Instead of pursuing networking events, I’ve decided to network slowly and utilize my current network to meet new people.  Here’s three ways that I do it and how you can do it too:

Email newsletter with close friends

Instead of trying to meet random people at a networking event, I leverage my close personal friends to make the introductions for me.  I utilize MailChimp to email a list of about 100 friends who I greatly respect, and who are as highly motivated as me.

Once a month, I send an email newsletter about what I’ve learned, useful resources that I’ve found online, and requests for introductions to interesting people.

When I first moved to the Bay Area in Northern California, I emailed my list to make introductions for people I should meet in the area.  Upon moving to the Bay, I instantly had 7 lunch meeting with young professionals and entrepreneurs that I’m still close friends with today.

But I don’t just focus on taking from my community; I also focused on giving back to my community.  A good friend of mine in Los Angeles, CA recently asked me to connect him to a hungry entrepreneur that is looking to lead a profitable project.  I again emailed my list to let them know that I have a great opportunity for a young entrepreneur.  One week after I sent the email, I connected my friend with an entrepreneur that is now leading the project and increasing profitability for my friend’s company.

• Network slowly: let your friends make the important introductions for you

Personal blog

My personal blog has worked wonders for me in terms of opening up doors for unique opportunities and making me introductions to successful entrepreneurs.  At the moment, I try to keep a steady schedule of new posts every Tuesday and Thursday.  It’s tough to keep it consistent, so if you don’t have time to write 2 posts a week, try to at least post once a week every Tuesday.

Make it clear on your “About” and “Contact” page that you’re looking to meet people and you’ll find emails from awesome people in your inbox.

• Network slowly: show value to people online and valuable people will reach out to you

Join valuable organizations

Personal Branding Blog is a great community that I’ve decided to join by contributing blog posts once a week.  Dan Schawbel has done an amazing job, and I’ve leveraged his success to find introductions to other successful entrepreneurs.

I am also a part of the Young Entrepreneur Council.  The YEC has been extremely valuable in terms of making introductions to young go-getters that are making a difference.  It’s very easy to meet people through the Facebook Group, and the content and community managers have been super helpful in getting my content published on A-list blogs around the web.

I highly recommend that you apply to be a part of the YEC right now.

• Network slowly: allow community manager and chief editors to do their job and connect you with other important people in the community

As an immediate next step, create a free MailChimp account and create an email list with 100 people that you follow on Twitter.  Send 1 email a month with valuable content and ask for introductions to people that they recommend you meet. This action alone will greatly open up the doors to a network of successful professionals.

Author:

Jun Loayza is the Co-Founder of RewardMe, a customer loyalty platform for restaurants and retailers. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision. On the side, Jun helps his girlfriend run an online boutique.

Most of my advances were by mistake. You uncover what is when you get rid of what isn’t. R Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)

At this points in the year I like to pause, step back and really look at things from a different perspective than my daily and weekly view.

I like to look at the/my big picture, the macro view and look at certain things that I don’t sometimes see every day. There are so many amazing things that develop and unfold over time, and inside of that unfolding are reasons to be hopeful, encouraged, proud or concerned and on alert.

One of the great ‘big picture thinkers” and one of the greatest minds of our times was author, futurist, inventor R. Buckminster Fuller. For more than five decades, he developed pioneering solutions that did “more with less” to improve human lives.  Here are some of the things he invented and the books he wrote by looking at the big picture of the world and time he lived in.

Your mid year review

What can your big picture show and tell you at any given time?

Here are 7 things to review that look into the heart, soul, motivation and determination that really drives all of the reports, metrics, indicators and results.

Triumphs
Take a look at all of the difficult things you have had to overcome,  manage, maneuver, and emerge from, and be very proud of  the grace and poise in you have shown.

Victory over challenges
Life is unexpected and throws us curve balls daily. It is by working through those curve balls, that we gain the most wisdom, strength and resilience. Things that come too easily are not appreciated the same as things we fight hard for.

Those pleasant surprises
There is a delightful balance in seeing some of the pleasant surprises that surface unexpectedly everyday. An unexpected call, an extra sale, a new connection that opens a new door, a random act of kindness. Pay attention and look for them, they are there.

Daunting disappointments
We work hard on making things happen. The thought, the effort, the action and then puff, they just don’t happen. People, situations and institutions all can disappoint us. One of Juan Carlos Ruiz’s 4 Agreements talks about “Don’t take anything personally”.  Disappointment is tied into expectations. We can only do our part, put in the effort and the rest is really out of our control.

Significance of gifts
Those little gifts that we give and receive that infuse us with energy and hope are little encouragements to help us and others keep going.  Go ahead and send that hand written card, show some simple human kindness and anonymous generosity and use all your talents, abilities, and spirituality daily!

Reliability of relationships
When we look at and asses our support systems, networks, sphere’s of influence and all of the people in our lives that are so integral to our well being, we should ask: are we nurturing them back and mutual? Are we pruning relationships and letting go of those that no longer work?

Daring to dream
What would it all matter if we didn’t have dreams of what could be? We set those intentions in motion, prepare for things to happen and be ready for them to happen. Some of the greatest thinkers, inventors and successful people started with a belief that anything is possible and persevered because they believed.

Here are Entrepreneur.com’s 100 Hottest Companies.

Here are 5 Business Conversations to Have Today.

Some of the results from my mid year review?

• I am getting more referrals.
• My support system is strong.
• I continue to allow myself to transition in my career and personal life.
• I continually change and tweak things to make them work better.
• I focus more on gratitude for what I do have not what I don’t.

What is your mid year review revealing to you?

Author:

Deborah Shane is career author, branding/media strategist, nationally published writer and speaker. She hosts her Toolbox Blog and a popular weekly business radio show that has over 42K downloads! She is a regular contributor to several national blogs and websites, including Smallbiztrends.com, MonsterWorking.com, Blogher.com, Personalbrandingblog.com. Her book Career Transition-make the shift is available on Amazon.com and all major book sellers. Deborah delivers smart, no-nonsense ideas and solutions, which make her a popular go-to resource for national media including CNN, CBS, Fox. Engage with her @DeborahShane, and visit her at www.deborahshane.com.

Now that you have the blog set-up, what do you do?  And more importantly, how did you move forward and start actually putting your brand online?

Recently I was part of a panel at a career event and when we started talking about this, many people in the audience got “deer in the headlights” looks.  And that’s really understandable.  If you’ve never blogged before, it’s hard to know where to start!

Especially when your future is on the line! Then it’s especially intimidating because you think that each article has to be absolutely, mind-bogglingly good enough to convince your future boss that they must hire you.  Then – just like when you design your blog – you spend ages worrying over each article.  And in the end, either nothing gets done or you burn out very quickly. And then your brand is no further along than when you started – and now you’re stressed!

Your start to blogging

So, when I’m talking to someone who has never blogged before and now needs to, I tell them to start off by doing the following:

Engage with your target market

Spend a couple hours searching on the internet for blogs that deal with the type of job you want to do. Find the best writers out there and find who they read and recommend.  Find LinkedIn groups in your subject area and join. Spend some time thinking about what the people who can hire you will be reading – and subscribe to those blogs and groups as well.Then, start engaging.  Read the blogs and forums on LinkedIn and whenever you see a place where you can contribute, write a comment or answer a question.  This is great to do for a couple reasons.  First, because recruiters especially spend time looking through Groups on LinkedIn.  If you have a great answer to a question, they might get in contact with you about a position they’re recruiting for!  (Several of the recruiters at the career event I spoke at recently said this was how they operated!)

But even if answering questions and writing comments doesn’t immediately land you a job, it also engages your brain and challenges you to show off your professional expertise.  And it shouldn’t require too much of a time commitment.  Once you’ve found an interesting place to write a comment, it shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes to write one. Stick to that.

Bring your knowledge home to roost

The one thing I don’t like about commenting on LinkedIn and on blogs written by other people is that you’re spending the time writing good material on someone else’s online presence. When you write a great comment, you’ve invested a significant amount of time in sharing your experience and knowledge.  But when it’s on someone else’s blog, the only people who see it will be the ones who are reading that other person’s blog – not the people who are looking for you online!  LinkedIn Groups are a little better, because they’re more directly linked to your online presence, but (especially if a group is members-only) it might not be easy for someone looking at your online profile to see your comments. Luckily, there’s a solution for this that dovetails perfectly with your desire to create a blog that displays your strengths!  When you write a comment on someone else’s web space, don’t just abandon it.  Copy that comment, go back to your blog and create a post around it.

• It’s very easy to do:
• Start off your post by writing about how you were reading a blog in your field or participating in a forum and ran across a challenge a lot of people face.  (Make sure you link to the blog or forum.)
• Then share how you responded to the situation or question.
• Then, if you have the time, expand upon the comment you wrote and gave further detail.
• Finally write a sentence or two to wrap it up and give the post a relevant title.

And you’ve written a blog post that advances your personal brand by displaying your knowledge in your subject area.  Plus, you’re demonstrating that you’re paying attention to what is going on in the field and engaged in learning.

Rinse and repeat

Now that you’ve written one blog post based on another that you’ve read, it’s time to do it again.  And because you’re basing your blog posts on questions/issues posed by others (and not wracking your brain trying to come up with original subjects), it’s something that you can do on a consistent basis without burning out. The key is to keep doing it. At least several times a week, engage on other blogs and LinkedIn and bring your best comments back to your blog.  That will get you started.  Try to do that at least 5 times before you start publicizing your blog.  You want people to see that you’re committed, not that you’re dabbling.  Plus, the only way to really display your knowledge is to get a bunch of it out there.  So force yourself to commit to writing on a regular basis to share how your knowledge relates to the things you come across.

The key to consistently putting up new content, by the way, is to not let yourself get too sucked into obsessing over your article.  You’re simply embellishing on comments you wrote elsewhere.  If it takes you more than 45 minutes to write about a comment for your blog, you’re taking too long.

Finally, tell people about it!

Once you’ve put up a couple articles, start telling people about your blog. Put it up on LinkedIn. Add it to your email signature and your business card.  And when you’re talking with someone in your field about something you’ve written about recently on your blog, send them a link to that article.Or, if you really want to help your brand, go home after conversation with someone in your field and write a post about what you talked about that demonstrates your knowledge.  Then, send a follow-up email to that person the next day saying, “After I went home last night, I couldn’t stop thinking about [what we talked about].  So I wrote a post on my blog based off our conversation.”  (Networking hint: people can’t resist checking out what you’ve written if it’s inspired by them!)

As you can see, getting started with blogging for your Personal Brand isn’t as overwhelming as many people think it is.  No, you’re not going to win a prize for original content with this method.  But if you’re right in the middle of a stressful transition and you need to back-up your personal brand by demonstrating your knowledge, this is how you get started.

In fact, this is how one of the most successful business authors I know got her start.  She started off the “easy way” by commenting on what she read about on other blogs because she had absolutely no idea what she was doing but knew she needed a blog to promote her business.  Doing that led to her finding her own voice as a blogger, and today she’s extraordinarily successful.  So this method works!

Author:

Katie Konrath blogs about creativity, innovation and “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped” at www.getfreshminds.com.  She works for leading innovation company, Ideas To Go.

I was asked that question recently by Jennifer Bianchi, a former lawyer turned comedian, who was wondering what she could do to win the attention of more fans.

(Asking for assistance from needy, attention-seeking writers in an eyes-batting-looking-up-at-them-like-they’re-your-only-hope is step 1.)

Personal branding online

So I’m doing a little strategy on Jennifer and what she, and many other comedians, can do to improve their online presence.

1. Do Twitter

Twitter is one of the best channels for comedians. For one thing, as you learn to write your own jokes, learning to write for Twitter is going to help you. Punchlines need to be short and, well, punchy. If you can write a setup and punchline in 140 characters, you’re golden. Some of my tweets end up in my humor columns, and that’s where I develop the right wording.

But more importantly, this is one of the fastest ways to build an audience. Start connecting and communicating with people in the cities where you’re going to tour using Twellowhood, connect with people from your audience (ask them to connect with you), and connect with club owners and other comics using Twellow.

As Shari Vanderwerf (@ShariV67) put it, Step 1: Tweet jokes. Step 2: Accumulate thousands of followers. Step 3: ??? Step 4: PROFIT!

2. Put videos of your set on YouTube

Back 100 years ago, when the victrola first came out, symphony managers worried that people would no longer want to come to the symphony once they started listening to those scratchy wax cylinders. Turns out they came anyway, and actually came more often when they were familiar with the music. But that same type of thinking continued on with radios and concerts in the 1930s, TV and movies in the 1950s, VCRs and movies in the 1980s, and radios and records in the 60s and 70s. For the most part, entertainment executives have stopped thinking that way, with a few exceptions, like the NFL and theatrical productions.

A lot of comedians are embracing YouTube as a way to share their work with fans, and to showcase their talents to club owners. Get someone to record your sets, and put the best segments on YouTube. If you need to show a bigger set to a club owner, push the video to YouTube, but use a private URL so the video can be seen only by the people who have the link. (You can also use YouTube’s analytics to see if that link has actually been used.)

3. Start a blog

Your blog should be the center of your social media campaign. Write posts about what you’ve been doing, preview and then review your shows, publish your YouTube videos, and write about other comedians, and lessons you’ve been learning.

Be sure to include pages about the type of comedy you do, include an electronic press kit for club owners to download, and a list of places where you’ve worked. Also include testimonials from other comics you’ve worked with and clubs you performed at.

4. Network with other comics

These will be the people who can give you advice, tell you which clubs to go after and which ones to avoid, and maybe even sell some jokes to while you’re still building your own career. Be sure to promote their stuff to your network, and they’ll (hopefully) do the same thing for you. (And ignore the ones who don’t.)

Reach out to comics who are ahead of you on the career path, and meet with them face-to-face. I once heard a famous comic say that he was surprised he and many of his fellow veteran comics were never asked for advice by younger comics. They’re more than willing to share, but they have to be asked. So, ask. And be sure to do the same for younger comics as you make your own way up the comedy ladder.

Those are the basic four steps every comic should follow as they look to build their own personal brand and work their way up the comedic ladder. Some of the intervening steps will vary, as will some of the finer details. But this is a good beginning structure. What you do with it after you build it is up to you.

Break a leg.

Author:

Erik Deckers is the owner of Professional Blog Service, and the co-author of Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself. His new book, No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing, which he wrote with Jason Falls, is in bookstores and on Amazon now.

As my colleague and I listened to him, it became clearer that he was in a bit of a pickle: unsure as to whether to remain in this current position or leave, take a sabbatical, become an entrepreneur and start his own company or just keep going in spite of the obvious (and, to us, inexplicable) unhappiness at his current predicament. His friends, family and girlfriend would support him whatever road he chose to follow. Paradoxically, to him that made things even worse: he was not getting the kind of decisive advice he felt he needed and was left puzzled and all the more confused. Truly, it sounded like a pitiful state of affairs that apparently had been going on for too long (my fellow lecturer informed me).

Intuition, an undervalued gift

The plight of this young man proved to me once more – and that is once too many – that our Western culture consistently undervalues the one thing that if properly trained could have shown him (and countless others) the way: a fantastic gift and ally we all carry inside and have been naturally endowed with called intuition. Even in the most exact of all sciences, that of mathematics, intuition has been considered as a force to be reckoned with, as the discoverer of the Enigma Code Alan Turing maintained. “Mathematical reasoning may be regarded rather schematically,” he told us, “as the exercise of a combination of two faculties, which we may call intuition and ingenuity.” (You may find other inspiring quotes on intuition here)

The truth is that the development of that faculty can be of immense benefit in this modern world where we are all surrounded with a myriad choices on an almost infinite number of issues – more pressingly of all career choices in a new environment where permanent positions are a thing of the past and we will have to exercise our best judgment to build a successful and fulfilling career and avoid the paralysing effect of doubt my young student was prey to.

What is intuition?

But, what exactly is intuition? How can we learn to be faithful to its often whispering and at times thunderous voice?

XXth century psychology genius Carl Gustav Jung brought intuition to the centerpiece of our mental and emotional make-up. He regarded it as a sure way to link with underlying energies and connections that live in our unconscious psyches and that rarely come to the surface (with the one vital exception of dreams). As a staunch defender of intuition, he argued that it should accompany and inform (and not be enemies with) our thinking and our feeling and be one of the cornerstones for the unfolding of our potentialities.

In his book Psychological Types, Jung defined intuition as “a perception of realities which are not known to the conscious, and which goes via the unconscious,” and stressed that it goes far beyond mere perception and is a creative process the intellect requires to function at maximum performance.

And so do, let us be clear about it, our careers and our lives. An educated intuition goes well beyond gut-feeling and hunches (important as they are), and propels us to pause and reflect in order to carefully and respectfully listen to that inner light we all carry within ourselves. Our culture may have dis-empowered us for too long in with its emphasis (despite Turing’s words) on cold reason and the excesses of dogmatic scientism. The fact that intuition is making a big come-back thanks to the work of Jung and many others is a reason for all those who seek to become all-rounded human beings to celebrate. That is why dream journals and introspection are becoming so popular and increasingly respected not just to treat a variety of mental illnesses but for self-development at all levels.

As it has been the case with so many of my betters, intuition has been on of my greatest allies in the tortuous path that leads to career success and I am in no doubt that it is ready to be of immense assistance to you too. As you have probably gathered by now, I urged my young student not to take any rash decisions without carefully weighing up first the pros and cons of every choice and – crucially – beginning to trust his apparently lacking, but surely, present intuitive abilities at this as at any other major crossroads in his life. And this is my advice and my challenge for you too.

 ”I feel there are two people inside me – me and my intuition. If I go against her, she’ll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely,” Kim Basinger once said.  The choice is yours.

Author:

Oscar Del Santo is a lecturer, consultant, key speaker, blogger and populariser of online reputation and inbound marketing in Spain. He has been extensively featured in the Spanish and Latin American media and is included in the ‘Top Social Media Influencers’ and ‘Best Marketing Tweeters in Spanish’ lists @OscarDS. He is the author of ‘Reputacion Online para Tod@s’ and the co-author of ‘Marketing de Atraccion 2.0’.

From a personal brand standpoint, I caution “Beware”.

Whether you’re representing a company, client, or yourself, what people are buying into is the best version of you. They are not investing in the all-nighter you, the stressed you, or the disheveled you. They buy into you who will solve their problems, bring them success, and make it all look easy. Your outer appearance has a lot to do with giving that impression.

Pay attention to your audience: suit or sweatshirt

Whether you are a creative or businesslike person, pay attention to the forum for which you are attending and the message you want to get across. The Steve Jobs and the Mark Zuckerbergs of the world are in the less than 1% of the population in terms of being able to wear hoodies to investor meetings or black turtlenecks to multimillion-dollar movie pitches. You can still keep your style but make it appointment appropriate.

Lady Gaga proved a great example for this when she visited Harvard with Oprah Winfrey to launch her Born This Way initiative. The normally eccentric personality donned an Audrey Hepburn inspired, simple, brown one-piece pantsuit paired with an eye-catching headpiece. She was still Lady Gaga, but she wanted to draw more attention to her message than to an outrageous ensemble.

Step it up: dressing with an eye for detail

Two things can say a lot about your level of professionalism– clothes that fit and a wardrobe that is current. Mahjuba, a Southern California professional stylist, says that many people underestimate the importance of proper fit. Lacking a proper fit in key pieces like pants, skirts, shirts, blouses and suits, conveys an impression of being unkempt. Not exactly the impression you want to make when going into an important meeting, is it? Speak to established store staff if you are unsure while shopping or invest in a style consultation once a year (costs range from $200-$600/hr).

Back to basics: pay attention to hygiene

Looking showered and put together is one element, getting enough sleep is another, but a third area that most people, especially men, overlook is their hands. We talk with our hands, point with our fingers, and shake at the beginning and ending of meetings. Hands should be like good service at a restaurant, invisible and non-distracting. Keep nails short and clean, keep lotion in your office or briefcase, and ladies should be aware of chipped polish. For the men, investing in a manicure can be a great base that you can maintain. After all you want your audience to remember your point, not that you bite your nails.

After all is said and done, nothing about the all-nighters or the days filled with back-to-back meetings has to change. What should, is looking like you’ve done either. Invest in yourself in these areas and I promise that others will want to invest in you.

Author:

Katie Marston is President and Executive Director of DYME Branding , a personal brand development company focusing on professional athletes, celebrities, and executives. Follow her on Twitter at @ktmarston

Keep in mind

• Industry events are great, but not only for your industry. Use the former for mentors and partners, and the latter for clients and referrals.
• Events come in all shapes and sizes: trade shows, conferences, unconferences, meetups, seminars, clubs, workshops, association meetings, social events, sports nights, and more.

So where are they?

Your local newspaper

You can usually find upcoming local events in the weekend listings section, or maybe the mid-week listings if there are any.

The “local” newspaper could be a city gazette, county times or state journal.

Your local business association

This could be a Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club, or any other place where professionals can regularly meet in an informal setting.

Sign up as soon as you discover a local branch, and there might be more than one.

Your local branch of a professional/industry association

Professional associations tend to hold regular events for their memberships. If you’re a member of e.g. the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) or the American Marketing Association (AMA), ask them for information regarding events in your area. And if you’re not a member, maybe you should join.

Your professional/industry association’s publications

Not only do many professional associations tend to hold regular events for their memberships, but they’ll also list them in their own publication. In the past, many would have a magazine or newsletter mailing that would include a list of upcoming events, but nowadays you’re more likely to receive an email update.

Your local networking club

Networking clubs aim to bring together people around something they all have in common. It could be around an industry or a profession, a business philosophy or entrepreneurship in general.

Many networking clubs that meet regularly have membership fees, and not cheap ones either. On the on hand, fees cover event expenses. On the other hand, they also restrict club events to people who are serious about participating as they literally invest in the club.

To entice people to join, you can often trial the club by attending one event for free. If they don’t offer such a taster session, ask for one.

Your own event

Not many networking events in your area?

Not many networking events in your area that suit your needs?

Make your own event. You’ll be doing something valuable for your local community and give your personal brand a big boost in the eyes of everyone involved and more.

And if all that isn’t enough, you can always go online and use these 20 Tools to Find Local Networking Events Quickly.

READ NOW: The Power Of Going To The Right Networking Events

Author:

Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.

In other words, can you honestly say that you now have your dream job, or not? And if not, why not?!

There are few things in life that are more psychologically (and often, physically) draining than having to get up each and every work day and go to a job that you may have come to loathe, or at least one that you know, instinctively, is going absolutely nowhere. Yet that’s where MILLIONS of currently employed, very well-qualified and talented men and women find themselves today!

Go and get your dream job

It really doesn’t have to be that way! You can change the situation. You can indeed land your dream job, not merely continue to trudge along in the one you now have. But you must be willing to face—and then abruptly lose—any fears or misconceptions you may harbor about today’s turbulent job market. You’ll have to step out of your “comfort zone,” start branding yourself as a very desirable candidate, and then take a shot at grabbing the “golden ring”!

I certainly understand why many people fear leaving their current jobs, no matter how bad these jobs may have become, to step out into the “great unknown” that seems to characterize much of today’s turbulent, somewhat unpredictable job market. Consider what noted motivational speaker and bestselling author Zig Ziglar had to say about this kind of irrational fear:

“For most people, the fear of loss is greater than the desire for gain,” he said.

Ziglar hits the nail right on the head here, as far as I’m concerned, and his astute observation goes a long way toward explaining why so many people will continue to put up with a mediocre, miserable, dead-end job—they are simply too afraid of losing what they now have, too paralyzed by inertia, to step out of their “comfort” zone and seek a much more fulfilling, satisfying job, their dream job! Many will just continue to whine and moan about how awful their current job is and never even attempt to reach out for the “golden ring.”

“If you were unemployed . . .”

As a “headhunter,” I am in the marketplace each and every business day calling potential candidates, most of whom are currently employed, for positions I am trying to fill for my business clients. Oftentimes, here is the initial response I get from these professionals:

“No, thanks, I’m not looking for a job.”

Fair enough, I tell them, and then I ask this question:

“Knowing what you know now, if you were unemployed, would you interview for the job you currently have?”

Most of the potential candidates are somewhat taken aback by my question, at least at first. Once they recover, some will say that, yes, they would indeed interview for their current position, if they were unemployed. Significant to note, however, is that at least one-half of the candidates, after pausing for further reflection, say that, no, they probably would not!

It’s the people who say “no,” of course, whom I most want to reach and start them thinking about both their short-term and long-term career opportunities (or lack thereof) at their current job. Their “no” answer paves the way for me to then pose a number of other key questions about why, if their current job is not completely (or nearly completely) meeting their needs and desires, they nonetheless stay in that job.

Here are the types of questions I ask these men and women:

• Are you staying in your current job because you’re afraid to take the risk of finding a new one in today’s job market?
• Is your current job really what you want to do for the remainder of your career? (Is this in fact your dream job?)
• Are you staying because you need the income you earn at your current job?
• Are you trapped by convenience, e.g., you don’t want to have to move the family to another locale, change schools or otherwise introduce temporary chaos into your professional and personal life, etc.
• Are you staying because you feel your company “needs” you?
• Would you feel guilty if you were to leave the company?

I have found that, usually, one or more of the reasons implied in these questions account for why the overwhelming majority of these men and women stay in their current jobs, even though they are not finding them professionally fulfilling. Maybe one (or more) of these implications also accounts for why you stay in a job that you find somewhat less than professionally fulfilling, why you hesitate to reach out to find your DREAM job. If so, let me give you some of my thoughts about why such thinking can be extremely shortsighted and ultimately self-defeating.

“There are no jobs ‘out there’”

If you are fearful of venturing out into today’s job market, that fear is more than likely based upon an assumption (false, by the way) that “there aren’t any jobs ‘out there’,” and that you’re “lucky” to still have the one you currently have. If this is what you think, then you need to think again!

As I pointed out in a recent blog (Avoid a ‘Take This Job and Shove It!’ Approach to Resigning), for the past 17 months, more than SEVEN MILLION jobs have been available each and every month. FOUR MILLION of these jobs are being filled each month, but THREE MILLION remain unfilled, month in and month out, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) report. Plus, as I also pointed out in that blog, in the last couple of months, some TWO MILLION currently employed people left their jobs each month and took new ones—the highest job movement activity in a decade! So, there is plenty of “action” in today’s job market—for the right people!

“I can’t afford a salary cut”

Many employed people fear that they will have to take a salary cut if they move to a new job, and sometimes that may be the case, but it’s certainly not always the case. Whenever I get such a response from potential candidates, here is how I respond:

“While money certainly is important, I think you would have to agree that it isn’t everything, either. So let’s put money aside for the moment. Assume you don’t have your current monetary obligations. Would you still do the job you’re in?”

It’s important to keep in mind that salary is only part of a total compensation package. Increased or less-expensive benefits offered by a new employer, or a reduced cost of living at a new locale,  may very well offset any salary decrease that could be involved, for example. What’s more, the time to talk (or even to start seriously considering) total compensation is when you are actually offered a new position, not when you are still considering (or being considered for) the position. Hold off any reservations you may have about exploring a new career opportunity because of the initial salary being proffered. If you prove to be the right candidate for a position, believe me, a hiring manager can usually satisfactorily address many, if not most, of your lingering concerns, including salary.

“I don’t want to uproot my family and move”

 No matter how much you may like the area where you now live and work, if your job is taking a daily toll on you, it is also safe to bet it’s taking an equally devastating toll on your family. If you’re consistently unhappy because of your job, you can bet they aren’t all that happy with their lives, either.

“I’d feel like a ‘traitor’ if I left when I’m needed”

Loyalty is certainly an admirable trait—when applied to family and true friends! When it comes to the company you work for, however, it is never more than a “one-way street,” and that street begins—and ends!—with you, not the company that employs you. No matter how long you’ve been with the company, no matter what contributions you may have made to its success, they can—and will!—“cut you loose” without more than a moment’s notice! Let me relate a recent incident to you that more than amply illustrates my point here.

Not long ago I was recruiting for a regional sales manager’s position. The potential candidate I was talking to was then serving in a regional sales manager’s role, and when I asked him if he would have any interest in exploring the career opportunity I was presenting from one of his company’s competitors, here is what he told me:

“I’ve been with my current company 12 years. I would feel disloyal if I even entertained the thought of interviewing for a job with our main competitor!”

You probably guessed it. Three weeks later the candidate called me up and asked if the position was still open because he had just been laid off. (It wasn’t.)

Make no mistake about it, this kind of thing happens with regularity each and every business day and it can happen to anyone—including you! Don’t even think about staying in a less-than-satisfactory job out of some misplaced sense of loyalty.

How a circus elephant is trained

The next time the circus comes to your town, walk around before the show and observe the elephants. Usually they are chained to a large metal stake pounded into the ground. Common sense would tell you that an animal as huge and as mighty as an elephant would have no difficulty whatsoever pulling up the stake and wandering off. And that would be true. Yet the elephants stay put.

How do they do that?! Well, it’s simple. The animals are initially chained to an object that they can’t easily pull away from, e.g., the trunk of a huge tree, etc. And once the elephants have convinced themselves that, when chained to any object (including the huge metal stake), they have no choice but to stay in place, they soon no longer even try to pull away!

Sound familiar? I hope so.

If I have convinced you to at least consider the many career opportunities that may be open to you today, if you don’t now have your dream job, then I have accomplished my goal with this blog. You owe it to yourself, your family—to your own sanity!—to pursue what can become your dream job, and regardless of what you may believe, there really has never been a better time to do that than now!

NOTE: Be watching for future blogs where I will tell you how you can brand yourself to take full advantage of the many career opportunities that may be available to you in today’s job market.

Author:

Skip Freeman is the author of “Headhunter” Hiring Secrets: The Rules of the Hiring Game Have Changed . . . Forever! and is the President and Chief Executive Officer of The HTW Group (Hire to Win), an Atlanta, GA, Metropolitan Area Executive Search Firm. Specializing in the placement of sales, engineering, manufacturing and R&D professionals, he has developed powerful techniques that help companies hire the best and help the best get hired.

I found out that I could apply for about 70 jobs a day before my eyes glazed over completely. I also found out that I could do this for 17 days in a row before I really needed a day off.

That’s almost 1,200 jobs.

The job search results

Guess what? I didn’t get a response to a single one of those jobs. Not one. Basically, they gave me every bit as much attention as I gave them.

Most people do something similar when they look for work online. Eventually, your mind numbs and it becomes impossible to tell what you’re applying for. Your judgment starts to falter and pretty soon, you’re slamming out resumes as fast as you can.

Part of the problem is that job descriptions are painfully awful to read. Part of the problem is that it seems like doing a lot of stuff and staying busy is how you get a job. Part of the problem is that everyone else feels that way and as a result, lots of companies are buried in resumes that are only sort of applicable to the job.

The people on the other end of the chain have the same problem. They look at the stack of applicants and try to sift to the ones that fit. Their eyes glaze over and they slip as they reject. Pretty soon, they are only looking for perfect fits (which guarantees that the person won’t last in the job).

So what do you do?

It may be the case that you need to do some busy work. So, by all means, apply for 10 or 20 jobs a day. Just don’t pay much attention to them.

With the other eight hours in your job hunting work day, focus on one company. Learn about it, figure out what you’d like to do there and go to work on building a network that gets you access to the people who’d hire you.

What you’re really looking for is an interview. It doesn’t really matter how you get it. Remember, all job hunting is about getting the interview.

Author:

John Sumser, a member of the Glassdoor Clearview Collection, is the founder and editor-in-chief of HRExaminer, a weekly online magazine about the people and technology of HR. Widely respected as an independent analyst, Sumser has been chronicling and critiquing the HRTechnology industry for eighteen years. During that time, he has consulted with more than 100 HR vendors on matters of strategy and positioning in the market. Prior to his involvement in the HR Technology industry, Sumser was a senior executive in Defense Technology. From large scale software development to naval architecture, he was the leader of tech development teams in a broad variety of settings. His passion is the intersection of people and technology.

The next big picture advice heard was to establish a succession plan. Again, just having begun my business, I thought the need for this was very far off into the future. But time has a way of advancing, goals and directions change, and new needs arise. It has become obvious that the people preaching the advice were right on target.

Team success

Today I was congratulated on the number of followers I enjoy on Twitter but I couldn’t take all of the credit. I attribute the phenomenon to the once thriving community that taught the better practices for this site. A virtual assistant was taking the same classes and researched additional information. I eventually hired her to help me grow a like-minded following on a couple of the social media sites. Those of us that were in the community began to collaborate formalizing an online team. By promoting one another we grew our followings even further.

Just as I was reviewing the concepts of creating team and succession, a good friend emailed me with her news. “Julie” built a successful women’s organization with chapters in major cities in the United States. She also developed chapters in foreign countries, and adopted schools in Africa to send some of the proceeds to help educate the children.

Team growth and achievement

Julie and I began business about the same time, and we always seem to be having similar thoughts simultaneously. She wrote to say she is very glad that her team was built from the start. Everyone who works with her has full knowledge of her intentions for business, and are trained well on how to do their job. In addition, they are given decision-making power. Over the years, her team formed a close network. Turnover is next to non-existent. Her team and teamwork have paid off greatly in every respect including loyalty.

On the very same day as I was reviewing these concepts, Julie was advised to step away from being CEO. She is to hand the reigns over to someone on her team who is well groomed for the position. Julie will now become the Founding Member and Platform Speaker. When she speaks, Julie is both inspirational and motivational able to move audiences to new heights. I exclaimed it was brilliant advice.

In her new capacity, Julie will be able to further showcase her company and attract additional sponsors to empower the giving portion of her business. By stepping away from being CEO, a path is also being built for her to one day sell the company to another with a very strong foundation in place.

The moral of the story is to envision the final outcome of your business. How will you step out? Will you sell, hand it over to the next generation or simply walk away? Time passes quickly but your personal brand has the capacity to live on for many generations to come. Make your plan today and make it a Smooth Sale!

Author:

Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC, (800) 704-1499, was honored by Open View Labs with inclusion in their international list of “Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012.” Elinor authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results”, Sourcebooks and the best selling career book, “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”, Career Press. She provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed inspirational keynotes for conferences. Elinor is available for consultation.