Kick Butt Right Now With 5 Essential 2009 Career Goals!

These days you need stand out more to your current employer and other companies. When you take the initiative to get noticed correctly you’ll be a much better candidate in the job market. And you’ll be a more valued employee in your current job.

So, here’s how you can position you for success :

1. Try to feel differently about the people around you. Instead of trying to acquire more and more contacts, spend more time with the ones you have .

2. Visualize where you want to be in one, three and five years. What kind of job, where is it located, whom do you want to work for and with, and what are your compensation expectations?

3. The best way to be visible and rise higher in your career is by being passionate about your work. And do it exceptionally well. When you excel, other people will talk about you.

4. If you’re doing an outstanding job and senior managers aren’t noticing you, maybe you’re not talking enough about yourself. Market yourself within your company. For example, acknowledging others’ success raises their visibility and puts the spotlight on you.

5. You have to build your contact bank or expand your network. Why? Because the most valuable resource you have is not your resume or work history, but your access to a diverse range of folks who can be helpful to you in many different ways.

These career goals go way beyond the passive «traditional» ways of thinking about career advancement. With the old-fashioned way you take a quantitative approach . . . thinking that doing more of the same will get you ahead. In other words you’re getting nowhere fast . . . you’re just moving in place, only you’re moving a lot faster. That’s last century thinking.

In case you missed it, we’re living in the 21st Century. So why use last century methods to look for a job or advance your career?

The dynamics of the 21st Century have changed everything.

OK. You can still find classified openings in the newspaper. There are still lots of agencies and recruiters at work, as well. And, of course, you can post your resume to some job sites.

But the marketplace has shifted dramatically. Expectations of both employers and job-seekers have moved in decidedly new directions. For example, employers expect job-seekers to know and understand corporate goals. They want prospects to demonstrate how they can contribute.

On the other hand, job opportunities are being created on the spot and the candidate can be part of the creation process. Above-average deals are the products of above average negotiations where «dollars» is only one part of the total package.

Most importantly, if you want to excel, if you want a superior job with more money, if you want to select your next job rather than settle for it, you must understand and embrace the dynamics of today’s job marketplace.