Have a Career Network

A career network should be in place when you need it, both for job searching and for moving along the career ladder. Since you never know when you might need it, it makes sense to have an active career network, even if you don't need it today.

Career networking, or "professional" networking, involves using personal, professional, academic or familial contacts to assist with a job search, achieve career goals, or learn more about your field, or another field you'd like to work in. 

Networking can be a good way to hear about job opportunities, or get an "in" at the company you'd like to work in.  For 7 tips see the article here.

Job Fairs Are Not a Waste of Time

Armed with your resume and the floor plan of the Companies participating, you are ready to stand in some long lines. Your objective is to present your resume to a select few of the recruiters.  To make the most of the opportunity some upfront planning and research is warranted.

This is an opportunity to present yourself in a mini-interview without the presuure of participating in the real thing. What you do at the fair may or may not result in any further contact.

For a list of 25 reasons to prepare and attend a fair see the article here.

Your Elevator Speech

The 30 second summary, often referred to as “the elevator speech” is a simple concept; it’s how you present yourself to others in 30 seconds, whether it is a person with whom you are networking, or perhaps an old friend who you actually do meet in the elevator!

Crafting that perfect elevator speech is not so simple. Most people experience some degree of difficulty in deciding what information to include in their summary.  Many are fearful about their ability to deliver their summary in a smooth, conversational tone.  Although 30 seconds does not seem like a long time, think about a 30 second commercial on television; you can convey a tremendous amount of information in 30 seconds!

A 30 second summary must be compelling and leave the listener wanting more.  For considerations to accomplish this see the full article here.

Live Within Your Means

If you are unemployed, you may find that you are spending more than you're saving and steadily going deeper into debt as a result. This is an easy and common pattern to fall into, and one that requires some planning and discipline to reverse.

The first step is creating a budget. As unpleasant as this may sound, creating a budget is nothing more than examining your income and expenditures in order to determine exactly how much money you have coming in and where you’re spending that money.

Once you've got a clear understanding of your current budget, your challenge is to find places where you can spend less (or earn more) in order to achieve your financial goals. Find some steps you can take toward that end here.

Prep for Your Salary Negotiation

Whether already employed, or looking for your next job, eventually you have to negotiate about salary. While circumstances are always different, pre-negotiation prep work can translate into results, whether  discussing money with an existing employer or a new one.

One thing to keep in mind: If you’ve recently had your annual review, it might be worth holding off a few months before re-engaging in a salary discussion, especially if the review resulted in a raise. The exception is if your job responsibilities changed radically in the time since the review.

Remember, a solid negotiation is just as much about avoiding mistakes as it is about leveraging your skills to make more money. See the key steps of preparation here

Fix Resumes Biggest Mistakes

Aren't sure what to put on your resume? Make sure you don't include any of these common errors. 

It's deceptively easy to make mistakes on your resume and exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it. So prevention is critical, whether you're writing your first resume or revising it for a mid-career job search. Check out how to write the perfect resume by avoiding these common pitfalls.  Click here.

Google Search for Unadvertised Job Openings

Job openings at most companies go unadvertised—that is, they're posted on their site, but not sent to recruiters or posted on job boards. That also makes them harder to find, but Google can do the job for you. Use custom search strings to uncover matching desired jobs.

The market for new jobs is so competitive that most companies don't see a need to spend a ton of money hiring recruiting firms or posting their jobs to the big job boards. Between internal referral programs and word-of-mouth, posting an opening to the company's "Careers" page is usually enough. 

To uncover those unadvertised openings, see the complete article here.