to person. Some want to avoid high traffic times and others need to be home when the school bus arrives. Many workers telecommute part time just because they can.

Another friend planned to leave her design job and be a consultant for other companies. She loves her company yet struggles to balance family time and work time, especially with set hours, commuting and two children. Instead of letting her go, the company’s head honcho offered her a part-time, work-from-home option in which she dictated the hours and schedule. The company retained an amazing designer and my friend got everything she needed.

On the green side of things, offices that work four 10-hour shifts, like many government bureaus, conserve energy and fuel. I realize a 10-hour work day is not ideal for all. But, the timing is right to consider all options that would help people get more three-day weekends and save companies money. It’s feasible that we can come out of the recession with more people laboring joyfully – and tweets and posts to prove it.

Do you ever have a bad feeling in your gut like you are seven years old and just stole candy? How about a grating irritation that something is not quite right?

Possibly your subconscious is trying to tell you that despite saying you have a job-hunting strategy, you are not working the process.

I have felt an agitation over the past two weeks that I could not seem to shake. Although I have met some great people and had some good opportunities for side projects come my way, something did not feel right.

And it wasn’t. I got distracted and stopped doing the work required to find my perfect career. I have not been procrastinating nor did I really feel stuck. I just got overwhelmed with distractions. With this realization, I did what everyone should do once in awhile to check their progress … go back to the beginning!

My introduction to www.CareerAdvice4U.com lit a fire in my brain and under my rear. I was enthralled with the videos showing job seekers posting their strategy on the wall, step by step, with sticky notes of planned actions and benchmarks for each step. I followed suit.

But somewhere along the process I stopped holding myself accountable for those actions and steps. I let the Career Crossroads workbook sit a little too long. I set informational interviews but didn’t ask great questions. In short, I forgot about the end goal – TO FIND A PERFECT CAREER!

No wonder I feel irritated. I have been letting myself down each day I don’t work toward my goal. I am also not being a good example for others who need a proven system for finding a great job.

Thankfully, I am not one to waste time administering lashes or defeating thoughts. I am clear now and consider this hiccup part of life. To be fair, I it has been two months or less since a friend recommended CareerAdvice4U. I have accomplished some of the actions and benchmarks on my wall. I just needed to get my nose is back in the workbook, where it should be, and attack this process with the zeal I had day one.

I implore other people who are unemployed, under employed or just pining for a career change to help me stay on target. If you have tips for networking, informational interviews or ways to target companies – please share! I promise that as I learn, I will do the same.

I believe recovery is coming. I can almost hear local companies taking a deep breath and exhaling with a vision of future growth. And I want to be ready.

Sticking to your guns can be difficult when you have been searching for a job for awhile – even a month. You know exactly what you want, from atmosphere to pay, but an “okay” offer seems better than no offer. I am not trying to pick on employment agencies, but I have another story of lessons learned from poor choices.

My second experience with an employment agency in Portland started on the right foot. The gal got me – I mean really got me. She found a job that started at a fairly menial wage and position on the totem pole, but would quickly turn into a management position in an executive office suite. The variety, challenge and communications aspects of the job were right up my alley, so I took it.

It was important to me that I work for the agency for awhile and not be “bought out” by their client. The two main reasons were the reliability of the agency and health insurance. I didn’t know this new company well enough to trust them.

I have always been a bit naïve, with a little too much faith in people. So when my new company told me they wanted to end the contract with the employment agency so they could pay me more – and I would get insurance, I hesitated, but fell for it. You can probably see the rest of the story unfolding.

Within two weeks, I had discovered the company had no insurance plan, no intention of raising my pay, and tons of problems with the new facility and angry tenants. To salt the wound – actually dump lemon juice in it – I found out the company would soon be served legal papers for owing the property manager almost $200,000. (Don’t hire an ex-reporter if you want to hide issues.) They had only been in the building nine months. Meanwhile, I was doing managerial work for $10 an hour while my boss was at home nursing.

Now, this experience was part of my process. I met a lifelong friend here and dozens of other incredible business owners. I ended up getting hired from a company a floor higher who heard of me from building tenants. But it is important to share my lesson. Although everything works out in the end, it is important to stick to your guns. You know what you want and what you are worth. Don’t be persuaded to take a job that offers a fraction of what you need to be happy. At the very least, get an option for review and pay raise (or what the job offer is lacking) in writing. And if you work with an employment agency, treat them like your personal agent. Make sure you get what you need before they get paid.

What would you give to have a career – job or business – that made you want to get up in the morning and get to work? Would you take half of your old salary to wear casual clothes, learn from your team every day or be your own boss? Have you ever had a work situation that made you happy … contented?

These questions have been rolling around my skull during my months of unemployment and even prior to being laid off. Lately, I have been talking to a lot of people who are also pondering the balance between money and happiness. Just this week a friend said he’d be happy to have a full-time job at fifth of his old salary (he was a six-figure salesman) with benefits just for the security. But then he mentioned a position that didn’t fit him at all. So I asked, if you don’t care how much you make, why not do something you are passionate about?

It all goes back to how we search for our career. If I am a square peg, then why do I keep trying to shove myself into a round hole? Babies learn pretty quickly that the triangle doesn’t fit in the hexagon spot, yet we adults have a tough time using this metaphor in our own lives.

Before you can brand yourself using the tools in www.CareerAdvice4U.com, you have to explore your passions. That’s why “Career Crossroads: Finding the Perfect Career” starts with personal assessment.

I wasn’t surprised by the results of my Myers-Briggs Type and Keirsey Temperament Tests because I had already made a long list of my passions. I already knew some of the careers I fit from past experience.

So I continue to ask myself – “what am I worth?” and “what makes me happy?” I know I don’t want to go back to being a starving reporter, but I’m not sure I need to match my previous six-figure salary along with the stress, migraines and loss of sleep that accompanied it. I think I would accept lesser pay for a boss that doesn’t scream at me – or to be my own boss and solely responsible for my successes and failures.

Possibly we can all have the perfect career and make great money. Why not? I am just suggesting that if we seek jobs only because of pay, and not because of what we are passionate about, well, we will probably be doing this entire job-seeking routine again in a year or less.

I definitely deserve money. I also deserve to be happy in my work. So, my goal is to find the medium and have both. With guidance from the career wizards, I believe we all can.