#9... Utilize your conversational skills when interviewing!

Don't "check them at the door" when being screened or interviewed. The most productive interviews are equal partnerships in information gathering between interviewer and interviewee.

#8... ALWAYS have a next contact to make. ALWAYS !

This is the #3 KEY to EFFECTIVE Career Management as encouraged by the Careerpilot. Networking is the process within which effective career management and transition occurs.

For the rest of your career, have the mindset of consistent revision and building of your personal contact network...YOUR marketplace !

#7... EFFECTIVE NETWORKING is a give and take, two-way process.

It is like a complex plumbing system that you construct throughout the entirety of your career.  When you are seeking information, opportunity or actual "job leads"... you open the valve and let the system flow freely.  When you are gainfully employed, to your satisfaction, you close the valve (but never completely) to concentrate on your professional performance while maintaining your system for future use.

#6... Develop and implement a dynamic PERSONAL MARKET PLAN...

... including a concise and memorable communication strategy---your "story". The name of this game is to increase your probability of success in all you do... while being prepared to deal with barriers and liabilities along the way. As the Careerpilot sees it, the #2 KEY to EFFECTIVE Career Management is to always communicate yourself in a positive, future-oriented manner. 

Remember that in career management, "SUCCESS", is the journey, not a destination!

#5... RESEARCH... Research... research !

Your own, personal MIS department ! Company information, new networking channels, "insider contacts", perhaps even the "good ol' person network" is at your command through efficient and effective research. 

Your OFFER CRITERIA is your research strategy. Most factual information can be gathered in pro-active research prior to actual interviews. In fact, gathered information can lead you to productive interviews. Subjective information is usually gathered within your network.

Your research channels include a good business reference library, the Internet and your own network. Remember: Your own, personal MIS department  is like a complex plumbing system that you construct throughout the entirety of your career.  

When you are seeking information, opportunity or actual "job leads"... you open the valve and let the system flow freely.  When you are gainfully employed, to your satisfaction, you close the valve (but never completely) to concentrate on your professional performance while maintaining your system for future use.

#4... BE PREPARED with the written components of your personal marketing strategy !

When involved in actual job search or career transition/ information networking, the time spent in the development of your "collateral materials" is a core element of your Personal Market Plan. Your resume and correspondence templates support and complement your face-to-face, verbal strategies. 

An effective resume communicates "the fit" between your knowledge, skills, experience and softer, personality issues... and your career objectives, that "next position". 

Traditional resumes are mere reflections, chronological epitaphs, of one's past! Remember, in YOUR marketplace...

"FIT" HAPPENS

#3... BE PREPARED for efficient career transition !

...It WILL occur for the rest of your career. Know who you are, what you want and where you're headed to create your new "comfort zone" of career control. Learn to be prepared to answer the #1 question asked in YOUR marketplace, "Tell me about yourself."

Perhaps you often ask yourself, "What DO I want to do with the rest of my career?" Begin your focus on answering with a "two minute drill". Your 2 min Drill is another core element that supports and reflects your Personal Market Plan.

#2... Communicate yourself in a positive and future-oriented manner.

Sound familiar? The #2 KEY pops up again, here. Remember that it's what you CAN DO, not simply what you HAVE DONE, that creates "the fit" between you and your employer's needs. There's no need to be defensive about your strengths and objectives. 

Dynamic "positioning" and "targeting" within your Personal Market Plan will create your focus. Consistent and repeated application of your communication strategy is what creates the "pull marketing effect"-- your marketplace remembering you and desiring your services. Yes...

"FIT HAPPENS"

...and the #1 TIP ? The #1 Tip for EFFECTIVE Career Management...

Bob Maher, CMF... The Careerpilot

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.  Awarded the prestigious "LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD" in 2006.