It’s important to establish concrete goals and objectives when engaging in the job search process.  If you are planning on leaving your current job, you may want to take some time to do a little reflection.  Doing a thorough assessment of your knowledge, skills, interests, and personal and professional values will provide you with a better idea of some of the jobs you might like to do.  Also, taking a look at your personality and how you relate to people may help you to instantly identify careers that may or may not be right for you.

Taking the time to research careers can be an invaluable experience.  If you decide that you want to jump right into another job immediately after leaving your last one, it will probably be even more difficult to leave and change jobs again. You may decide that you really would like to continue in a similar career or industry or you may realize that this is a time when you want to make a complete break and do what’s necessary to establish  a totally new career.

Making a career change can be scary.  I don’t know of anyone who finds it easy to change jobs.  The biggest problem I see people grappling with is their fear of the unknown.  Even though we may not be happy in our current job at least we know what to expect. For any kind of major life change, I recommend reading, “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” by Susan Jeffers.  This is an easy to read book that provides motivation and inspires confidence when we are in a situation where we need to face the unknown.

If you are finding yourself stuck and don’t know which direction to go, perhaps career counseling can help.  In career counseling we can assist individuals in completing a career assessment as well as providing resources for exploring career options.  Career counseling is a highly individualized process and depends on each individual’s personal goals and objectives.  Career counseling can provide just the right knowledge and support for individuals looking to make a career change.

Even with all of the job sites that are available, networking is still considered the #1 strategy for finding a job.  Networking includes reaching out to family, friends, faculty, previous employers, alumni from your college, and anyone else who might be able to lead you to the right job.  We all know the old saying, “it’s not what you know, but who you know that matters”, and nowhere is that more true than when you are engaged in a job search.  Since approximately 85% of jobs are never advertised, it’s important to uncover ways that you can find those unadvertised opportunities.

In addition to all of the people you know and who you may have met while doing your job search, social networking has become a major force in the world of networking.  Using social networking sites is a way to build your personal brand and help you market yourself to prospective employers.  Social networking sites are a great way to connect with many people from a variety of industries and career fields.

 A professional online presence will give you a chance to showcase your skills and experiences and can put you in contact with people who are in a position to hire.  LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are social networking sites that you’ll want to become familiar with.  Joining groups on LinkedIn can help connect you to other professionals in your field and having an online presence can make you easy to find when hiring managers are seeking people to fill current and future job openings.

So if you have not yet gotten into social networking, I recommend that you give it a try.  It could make a big difference in the time it takes to land your next job.

The US Department of Labor’s December report was released today showing an employment increase of 103,000 (goal was 150,000) jobs and a decrease in the unemployment rate from 9.8% to 9.4%.  It is hoped that these numbers indicate that our economy is becoming more stabilized and future employment increases are expected in the months to come.  We have come a long way since two years ago when the economy lost 800,000 jobs to 2010 where over a million jobs have been added over the course of the year. In addition, business and consumer spending are growing and all indicators show that businesses are beginning to increase their production while families are showing more signs of increased spending of their disposable income.

For those Americans who are still unemployed, this is excellent news.  It’s also a good indicator that if you have become somewhat lenient in your job search pursuits, it’s time to take a more proactive approach by getting your resume out there and begin engaging in some active networking with professionals in the field.  I know many people have become discouraged over the course of the past few years since all we heard was bad reports from the media on how difficult it was to find a job.  I encourage you to develop some concrete career goals for the New Year and be ready to make this year the one where you will turn yourself around.

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy, & Prosperous New Year!

I’d also like to suggest that you put the past year behind you and begin to take action on whatever it is you would like to accomplish for 2011.

Sample Starter Goals for the New Year -

If you don’t know what you want to do, you might try getting some career counseling…

If you’ve been laid off and have not yet found a job, you might set some new goals for your job search…

If you haven’t received any callbacks from employers, you might try updating your resume…

AND you might just want to see what my colleagues from About.com have to say about:    

Ringing in Your Happiest,

 Most Successful New Year!

(click above)

Does it seem like you have been in the job market for some time now?  Are you finding that you’re getting burned out by all of the networking, job searching, and prospecting you’re doing in order to find your next job?

Looking for a job can be unduly frustrating for those individuals who have held responsible jobs for the past 20, 30, or 40 years but don’t seem to be getting much of a response from all of the resumes they’ve sent out or online job listings they’ve most recently applied to.  Of course we all know that the competition for many jobs is fierce right now; but the fact is that the current job market is causing a great deal of frustration and stress among many of the more mature job seekers who may be feeling that they may never get another job. 

Fellow About.com Guide on career planning, Dawn Rosenberg McKay, offers some excellent tips on how to stay positive in your job search. Dawn’s tips are relevant for anyone who has devoted many hours to the job search possibly to the exclusion of doing those things that provide for a healthy and balanced lifestyle.  I also recently wrote a similar article for college students on stress, that you can find on my About.com site.

Focusing all your energy on finding your next job, can end up zapping the  energy required in maintaining an effective job search.  By taking time to engage in some relaxing activities (reading, hiking, meditating, meeting up with friends, watching a funny TV show or movie, or taking up a new hobby), you will be re-energizing your batteries and creating a more positive approach to helping you be successful in current job search.

If you are a new college graduate, try using these six tips for a successful job search:

1. Keep Motivated & Maintain a Positive Approach in Your Job Search

Being proactive in your job search requires a conscious effort in maintaining a positive attitude especially after you’ve just received several “personal” rejections.  

2. Focus on Your Goals yet Remain Flexible in Your Job Search

Establishing and developing strategies in reaching your individual career goals will help you achieve success in the job search process. 

3. Create Targeted Resume & Cover Letters

With the fierce competition in today’s job market, it is crucial to develop a resume and cover letter that stands out above the rest.

4. Increase Your Professional Network

Learning how to network early in your career can be beneficial no matter where you are in the career process.

5. Prospecting for Jobs

Checking out company websites, researching employers with potential jobs in your field, and networking are all excellent ways to uncover unadvertised jobs.

6. Become an Entrepreneur

Do you have advanced knowledge in a particular area (math, English, foreign languages) or possess a special skill (playing an instrument, art, martial arts computer programming) that you could use to tutor others? 

Best of luck in your job search!

Conducting a successful job search often requires that you do a thorough assessment of your personality, skills, interests and personal values. Being laid off from your job can lead to various opportunities and a chance to explore new and exciting career options.   

You may find that your old job was no longer meeting your individual goals and career expectations but you never considered leaving because it felt safe and provided a sense of security that you were afraid to give up.  Individuals needing assistance in finding a career that matches their own personal attributes, may want to take one or more career assessments to help them better understand themselves and the types of jobs that may be a better fit.

Before searching the classified ads and online job sites, job searchers may find it beneficial to take some time to explore career options.  Today there are many job search engines available to help people to explore careers. Career counseling can also be useful in assisting individuals in establishing goals and researching career options that may better meet their career expectations.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2010? Have you jotted them down on paper so that you can continually review them? Have you created a number of objectives that will ultimately help you to achieve them? Have you committed them to memory so that they become such a part of you that the daily work required to achieve them has actually become a habit? Have you shared them with the world so that you feel accountable and that somebody may actually ask about them and want to know how you are doing?                           

When we discuss goals, we want to look at both – personal and professional. We are looking to achieve life balance that will ultimately help us lead a happier, healthier, & more prosperous life. We may decide that we want to improve our nutrition and lose weight or we may look into taking a class that will stimulate us and give us an opportunity to gain additional skills and knowledge in a particular field of interest. 

With a new year and a new decade, establishing goals can help motivate us into achieving a more quality life for both ourselves and our families. Even though we continually hear horror stories about unemployment and the increase of the number of Americans currently out of work, each of us has the power to embrace a new attitude and create strategies that will bring us closer to a more fulfilling and rewarding life.                     

If you are seeking a job, what objectives can you come up with to get you closer to the new job or career that you are seeking? Developing a stellar cover letter and resume, practicing your interviewing skills, learning new job search skills, and doing some career exploration to uncover career options are some of the things you can do to help  achieve your goals. Why not make a commitment to discipline yourself so that you can look back on 2010 with pride and a sense of satisfaction?

New graduates seeking employment are now facing the toughest job market in over 25 years. Keeping a positive attitude in such an economic climate can be an extremely difficult task but believing in your skills and abilities will go a long way to ultimately finding a position that meets your goals and expectations.

Today I published an article in our local newspaper, “Recession Proof Job Search Strategies for New College Graduates”, that includes positive techniques for finding a job in a tough economy.  To view the entire article, please click on the tab  – New Graduates, above.

Recession Proof Job Search Strategies for New College Graduates include:

1. Keep Motivated & Maintain a Positive Approach in Your Job Search
2. Focus on Your Goals yet Remain Flexible in Your Job Search
3. Create Targeted Resume & Cover Letters
4. Increase Your Professional Network
5. Prospect for Jobs
6. Become an Entrepreneur

Although initiating company lay-offs are one of the first things a company does during a recession, alternatives to company lay-offs are usually a much better course of action and ultimately the best thing for both the company and its employees. For example, restructuring within a company is more beneficial to the overall long-term health of an organization rather than immediately focusing on making decreases in employee retention and compensation that is usually used as a quick cost saving measure.

Job-hunt.org offers a number of tips to prepare employees for a company lay-off. They also offer some important do’s and don’ts to be accomplished immediately when you are actually being laid off. One of the key things to do is to remain active and not let yourself slump into inaction due to depression, fear, and a growing sense of hopelessness.

Being laid off from a job can often be seen as a blessing in disguise. It can be an opportunity to check out career options, especially if you look back and realize that you were not happy in your previous job.  Discovering your personal interests, values, and personality traits can lead you to finding a more satisfying and rewarding career.

Doing a thorough self-assessment, reviewing career options, researching available careers, and deciding on a course of action can be very positive steps to take for those who have found themselves recently laid off or those who anticipate that a job loss may be imminent.