10 Gold Coast Tire Misconceptions

By Gold Coast Tire | May 13, 2010

10 Common Career Management Misconceptions

10 Gold Coast Tire Misconceptions By Tony Jacowski.

Most people do not believe in career management, they only believe in career damage control - which means when something goes wrong they will fix it. Until then, most people don’t bother to manage their careers to prevent disasters from occurring in the first place.

Listed below are ten misconceptions with regard to career management:

1. Only the most qualified people get the job - This is simply not true. It does not matter how qualified you are for the job. What matters is the way you have presented yourself during the interview process. Qualifications are not the only criteria for getting good jobs, other things like dedication, confidence and attitude also matter.

2. No need to work at a career just because you have a job - This could be the biggest mistake you make - and quite possibly the most popular misconception. This way of thinking has potential for disaster. You never know when you may be downsized or laid off from your current job, and if you do not have a career plan then you are in serious trouble. Make sure that you spend some time on managing your career even if you have a job. Do small things like update your resume and network with your peers.

3. Professional education stopped after graduation - This cannot be further from the truth. You need to continuously work at your professional education to maintain a competitive edge. Read trade magazines, write articles for relevant magazines, attend seminars, and pursue certificate and training courses.

4. The most generous salary is always offered - This is not true. In fact most employers offer a low salary just to see your negotiation skills. This is an old trick of the trade, where the employers check to see whether the candidate has done sufficient research from every angle.

5. I have job Security if I perform well - This is not true, especially in an economy where downsizing, mergers and outsourcing seem to be the order of the day. No one has a secure job, no matter how well you do your job. You have to take a hands-on approach by managing your career properly to ensure security.

6. Only a resume is required - All job seekers need to have certain tools for job hunting and the resume is only one of these tools. Other tools include cover letters, references and so on.

7. Recruiters are sufficient for job searching - No, they are not. Yes, recruiters will help you and guide you in the best way possible, but you cannot leave it completely up to them to get you the best job. You have to be proactive and take charge in your job-hunting process.

8. Employers are responsible for defining career paths - No, employers aren’t responsible for anything except getting the job done. You are the only person who is responsible for getting your career on the right path and for defining the way you want your career to head.

9. No need to network - Networking is essential to every business and for every person. You as a career oriented person need to constantly network. It is one of the most important aspects of career management.

10. Jobs are easily identifiable - Most people think that jobs are posted on the Internet or advertised in newspapers. This also is not true. Only a small percentage of jobs are advertised in this manner. Most people identify jobs by networking.

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Career Success from Gold Coast Tire & Auto

By Gold Coast Tire | November 2, 2009

How Do You Define Career Success?

Career Success from Gold Coast Tire & Auto By: Ian Christie

Why is this question important?
One of the most important career and life-planning activities you can engage in is finding your own definitions or models of success. This is vitally important for a number of reasons: If you haven’t done this, how do you know what’s best for you? How can you make career decisions if you aren’t crystal clear about how you define success? How can you be happy if you don’t know when you’re successful?

If this question is relevant to you right now…
There is never a bad time to discover and be clear on your definition of success. Today’s economic realities make the timing even better. If your career hasn’t gone according to plan, or even if it has, reexamine what it is you actually want. Doing so can make you a lot happier.

Successful — on Whose Terms?
If you haven’t taken the time to define it, success has already been defined for you. You’re already following models of career and life success. The question is whether they are your own, or ones you inherited. One of your greatest career challenges is identifying goals and definitions of success that are true to you rather than ones you inherited from family, society and other outside forces. Your current model of success may or may not work for you. The important thing is understanding your assumptions and questioning them.

If you follow a path to success that isn’t your own, you may achieve your goals, but when you arrive at your destination, you may not feel successful or fulfilled at all.

Keep in mind that your existing job may hold the key to your happiness. For example, if you were to discover that making your customers happy was the one thing that defines and inspires you, what would that do to your focus and state of mind?

Choose Your Own Definition of Success
You have the power to reaffirm existing models or adopt new models of success. All it takes is some honest thinking, clarity of purpose and the discipline to stay true to your values in the long run.

Accept There Are Always Alternatives. The very fact that so many of us have not questioned the paths we are on speaks to a lack of awareness or acceptance of alternate paths. There have never been more options or valid ways of defining career and life success.

Examine Your Path. Do you love what you do? Do you do fantastic work as a result? Does your work complement your personal and family life or detract from it? Are you excited about your vision of the future? Is this your best use of your precious gifts and time?

Create Some Quiet, Introspective Time. Ask yourself these questions:
What makes me happy? How do I feel? What do I want? And then, answer a question from the coaching school CoachVille.com, “I know how successful I am by how (fill in the blank).” The answers to this question will point you in the right direction. You can have several definitions of success as long as they don’t contradict each other.

Refine Your Responses. Ask yourself “why?” and “is that what I really want?” after each response to the statement until each rings true. For example, if your first response was, “I’ll know I am successful when I am a millionaire,” ask yourself why you want to be a millionaire. You might, for example, find out that success for you is to have the freedom to use your time as you wish, or the ability to travel or be rid of financial worries. This process may lead you to make other decisions in your life that will help you reach your goal.

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9 Gold Coast Tire & Auto Keys

By Gold Coast Tire | October 5, 2009

9 Keys to Job Search & Career Success

9 Gold Coast Tire & Auto Keys By: Michelle Dumas

n recent months, the job market has become increasingly competitive. But even as the economy slows, and there are increasing numbers of job seekers in the job market, there are many professionals who have been incredibly successful in conducting fast, effective job searches. What do they have in common? How are they doing it? Here are nine tips to speed your own job search and drive it to a fast, successful conclusion.

Know what you want and go after it. Starting a job search without knowing what you want will almost certainly end in frustration. Think about it: If you don’t know what you want and what your job target is, how will you know who to contact and how to conduct your search? If you are uncertain about your career goals, it is critical that you spend some time and energy now - before launching your search - on self-introspection and analysis. Knowing what YOU want, what YOU are passionate about, and what YOU bring to the table will provide you with a confidence that simply can’t and won’t be matched by many of your competitors in the job market. This is the crucial first step to any job search and is essential for long-term career success as well.

Know and sell your personal brand. When you think about your next career move, how would things be different for you if employers and recruiters actually sought you out? Personal branding (the process of clarifying and communicating what makes you and your unique value proposition different and special) allows you to make a name for yourself. It differentiates you from your peers and helps to position you as a leader in your field - as a specialist and an authority who knows how to do a job and fill a particular niche in the workplace better than anyone else. Once you are clear on your personal brand, you can use it to project a cohesive brand image and value proposition throughout all your job search activities, and do so in a way that addresses the specific concerns of your target audience. By knowing and promoting your brand, you achieve instant, precision-like focus that positions you as the ideal candidate for the specific type of opportunity that interests you. You gain immediate competitive advantage.

Be able to clearly articulate who you are and what you have to offer. While this may feel uncomfortable to you, the simple truth is that a job search is a sales and marketing campaign: a sales and marketing campaign in which YOU are the product. Through the process of personal branding, you must identify what differentiates you and paint a compelling portrait of your unique value proposition. But, don’t stop with just promoting this in your resume and then become tongue-tied when someone asks about you and your candidacy. You will hear the “what do you do?” or “tell me about yourself?” questions over and over, both during your job search and throughout your entire career. Don’t wing it! Preparation is the key to confidence and the key to making a lasting, positive, and memorable first impression. Be ready with a 30-60 second pitch that immediately and confidently conveys to the listener who you are as a professional and what it is that you offer.

Make their first impression your best impression. Take a hard look at your resume. Like it or not, your resume is your first introduction to most employers, and your only chance to make a good first impression. Effective resumes are highly focused marketing pieces that are strategically written and designed to sell YOU as THE best solution to a potential employer’s needs and problems. Your resume should be written to convey and illustrate your unique value proposition, with succinct “stories” that differentiate you from your competitors in the job market. Does your resume accomplish these goals? Is it focused effectively? Does it accurately present you in the way that you wish to be presented? If not, it is time to rewrite.

Network, network, network…and then network some more. At least 80% of all the jobs are found through the “hidden” job market, also known as the “unpublished” job market. These are jobs typically landed through word of mouth and referrals as opposed to answering ads, posting your resume to internet databases, or other techniques meant to target the remaining 20% of all jobs in the published market. It stands to reason that if the vast majority of the jobs are to be found in this hidden market, that you should spend the majority of your job search time working to crack it. There is no more effective job search technique than networking. So, even if it feels a little uncomfortable at first, just get out there and do it. Make networking a part of your daily routine and plan to spend the majority of your job search time on networking activities (approximately three-fourths of your time is a good estimate). The more you network, the faster your current job search will come to a successful conclusion and the faster and more successful any future job searches will be.

Plan and execute a multi-pronged job search campaign. Yes, networking is essential, but other job search techniques are also important. An effective job search campaign is a multi-pronged one that includes the strategic, planned, methodical use of a variety of job search approaches. Answering ads alone is almost never enough. Neither is working with headhunters, using internet job search sources, or researching and targeting specific employers. But, when you combine all these approaches with networking, carefully evaluate and prioritize the approaches based on relative effectiveness, and then launch an integrated, multi-pronged job search campaign, you will always come out ahead. The best job search is one in which the job seeker approaches it as if it was a job itself.

Build a support team. While your preparation will certainly ease the whole process, job searching can be a grueling and very stressful experience. So, I want to remind you that you don’t have to go through it alone. You should build a support team around you of people who can help you stay motivated and on track while giving you honest feedback and helping you stay accountable to the goals you set for yourself. Family and friends, past and present managers, your peers and colleagues, financial advisors, and professionals in the careers industry such as career counselors, coaches, and resume writers all make excellent people to add to your team. By assembling a good mix of people to support you, from a diversity of backgrounds and professions, you will receive a variety of different perspectives, ideas, and insights that can be very helpful. You should consider joining a job search support club or group - a local one if one is available or an online one. If you have been provided with outplacement services by your former employer, by all means take advantage of the office space and resources offered. The point is that you don’t have to and shouldn’t conduct your search in isolation. Surround yourself with a team that will help and support you. Above all, recognize when you need support and don’t be afraid to ask for assistance and guidance.

Always follow up. Following up on all of your contacts and your activities can do more to influence your success in achieving your job target than anything else. A hand-written thank you note or a more formal, typed thank you letter after speaking with a networking contact, attending an informational interview, or after attending an actual job interview can make a lasting positive impression that gives you a distinct competitive advantage. A follow-up phone call on every resume you send, whether it is a resume sent cold, in response to an ad, or based on a referral from one of your networking contacts can make all the difference in whether your resume is actually read and considered or not. A consistent method of follow up is key and you must make the time in your schedule to do so. Follow up will positively influence decision-makers, it will help key the process moving along, it will show your interest and your professionalism, and it will position you above the competition.

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Gold Coast Tire and Auto Risk Management

By Gold Coast Tire | August 24, 2009

 Career risk management

Enjoy! Gold Coast Tire and Auto

Last month’s column focused on the need for those just entering our profession to plan ahead, particularly in regard to their education and the certifications they pursue.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED by Gold Coast Tire and Auto]

This month, I want to discuss an equally important topic, one aimed at those of us with a few more years of experience behind us. While it may appear that thinking about where our career is headed is simply for college seniors and freshly minted MBAs, firsthand experience has taught many of us the opposite: The unforeseen can happen at any point in our careers.

Just as we spend time at our respective organizations managing risk–trying to assess and plan for random circumstances and losses–I believe we also must do the same for our own careers, both in how we choose to spend our time and the things we do now to help secure our professional future.

One of the best ways I know to help prepare for unexpected career curves is to invest time in maintaining a professional network. Personally, I am often disappointed when people only contact me when they’re looking for a job or want a reference. One of the first things I think to myself is, “Oh, so now you’re calling me–because you want something from me.” The gap in contact makes it more difficult for me to provide the kind of help they require; it also makes me less likely to go out of my way for them.

Spending time cultivating our professional network is a vital career investment. And it usually doesn’t take too much effort: a few phone calls every so often, an invitation to lunch now and then. Frankly, attending IMA chapter meetings provides a great way to keep connected to your professional colleagues because you get the opportunity to see the same people month after month. Keeping those relationships fresh and up-to-date makes it much easier when a situation arises where you need to activate your network and ask for career assistance.

There’s another aspect of our professional life that should also stay fresh and up-to-date: our job skills. The accounting and finance fields are continually in flux, and so is the technology that supports them. Staying current with the latest trends in management, information systems, and the more technical aspects of our profession helps to ensure that we can adapt when our jobs–or even just job descriptions–change.

The most obvious way to gain this knowledge is through continuing education courses, like the kind required to keep a Certified Management Accountant (CMA[R]) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification in good standing. Don’t think you can rest on your laurels because you once earned these certifications but have now let them lapse. When I interview people who say they’re certified, I always look them up to make sure they maintain active status. Formal professional development courses aren’t the only way to keep abreast of the profession: Business books and periodicals (like the kind you’re reading now) also offer an excellent means to stay informed about industry trends.

Of course no one can predict the future, and that’s especially true in today’s climate of economic change. But working actively at risk management for our own careers can help shore up the investment we’ve made in our professional lives.

I welcome your comments at fschea@imanet.org.

Message from the chair

BY FREDERICK E. SCHEA, CMA, CFM, CPA

Gold Coast Tire and Auto Risk Management

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Successful Gold Coast Tire & Auto Job Interviews

By Gold Coast Tire | July 29, 2009

Successful Job Interviews

Successful Gold Coast Tire & Auto Job Interviews By Pamela Watson.

Within this article I will share an important secret behind successful job interviewing and career management. We all know that a well designed job search requires much more than revising your resume and learning a few job interview tips. Usually it’s good to get advice from the experts and career counselors or coaches. But, it is far more important to know yourself and to know where you want to end up. Do you have a picture in your mind of where you’ll be in 5 years…10 years? Have you written it down? With this picture or goal in mind, can you now plan for tomorrow’s career strategy? What can you do, tomorrow, that will lead to the better job or the promotion?

The most important secret to successful job interviewing is knowing your career vision - - where you want your career, and your life, to take you. Every step you take towards securing a new position, obtaining a highly desired promotion, reaching short-term career plans should be based upon a big picture - - your career vision. It is what provides the pathway for your personal success. It is what keeps you on track during disappointments and in the midst of organizational or personal changes. We have to know what it is that we’re seeking to be effective within our career moves.

Recently, I received an email from a business associate who wanted to share a promotion within a major corporation. I’ve known this professional for over ten years, have heard him speak of his career goals, and I recognized how valuable his stepping stones mean to him. His careful preparation, and planned risk-taking, was leading to career success that had personal value to him and his family. When necessary he had made adjustments and changed jobs, but he kept focused on achieving the big picture.

The steps to creating your vision are similar to the the way companies create their long-term plans or mission statements. Due to the size and functioning of corporations, it can take months - - sometimes years - - to complete a mission statement.

That’s not the case when you create your own personal one. The process doesn’t take as long, and there’s no need to get an entire management team together to complete it. What’s most important is that yours be based on your “reality” and your “dream.” Between these two areas is a “gap of compromise” that allows you to create a successful vision of your career. Whether you’re searching for a new job, a promotion, or career satisfaction, it’s important to have a vivid picture in your mind of where you’re heading.

Your career vision can be drawn directly from your personal values, family background, financial desires, geographical limitations, physical needs, etc. At least 25% of it should deal with your reality.

So, if you have an deeply embedded, vivid picture of your career goals, it makes life so much easier in your job search. You begin to fully use your network in a way that will get you better job leads. You are then able to clearly identify what company or position can further your career and synchronize with your goals. You can fully evaluate a company before, during, and after the interview. You begin to use a much more efficient job search strategy.

Many job seekers send their resumes to numerous job boards, recruiters with generic opening statements and introductions. You throw enough darts and sooner or later something’s going stick, rights? But will that new position lead you to your desired position? Or will you be looking for a new position 6 months after accepting the offer? The secret to successful job interviews centers on you knowing where you expect to end your journey. With this knowledge you can search for a new job with a clearer sense of what it is that you will accept, or not accept.

Job interviews are designed to review the results of your career-related actions, as well as to determine how well you will fit within the company. If you’ve done your homework (self evaluation and company research), then your vision should directly impact the short-term step of interviewing. By understanding where you’re heading, you’re more likely to successfully manage interview questions - - as well as decide if the position is one that will lead you closer to career success.

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Options And Gold Coast Tire & Auto Opportunities

By Gold Coast Tire | July 24, 2009

Career Management - Revealing Its Options And Opportunities

Options And Gold Coast Tire & Auto Opportunities By Abhishek Agarwal.

One confusing and rather elusive business is career management, or more precisely called “career planning.” Anyone needs career management; however, only not many people employ or do it. Why? Because many just don’t know how important career management is. A lot of people think that they need not seek other people’s help for they can find suitable jobs for themselves. To find out if career planning would benefit you, you have to know the definition of career management. Actually, career management has more than one definition. The meaning is actually dependent on your purpose: are you planning for a new job or are you looking for ways to develop your present job? To find out what will be good for you, you should search for the meaning of career management. Then you will know if you need career planning or not, and if you do need it, what kind do you exactly need.

Are you contented with your present job? The likelihood is that you are not. Your happiness or contentment should be the first thing you consider. Many workers do not love their existing career for different reasons. Some may have the opinion that they are underpaid; a few may have problems with their colleagues; and others may not like the work in general. Regardless of whatever reason you may have for disliking your work, you can acquire assistance from experts in career management that give this kind of service or from career management centers. They can either find a better career that will fit you well, or they can help you move up the corporate ladder in your present company. That entirely relies on what you want. Once you know the meaning of career management, you will see that everything that occurs to you is rooted in the kind of employee you are, the kind of money you want to be making, and the things that interests you. Based on those things, a good career manager will assist you in searching for a career that contains all of those criteria. Once the career managers have worked everything out, you will feel a lot satisfied not only with your career but also with everything about yourself.

Seeing things through the usual definition of career management, anyone could gain advantage from this service. It is highly improbable that you are absolutely satisfied with your present job in all its aspects. Therefore, you should visit the career management centers near you.

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7 Gold Coast Tire & Auto Strategies

By Gold Coast Tire | June 20, 2009

7 Strategies to Credit Crunch Proof Your career

By: Sharon Alexander

Every time you open a newspaper nowadays, the first thing you see is the current fear of a recession, the credit crunch, the banking crisis and the difficult days ahead with a downturn of the economy. It seems obvious that there will be cost cutting measures within some organizations, which in turn triggers fears of downsizing. Keeping this in mind, it is better to credit crunch proof your career when there is still time. Even if your company is not affected right now, it is necessary that you build up a strategy to safeguard yourself. There are no magic answers or sure shot solutions but these tactics can help to give you confidence and an added edge.

1. Update your skills and learn new skills: Now is the time to invest more in yourself. Update your skills in your current areas of work. Similarly, learn new skills like IT skills. You may take up new courses or trainings that will enhance your resume and can prove to be helpful not just in your current job but also any new opportunities if the need be.

2. Target your resume for specific jobs: Design and develop a resume that is fully targeted for a specific job that you are applying for. It should not be a generic list of your qualifications and experience. If you are unable to do so yourself, invest some time in learning this skill. Only a professionally targeted resume can take you further to an interview level. Your resume should stand out from the rest and should be appealing enough to the employers.

3.Get yourself noticed: At your current job, take efforts to be noticed. Make sure your boss is aware of your achievements. If you are given an opportunity for a new role and responsibility, take it up. If you are involved in a very important project, you may be safer than most.

4. Make yourself indispensable: Be ready to take on new tasks even over and above your usual activities. Volunteering to take on new tasks helps in making you indispensable as a person who can undertake any activity happily. That will help list you out as an important team member not worth losing. Find ways to contribute innovatively to your company. Be an active team player.

5. Start networking: It helps having a good supportive network. Keep in touch with former colleagues in other organizations, you previous bosses etc., which can help you find other job opportunities whenever the need arises. Be equally helpful to your contact as far as possible, as then only can you expect them to return the favor.

6. Plan your finances carefully: Building up your financial reserves is necessary. Even if you may be given a redundancy package it may take some time to come. If you have some financial reserve to last you at least 6 months, you would not go deeper in the trough. Plan you finances carefully with your current job at hand.

7. Don’t hide: Do not make yourself invisible, considering that you would not get axed because of it. Get up and prove yourself so that you become a bit safer. Your clients and boss need to see results now. Try to solve immediate needs.

7 Gold Coast Tire & Auto Strategies

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Gold Coast Tire & Auto Career Development

By Gold Coast Tire | May 8, 2009

LinkedIn and Your Career Development

By Peggy Murrah and Chris Muccio

LinkedIn is more than just another social networking site in the Internet. It can actually help you in your career development. There are around 20 million professionals connected by LinkedIn. With millions of professionals out there that you can connect with, you can make your career grow with the help of LinkedIn and other professionals.

Your LinkedIn profile maybe considered as your online resume. As a professional, your educational background, your organizational and company affiliations and other important professional information may be shown in your LinkedIn profile. This way, other professionals and employers can easily learn who you are and what you have to offer.

You can also increase your visibility by adding keywords that are related to your profession and to what you do best as a professional. If employers and people who are looking for a resource person related to your field will search for those keywords, you get a better chance of being the first person on the list.

Connect and grow your network. From your email address book, you can easily add friends to your LinkedIn network. You can also search friends who were employed by the same company you are connected with right now. There should be at least 50 people in your first degree connection in order for you to maximize your use of LinkedIn. Anything less than this would just make you another one of those less effective users of LinkedIn.

Use LinkedIn Answers to the Max. Just like Yahoo Answers!, LinkedIn has LinkedIn Answers that allows people to post questions to the network. If you have any concern in your career development or in the way you do your work, you can just use this feature and solicit answer from all sorts of professionals in your network. You can also answer the questions posted by other people in the network so that people can notice what you know and what you have to offer.

LinkedIn is one of the best features of Web 2.0. It connects people and gives them a chance to get together for professional and work-related reasons. With its 20 million users worldwide, it would be great to connect and promote your own professional expertise.

Gold Coast Tire & Auto Career Development

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Gold Coast Tire & Auto Management Studies

By Gold Coast Tire | April 30, 2009

Management Studies In Career Development - Reasons For Its Importance

By Abhishek Agarwal

If you answered YES to the above question, then you just might be the best person to offer sufficient and viable solutions by assisting these tired souls locate what they need, and you may as well be sure of making big success in this career development business. But one thing that you need to learn before plunging deep into the world of career development and planning business is management studies. The Function of management studies course in career development is mostly overlooked by people already in the business of career management. They tend to focus more on getting their clients any old job position they can disregard of the function of management studies in those careers. It’s to understand that people personalities differ greatly and some maybe best fit for management positions than they are as regular employees. If you understand the functions of management studies in career improvement good for you, because you will be better positioned to place your clients in right job positions that please them with your services.

The very first thing you should think about when it comes to the functions of management studies in career development are the core characteristics required for a job in management role. A good example is that fine and excellent managers are often good leaders. If you come into contact with a person at your career management establishment that says they posses fine leadership skills, then consider them fit for managerial position. Another characteristic of good managers is the ability to motivate others. If they are adept at making people feel competent about their jobs and also lead them to getting some good work done, then they are most likely to make excellent managers. You will discover that the function of management studies in career development is an essential one. Some personalities are better suited to certain business roles than other. If a person best fit for a management role is placed in a non-management career, they are apt to end feeling very underutilized and unfulfilled. Should this happen, then you would have done a very bad job, because you placed matched them with a wrong career.

Functions of management studies in career growth can be learnt from different places. Books are available on the subject in most libraries and bookshops. They are mostly located in the business, career development and management sections there. A wealth of information on the same can also be obtained from the internet. We have sites that have been specially designed to focus in the career development business.

Gold Coast Tire & Auto Management Studies

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Four Gold Coast Tire & Auto Methods

By Gold Coast Tire | April 3, 2009

Four Methods of Job Search

By: Barbara Safani

There are four core methods of job search and I encourage job seekers to use all of them. When you are in search, looking for a job is your full-time job and you should plan to dedicate 35-40 hours per week to your search or a percentage of that it you are searching while employed. Here’s a quick rundown of the four methods of search.

Job Boards - When using the boards, you need to be as strategic as possible in your approach, because there is an enormous amount of information posted on the boards and employers receive multiple responses for each position they post. One of the best strategies for managing your presence on the job boards is to stick with niche boards that best match your professional level, industry, or job function rather than spending time on a board that claims to be all things to all people. This allows you to be a big fish in a smaller pond and potentially garner more immediate recognition from a hiring authority. For example, a senior-level executive is generally better-off creating a presence on a six-figure job site than on a general job board that posts jobs at all professional levels. Another way to optimize your time spent on the boards is to set up job alerts based on keywords and geographical preferences to streamline the amount of time spent on the boards and optimize the amount of relevant leads.

Recruiters - A recruiter can be a great ally during a search, but keep in mind that recruiters are generally only going to be interested in your candidacy if your skill set matches a position in their current job requisition portfolio. In addition, recruiters can only expose you to the positions from the companies that are willing to pay a recruiter to manage the search process. When you partner with a recruiter, you only get to see a small percentage of the available jobs in the market.

Cold Calling - People in search often find their jobs by cold calling on potential decision makers in companies. By creating a marketing letter that communicates your skills, accomplishments, and value-add, you can attempt to forge relationships with key people in the companies you would like to work for. The goal of the letter is to build a relationship with people in companies where no relationship existed before. If you can create and nurture a relationship before there is a need to fill a position, you are much more likely to be considered as a candidate when there is an opportunity because you are now part of the inner circle of contacts within the company. This method takes work and may not yield immediate results, but if these new relationships are nurtured over time, they can grow into opportunity with the company down the line.

Networking - Networking is the art of exchanging information continuously and graciously with members of your professional and social communities. People are more likely to share information with people they know and trust. Sharing information about job leads comes naturally in networking circles. Attempt to give more than you get and don’t keep tabs on your goodwill versus someone else’s and eventually you will find that you can almost always find a connection for whatever you need…whether it’s a recommendation for a great restaurant, advice on a project, or a tip on a job lead.

Four Gold Coast Tire & Auto Methods

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