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How
to Plan and Control Your Career Success
By Tim McDonald and Rich
Ream
RMC Associates
Appeared in Information Today
It
is probably an overused phrase but career networking is something
critical to moving your career forward. There is a strategy to making
a job or career change. This strategy should be proactive instead of
reactive. In other words, don't wait until you are downsized or quit
because you are fed up with your situation.
You
should realize that most positions that are filled never appear in a
classified advertisement in the newspaper. They are filled through the
use of executive recruiters or internal recommendations. Rarely is a
position filled from someone blindly sending a resume in response to
an advert
Any
career change or strategic move should involve a Career Counselor or
Coach. In the USA these are individuals who are experienced in
counseling people through career changes. Using a Career Counselor
does cost you a few dollars but in the long run it proves to be a good
investment in making a career change or strategic move.
Career
Counselors will begin with an assessment of who and where you are by
using a battery of testing devices. The tests help determine exactly
what you are most happy doing and where you should focus your
energies.
Using
a Career Counselor is a team effort, the Counselor will not do the
work for you but will counsel and help you devise a plan. The working
of the plan is up to you.
The
next and probably the easiest place to start are with Professional
Organizations. Whatever industry or trade group you are working in,
identify the Professional Organizations that are most appropriate and
join.
Furthermore,
get involved in committee and volunteer work associated with the
group. In this way, you get to work with and know some of the key
people in the industry and they see your positive attributes at the
same time.
Lastly,
you should identify people in your industry or community who are
Centers of Influence. They are people who are widely known and know a
lot of other folks.
Contact
these individuals and get a few minutes of their time in person or on
the phone. Explain what you are doing and where you want to go in your
career and solicit their advice.
This
does not assure you a position with their company, but if they are
impressed they tend to remember talented individuals. They also talk
to other people who are "Centers of Influence" and often
times positions are filled by word of mouth communication.
Individuals
who don't formulate a plan and blindly send resumes only have a 20%
success rate. Conversely those who send resumes and network through a
trade organization increase the success rate to 45%. Those who
actually formulate a plan with a Career Counselor and include centers
of influence in their networking increase the success rate to 65-70%.
The
best place to start is with Career Counseling. These individuals and
firms are listed in the phone directories under the following
headings; Employment, Career, Jobs.
Beware
of resume services that charge you a bundle for simply reworking your
resume. Career Counselors are people who test and spend a lot of time
getting to know you and help you solidify your goals and plans. You
may also feel free to contact us for a referral.
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