You just never know when the opportunities will present themselves to make a high impact, first impression during career transition.  SO, LEARN TO COMMUNICATE YOURSELF IN A MORE FORWARD LOOKING, POSITIVE MANNER... What can you offer as opposed to what have you done... "I learn new things quickly and can use my experience in helping younger workers pick up on the "new solutions." vs. "I may be overqualified, BUT..."

The most asked question during career transition is, "Tell me about yourself." 

This frequent query is your opportunity to build new bridges... position your abilities and potential.  Appropriate use of your two-minute drill strategies, your "verbal collaterals", is a key ingredient to personal salesmanship. Practice the tools of your salesmanship every chance you get....

• A verbal resume...  A tightly focused, upbeat telling of "your story" told in a high impact format. 

• An "elevator pitch"...  A succinct qualification summary for a specifically positioned function or opportunity. 

• Brag bytes...  Wordcraft various collections of words, phrases and sentences to capture memorable moments or accomplishments--the best you have to offer.  "...saved 80% cost-per-hire..."  Used in MSWord Auto Text Format can be quite efficient when building high impact correspondence as well.

• Personal Portfolio...  Your collection of certificates, pictures, examples of work, reference letters, etc that can bring life and interest (not to mention PROOF) to your story.

Practice your exit statement... most all potential employers and networking contacts will want to know your current situation and why you are available.  It is the second most asked question during career transition. One of your first bridges to maintain is your path back into your former employer, your personal references and other contacts. 

BUILDING STILL MORE BRIDGES: Target Firm Networking

Use a research tool like CareerAdvantage to create your list of target companies... You would be well served to limit your initial list to 70-100 organizations.

Each week, select 5-7 companies to be on your HOT LIST, those you will be researching and networking to that specific week.  Its OK to keep desirable firms on your HOT LIST for as long as you choose.

Each week, create a "channel" to each target company on your HOT LIST... remember "The Funnel Effect?"

1. RESEARCH each HOT LIST company.  Do they meet your career objective criteria?  What are some current trends and opportunities surrounding their business?

2. Utilize your personal network to identify employees of the target organization, specifically potential hiring authorities and people that they interact with regularly.

3. Identify the hiring authority (authorities) for your work within that organization. If the organization is large enough, remember that more than one person could be your next boss.  You might have multiple funnels into such organizations.

4. Identify customers of the target company... many of them have existing relationships within your targeted firm.

5. Identify Vendors, Contractors to and even competitors of each target company.

Such channel marketing efforts focus your search and allow you to leverage your networking opportunity, taking the randomness out of implementing your Personal Marketing Plan.  Often you will uncover key contacts, willing to endorse you to the hiring authority. 

As always, remember to network your way around the traditional screening force, Human Resource contacts.

This is an uncomplicated process through which you can be developing your network for the rest of your career... consistently identifying relevant information and opportunities... always knowing your next step.

>> Candidate EXTRANET        >> KEYS to Career Transition

Bob created his online presence, www.careerpilot.com, in 1994.  He has over twenty years of successful experience in Corporate Recruitment, performance management and Career Management Services.  He is an entrepreneur and innovator in the use of information technology in the recruitment and employment process.  On the Founder's Council of the Association of Career Professionals - International and quite active in their Professional Development, Technology and Chapter Growth initiatives--a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars.