When you decide that employment inertia is no longer working for you or you find that economic conditions beyond your control have thrust you into a job or possibly a career change, then you need a plan. The better you accept and strategically deal with change, the more likely a positive outcome can be realized. 

As a career transition specialist, I have determined ten important steps that must be followed to form a complete plan. As you read the steps below, assess for yourself if you have a grasp on some of these or if you need to develop and refine certain ones. You will know that you have mastered most if not all ten steps when you feel deep contentment with your career. 

My pick for the ten practical basic steps to career development are: 

1. Choose your “industry“. It may be as clear-cut as pharmaceuticals or physics, or it may be a hybrid like combining social work with animal rescue. But whatever you decide, be clear that you are in a field that you care about and would like to grow in.
2. Determine and promote your value proposition or unique selling proposition, including a branding process. Everyone needs to market themselves if they are to find career options and opportunities.
3. Having a strong resume.  Prepare a resume that highlights your significance and employment value. It is more relevant today than ever before. Make this a document that has you truly shining.
4. Distribute cover letters that open doors.  In general, the more targeted a cover letter is written, the greater are your chances for an interview. But also consider the cold cover letter that can make a hiring manager sit up and take notice.
5. Maximize the power of LinkedIn. It is a small jump from a solid resume to a powerful LinkedIn profile. Someone who may consider you for an interview or to hire you will most likely look for your LI presence. Be there and look good.
6. Know job search best practices.  Still looking in the newspaper for who is hiring? Job search techniques have been identified that will increase your chances of getting the work you want. Become familiar with what works and do not waste time and energy with what does not.
7. Networking, networking, and networking. No longer just a job search tactic, networking is a systematic cultivation of people who can be a valuable resource for career opportunities. Build and maintain a rich network of such contacts. Smart professionals are always networking, even and especially, when they are employed.
8. Develop your intellectual capital through research. Know as much as possible about trends, practices, threats, and strengths in your chosen industry and/or with key companies. This will increase your credibility and professional instincts. Adding to your expertise should never stop.
9. Practice informational interviews. As a subset of the last two mentioned steps, informational interviews assist you in building a knowledge base and learning from people in the know. Set up short fact-gathering sessions with insiders to expand both your intellectual and your social capital. 
10. Strengthen your job interview performance. Be well prepared for all types of job interviews. This is not just about memorizing answers to common questions. It is about leveraging confidence, knowledge, and skills to craft a presentation that leads to a satisfying career move.

Implementing a plan consisting of these ten steps will better position you for the work life you desire. Make no mistake, doing all of this is a lot of work and it is not easy. But as the world of work moves increasingly toward one in which the professional is the primary caregiver of themselves, it is a necessary one. 

Any career transition strategy must include evidence that the job seeker or job changer is involved in continuous learning. With competition for jobs tighter than ever, it creates a buyer market for hiring managers and recruiters. They can select from among the best in the talent pool and part of being the best is for the professional to be engaged in their field through a never-ending process of learning and refinement. 

I would recommend to any client going into a job interview that they make sure the interviewer knows that they are enthused and energized by their line of work or chosen profession and that they are constantly seeking ways to grow and learn more deeply and broadly about it. 

Now this does not have to mean just taking formal classes or matriculating into degree programs, although doing so can certainly count as concrete evidence. Additional continuous learning techniques can be accomplished through on-the-job-training, networking with those possessing expertise, joining and following relevant LinkedIn groups, getting involved with professional association activities and resources, and the one I would like to focus on today, the informational interview. 

This method is great for targeted learning about types of jobs. It is all about information gathering and when done well can leave you much more knowledgeable about where you want and do not want to go with your career. As an added benefit, informational interviewing can expand your network and serve as a self-promotion or marketing tactic that may pay off with learning about interesting and new opportunities down the road.  

The first thing to know about informational interviews is that they are not job interviews. The purpose is to ask proven professionals for advice and insight. They can help the job seeker learn more about specific careers, industries, and companies, resulting in you knowing much more about each than you did before. 

To do this well, however, you need to be someone who can reach out to these people in the know and make a request for an informational interview. In many cases this may mean making a cold contact — everybody’s favorite thing to do! But with practice, even the most introverted among us can get into the outreach zone. 

Keep this in mind, most people like to be asked about what they know and are good at. Who does not like to talk about themselves? Many current pros probably did some informational interviewing when they were considering transitions and feel it is appropriate to give back.   

Finding people to interview will require some homework. LinkedIn and Twitter along with other face-to-face networking through professional associations, Chambers of Commerce, alumni associations, professional journals or other publications, workshops, conferences, and social events can all turn up interesting people with whom to speak. 

Once you identify some potential contacts, approach them first in writing by explaining who you are and provide some professional background along with a specific purpose of your contact and your contact information. Request a twenty-minute time slot. (If lucky, it will go longer). Determine with them if face-to-face, phone, or Skype is the best way to talk. 

Never go into one of these ill prepared. Get as much background information together by visiting the organization’s or industry’s web sites beforehand along with pre-determined questions ready to use. 

You are asking them about things like: 

a typical day 

workplace environment and conditions 

necessary training and education requirements 

anticipated job prospects 

company and industry culture 

earnings potential 

typical company and industry career paths 

what their recommendations and warnings are 

best practices 

how they stack up with the competition 

I am sure that you can think of others. Hopefully, the conversation will begin to flow and take on a life of its own. 

As you conclude, ask if there is anyone else they can recommend for you to interview. After all, this is part of your continuous learning plan. There is always more to read and someone else to meet. 

The recent mass firing of an entire high school staff in Central Falls, RI is remarkable on several levels. And one of these is that there were many teachers fired who had not only a history of loyalty to the school and community but had years’ worth of positive evaluations or performance reviews. 

No one can argue that an organization, whether a school or business, should have a fair and effective means of determining whether employees are working to capacity and serving as a valued resource. A solid employee appraisal process gives management an opportunity to present positive feedback and to point out ways in which employee performance may need strengthening. 

It is a time when organizational and worker goals can be reviewed and aligned, and if relevant, obstacles to optimal performance can be identified and remediated. Through continuous refinement, the performance review process can add potency to organizational operations. 

But what happens when performance reviews are just an empty meaningless management tactic that really holds no operational value or legitimacy? That appears to have been the case in Central Falls.  

I had an opportunity lately to speak with some of the current and soon to be former staff of Central Falls High School and as would be expected they were disgruntled with what occurred. But the one single complaint that was heard most often was the one concerning the apparent lack of weight given to performance reviews. How can it be, they rightly ask, that teachers who had proven their merit through a negotiated performance review process did not have that process factor into their dismissal decision? All the effort placed by administrators into evaluating staff was wasted, since their assessment work had no bearing when it came to a mass firing. 

So why did the school district bother with performance reviews? One of the reasons why they occur is to identify employee training needs. Given that this school had a history of low-functioning students from low-income homes, it seems reasonable to assume that staff training needed to be better concentrated on improving student achievement with a challenging population such as this one. 

One wonders to what extent this training happened. Is it reasonable to assume that all the teachers were so incompetent that they were incapable of addressing the serious educational needs of an admittedly difficult student body? I think it was easier to just fire everybody, rather than to try building an effective training program. 

Another important function of performance reviews is to diagnose weaknesses to better address organizational inefficiencies. When an organization deteriorates to the point that its shortcomings are overwhelming, the question arises as to whether the blame lies more with the workforce or the leadership. 

It is difficult to see how this school was well administered. Education is difficult, but it is not particle physics. A more strategic attempt to use performance reviews as part of a plan to better target and mitigate organizational imperfections could have been a more humane and intelligent approach to strengthen the school. 

Perhaps the most important reason for having performance reviews is that they provide opportunities for employees and management to have frank and solution-oriented discussions of workplace issues. People do not go into teaching for money and prestige, but to try making a difference in their communities and to the lives of youth. It is one of those jobs that combines art, science, and passion to produce competence and effectiveness… not unlike many jobs out there. 

Members of an organization need to be able to collaborate forcefully on making quality decisions and solving problems. Institutionalizing improvement measures internally is paramount for an organization in crisis. 

Can you imagine the lack of cooperation and trust between management and rank and file that results in the firing of every employee? This is a case study of organizational failure. 

There are some questions that just should not be asked in an interview. In fact, Human Resource professionals know that legal complications can occur if questions that are too probing crop up during that check-out-the-potential-employee event. 

Of course, an employer wants to know who they are getting. Why should they hand the keys to the castle to someone who is incompetent, a self-aggrandizer, or worse? The drive to mine as deeply as possible into every aspect of the job candidate is intense when what is at stake is spending cherished company resources onboarding and training in hopes a value-added asset has been acquired. 

However, there are rules as to how far an interviewer can go. Specifically, interviewers should stay away from the following: 

• Are you a U.S. citizen? (Of course, the employer can ask for proof of eligibility after the candidate has been hired.) 
• What is your native language? 
• Are you married? 
• Do you have kids? 
• How long have you lived here? 
• What religion do you practice? 
• Do you plan on becoming pregnant? 
• How old are you? 
• What clubs do you belong to? 
• When do you plan to retire? 
• Do you have a disability or chronic illness? 

And this is not the complete list of no-no questions. Clearly, privacy rights are being weighted in favor of the job candidate. Or are they? 

Have you filled out a job application lately…especially for a professional position? There is a major healthcare provider in New Hampshire that has a job application that looks downright 1984-Big Brother-ish in its line of questioning. Although I haven’t conducted an exhaustive study of statewide applications, my hunch is that these guys are not alone. 

Questions asking the applicant’s age, ethnicity, race, Social Security number, driver’s license number, whether they have a disability or are a veteran, are just some of the intrusive inquiries made on this application. This begs the question, why can employers examine so closely a job seeker’s past in an application, but not in an interview? 

Here is part of the answer. Job applications become legal documents in that the applicant must sign that all information given is true. Notice that interviewees do not have to swear on such a Bible. This is useful for screening out applicants with past criminal convictions or other unwanted behaviors. Companies can use the application to check for truthfulness and integrity, which protects their organization and the people who work there, from disreputable people. 

Another issue is that employers are required to file U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports with the federal government. Applications standardize the hiring process and can be used as documentation that shows employment discrimination is not occurring. Discrimination is much harder to prove in an interview.    

Two additional points about the discrepancy between questioning on applications vs. during interviews: Human Resource professionals should be the ones viewing completed applications, chuck full as they are with private information. When a receptionist, for example, is the one handling the app, then that is evidence of a shoddy operation. 

Also, let us not assume that all applications are in perfect synch with EEOC guidelines. One Boston professor informs me that, “I have found many job applications with prohibited questions on them. If someone doesn’t complain to the EEOC, then the practice will continue until someone does.”  

Job applications and interviews are governed by the same EEOC rules. Unfortunately, it cannot be safely assumed that all employers will follow those rules. Like it or not, diligence and knowledge about what is appropriate and what is not is yet another task falling to the already overburdened job seeker. 

Given the poor hiring climate, many workers who are lucky enough to still be employed are simply grateful that they are. Because of this, now may hardly seem like a time to analyze and rate your employer to see if this is a good place to work or not. Among the consequences of the Great Recession is that the workforce is less concerned about personal career goals and more accommodating to our bosses since they have been benevolent enough to keep us on payroll. This is the attitude we should have during down economic times, right? 

I sure hope not! If we have reached a point where furthering our career aspirations is considered an ill-timed luxury we can no longer afford, then we are in a Depression. Acquiring and retaining top talent should never go out of style for any organization and finding those workplaces that honor this operational approach should be paramount for the individual professional looking to advance in their avocation. 

Now of course, during these recessionary times employers are having to revisit strategic assumptions to see if they are still appropriate given cash flow and revenue constraints, changeable government interventions, and workforce transformations. But then conducting a SWOT analysis periodically is a good thing anyway. 

As companies look out over this unpredictable landscape, it is in their short and long-term interest to attract and keep the most qualified workforce possible. To not do so leaves businesses vulnerable to leaner and sharper competition, some of which will emerge from this Recession as relative winners. 

For the professional wanting to be positioned with a strategic and forward-looking organization there are a couple of key corporate initiatives to look for and lookout for.  When I hear from some clients how they are treated by supervisors or about the lack of operational discipline displayed by their employers I am amazed these places are still in business. 

Mismanagement, paranoia, intimidation, poor communication, and in some cases downright rudeness are all in full swing. I recently heard of a dedicated professional who put in over twenty-nine years with the same insurance firm and did not receive even a thank-you upon retirement. Bad corporate behavior aside, if an employer still relies on the traditional motivational model of rewarding employees with greater amounts of responsibility and pay as they march lockstep from associate to senior management, they may find that today’s workforce will not be impressed. 

Enlightened and enterprising expertise will be looking for companies that get it. Among the most important strategic components are employers’ talent management and continuous learning programs. Management systems that are serious about quality recruitment, onboarding, retention, succession planning, and employee development are the businesses most likely to not only attract and keep high caliber talent but are in a better position to succeed. 

Among the specifics employees want to see institutionalized are: 

• Complex and challenging assignments 
• Utilization of coaches and mentors 
• Frequent assignment or client changes 
• Engaging and relevant training activities 
• Opportunities for employees to build portfolios by continuous refinement of marketable skills 
• Team effectiveness development 

…and much more. 

Watching also for leadership that intelligently attempts to determine necessary metrics for driving decision making is a sign of an attractive employer. You cannot manage it if you cannot measure it. Therefore, managing talent requires innovative and effective means of judging the efficiencies of interventions such as those mentioned above. 

Do not let the Recession be an excuse for putting your career development on hold. Find those employers who want to build continuous improvement learning organizations through comprehensive employee advancement. If you are fortunate to work for such a company, give them all you have. For they too should be rewarded for being such a wonderful place to work. 

It is not at all unusual to see written or to hear oral descriptions from job seekers giving their pitch for why they should be hired with phrases like, “…with over thirty years of experience in…”, “…over two decades of dedicated service in…”, or “I am a Systems and Network Administrator with over 25+ years of …”  

Naturally, these references to long-term experience which have been devoted to a particular career are meant to convey expertise, commitment, and reliability. There is also a strong dose of pride in being able to make the claim that one’s chosen career has been focused on building significant levels of knowledge and mastery. The mature diligent career-oriented worker deserves to feel esteemed for such an undertaking. 

Unfortunately, these claims of longevity can be job search killers for the older workforce cohort. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that age discrimination does exist. And announcing that you are relatively old does place you at a disadvantage when it comes to career or job shifting later in life. 

The obstacle of age discrimination comes at a particularly inconvenient time. Part of the recessionary fall-out is that older workers are being forced into retirement. Even without the down economy this generation of workers have come to believe that leveraging honed skills over many years would better position them for encore careers of their choice. 

Yet for many, the choice is staying with what work you are lucky to have or accepting early retirement. Not surprisingly, many older workers have been laid-off or have had their workloads increased to make up for those who were recently laid-off. The decision-making and negotiating power they thought they would have at this time of life is not there.  

Yes, there does exist the federal Age Discrimination Employment Act (ADEA) designed to protect workers aged 40+ from discrimination in hiring and other employment related situations in workplaces with at least twenty employees. Many states have laws covering discrimination in workplaces with fewer than twenty employees. Specifically, the ADEA: 

• Prohibits job advertising from mentioning age. 
• Prevents age limits from being set for training & development programs. 
• Restricts retaliation against workers filing violation claims. 
• Prohibits employers from forcing early retirements. 

But it is not too difficult for the company who wants to shun older workers from doing so. Job descriptions can be written in ways that are within the letter of the law, but which include items that make it difficult for the older worker to comply. 

So, why does age discrimination exist? In a way it seems counterintuitive to discriminate against the older worker. It is not hard to identify advantages to having more mature employees. They tend to have a proven work ethic, are not as concerned about work/life balance as younger workers are and have deeper levels of wisdom and proficiency. From the point of view of younger recruiters and hiring managers however, older workers conjure some unflattering images like: 

• old school thinking and lacking innovation 
• working at a slower pace 
• more costly in salaries and benefits 
• not having future long-term viability 
• not as tech savvy 

The list goes on. It is enough to make the plus 50 workers’ blood boil. I can hear them saying, “We’ve earned the right to be hired! We’ve paid our dues!” 

Nevertheless, if you are older and looking for work you need to update your resume, write new cover letters, and refine the way in which you describe your value to hiring personnel. So, face facts. You may have earned respect, but you have not earned that new position any more than any else has. You still must make the case for why you are the best candidate. 

If you are truly at the top of your game, then show it in your value proposition. Know what that company is looking for and convince them that you are their guy or gal. They are going to be looking for the greatest value at the lower cost. Present yourself with that in mind. Resting on past laurels will not get you that new job. Attaining it will. 

There is always something that others find annoying in each one of us. Maybe it is that we want the freedom to concentrate on a task of our own choosing, which leaves others feeling that we are too distant and not connected enough. Or perhaps, it is that we always need people around us for conversation and for bouncing ideas off of, which can annoy others who may think, “Can’t [he or she] just be out of my hair for a while?!” 

It could be that we seem too nonconventional, or too commonplace, or too quick to decide, or not decisiveness enough, or, or, or… Give it time and frequency and we can start to think we have major faults. Our self-concept takes a hit, and we find ourselves vowing to others that we will try harder to be better. 

Yet these alleged deficiencies may be indicators of personal strengths and workplace potential. A big problem with determining one’s own worth through the critical eyes of others is that it can cause us to veer away from an unfettered self-examination. It is hard to confidently express your own value when you feel overwhelmed or at least tainted by what you are told are weaknesses that keep recurring repeatedly. 

It may be time to reframe the deficits as benefits. Do you find yourself in a job that calls for multi-tasking when you just want time to develop a concept in a distraction free environment? Are you tired of working in isolation when you strongly wish you could be part of a cross-disciplinary team? In general, are you being required to function in a manner that is not congruent with your true, innate interests, aptitudes, and passions? 

Fortunately, the human collective is not split into two pre-ordained groups, those with natural talent and good luck to always succeed and those who are losers and who are never going to amount to anything. Everyone has the potential to prevail and contribute, if only the right set of circumstances align allowing everyone to perform at their best. There is a lid for every pot. 

It becomes necessary for each of us to know what we can do well and to seek those opportunities and situations by which we work in energizing ways rather than just managing our weaknesses. Take the time to consider the behaviors you have that seem to put others off. Ask yourself, is the behavior really your problem to fix or is it that you are somehow misplaced? 

In many cases, problems at work are the result of being constrained by doing things that we would rather not do. Perhaps, we are being directed to perform tasks we somewhat enjoy, but in ways divergent from our preferred way of doing them. It is likely that we will each execute at our best when our work is an expression of our interest and skill combined with the freedom to choose the course of progress. 

I like to give clients an exercise of drafting their ideal job description. It is not an easy thing to do for many. But I recommend trying it, so that you can design a template of what to strive for. Give yourself time to imagine that perfect employment scenario. When doing so, think of what your chronic “weaknesses” are telling you. These “deficits” could be gateways to workplace conditions that are unfulfilled. 

Of course, we cannot always get what we want, but we can sure try. The method of achieving a productive workforce should involve optimal placement of each employee.  However, it is up to everyone to get to the place where both you and your employer each receive maximum value for the work you do. The best way to manage a weakness is to turn it into a strength. 

Every professional should be able to state their value proposition. No longer just a business school term, value proposition has relevant meaning to all successful individuals and organizations alike. 

Career development in the modern era rests on the premise that each professional has a uniquely blended set of talents, interests, aptitudes, and experiences that is worth something to someone else. Finding a timely fit between the value provider and the value consumer is the challenge of the career climber and job searcher.  

With rare exception, most of us do not sit around spending our time crafting our value proposition. It is generally easier to find something else to do which is more fun. It is fair to say that most of us view the task of defining our one-of-a-kind value proposition as a daunting job. Where do you start? Are we talking about a clever, pithy phrase or a doctoral dissertation? 

I do not think that there is a hard and fast rule. So, what I will try is to demonstrate what I think is a reasonable attempt at writing a value proposition statement. I will use myself in the context of what I think I do well, which is to provide career coaching and resume/cover letter writing services. Note the length and depth of my statement. It is not as brief as a seven-word self-description, but it is not a thesis either. 

Bill Ryan’s Value Proposition 

Leveraging my extensive experience as an educator, I offer clients customized guidance in career coaching and proficient preparation of resumes and targeted cover letters. My service approach consists of the following features: 

• Listen actively whereby the client feels heard and understood. 
• Quickly perceive presenting issues.  
• View the client’s issues and goals developmentally based on age and work experience. 
• Assist the client to plan strategically with an unclouded vision of desired outcomes. 
• Apply task analysis to the creation of an action plan. 
• Help clients determine their own career momentum but be directive when necessary. 
• Always encourage, boost, applaud, and if needed, challenge. 

There it is. Fairly concise. No heavy lifting to write this.  

And the use of bullets is deliberate. Dismayed as many literary traditionalists may be, these days we absorb information in chunks or snippets, rather than in long essays. Bulleted points can be more economic to write, and they force you to think of your attributes and traits, the elements that make up your value proposition. 

What are the characteristics that make up your value? What is your specific contribution to business, the community, the world? Defining your worth is the first step to finding the best opportunities for expressing your value through what you do every day. 

I encourage you to try this exercise. Allow yourself to think of the value proposition piece you write as a dynamic document. It is fine for it to be something susceptible to many drafts and continual revision. You will want to revisit it frequently, always refining and attempting to make your value proposition statement as true as possible to what you have to offer the workplace. 

An issue is starting to heat up that I believe will have significant impact in fields such as career development, workforce management, and the evolving nature of the employee and employer relationship. It involves the proliferation of private, entrepreneurial, and independent contractors and the hiring or contracting of them by companies. 

Projections are that a growing part of the future workforce will be made up of independent contractors providing relatively short-term project-oriented solutions for business. Where conflict may arise is in the legal enforcement of how employers classify and treat those among their workforce as to whether they are categorized as employees or independent contractors. 

Both federal and state laws have a history of protecting worker rights from employers who would seek to deny workers’ compensation coverage and other benefits to their employees by classifying these workers as independent contractors. In New Hampshire, for example, legislation became effective January 1, 2008, revising and broadly applying a consistent definition of “employee”, thereby increasing worker protections enforced by the New Hampshire Department of Labor. 

In the Federal government, Senator John Kerry introduced legislation in December 2009 matching a House bill that would increase the burden of employers to classify workers as independent contractors. The point being to secure workforce protections like workers’ compensation, Social Security, Medicare, overtime, unemployment compensation, and minimum wage for the greatest number of workers. 

It is good to know that the government is out there looking out for the little guy, and it undoubtedly keeps many employers honest. However, I am afraid that an unintended consequence of these protections may be to discourage employers from contracting with independent providers at a time when many of these workers want to work self-reliantly and to be free from the long-term obligations of an employee status with an organization. 

Employers may want to reduce legal compliance pressures by just hiring full or part-time employees and not take advantage of the strategic talent options available from independent contractors. This creates a challenge for highly motivated and skilled individuals who want more control over how they work. And it is to them that the burden lies in convincing business that contracting with them will not come with onerous worker protection strings attached. Otherwise, their dream of working creatively from one environment to the next will be in jeopardy. 

Independent contractors need to be noticeably clear with themselves that being independent means just that, on your own. Income and benefits both must be generated by the private worker. A networking trend that may help independents is in establishing exchanges or guilds that can negotiate for benefits such as health insurance. By using the economies of scale, independents may be able to provide for themselves the benefits they need but should not expect from traditional employers. 

Another area independents need to be clear about is in the language, terms, and conditions of their contracts. Contracts will have to be written in such a way that the independence of both the contractor and the hiring company is maintained. To write such a contract, both parties should be clear on the definition of “employee” for the state in which the working relationship is to take place. 

For example, in New Hampshire the recent redefinition of the term “employee” contains eleven conditions that must be met to exclude the independent contractor from employee status. And all eleven conditions must apply! Going into these contractual arrangements armed with this kind of knowledge places the independent contractor in a stronger position, because then they are then able to mitigate the concerns and reduce the hassles for the hiring company. 

There are many benefits for both parties in having temporary project-based contracted work. Despite the predictions of its imminent expansion as a practice, planning and foresight will be more necessary than ever. Here is yet another case in which adaptability and an orientation toward change will be called upon for success to be achieved. 

By now most professionals know how to strengthen a resume in a time of increasing recruitment efficiency and robust job competition. Attention needs to be paid to the use of effective keywords. 

Keywords are those industry buzzwords that let recruiters and hiring managers know which job niche you may be best at filling. Better yet, keywords alert Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) that you may be worth interviewing, if the system has been programmed to highlight resumes with the keywords you have included in your resume. 

ATS is currently in use by many large corporations. It becomes an attractive tactic when the number of resumes submitted far exceeds the human eyeball-capacity of an organization. 

The technology is just a variation on standard search methodology made famous by Google. Instead of yielding web pages based on a set of search terms, resumes are selected based on a set of keywords specific to the position being filled. If you as a job seeker are being asked to upload your resume in plain text or rich text formats or to paste it into a web/database field, then chances are it could be screened by ATS. For your resume to not be rejected in a millisecond, it is necessary to have the right keywords which will prompt a selection. 

The challenge for job seekers and resume writers is to identify relevant keywords and embed them into resumes in a way that looks natural. Submitting a list of words and calling it a resume will not do. Resumes must be prepared in such a way that they can be read by an ATS and a human. 

How does one find out if they are utilizing the best keywords in their resume? There are several ways of doing this. For those seeking a new position in what for them is the same industry they have built their experience, then many keywords should be already known. It may just be a matter of systematically generating a list of terms directly related to your background knowledge and inserting them strategically into the resume. 

For those job seekers transitioning to a new or related industry some keyword research may become necessary. Here are some ideas on conducting that research: 

1. Study online job boards for postings like or similar tothe kinds of positions you would consider pursuing. Note the industry vocabulary that is frequently used in both the headings and body of these postings.
2. Identify the terms used in descriptions of your chosen profession in industry publications, professional associations, and the Labor Department’s Occupation Outlook Handbook web sites.
3. Look at the profiles of professionals with similar positions on LinkedIn to see the terminology they are using to describe themselves.
4. Poll your professional network to get their keyword suggestions.
5. Staffing agency professionals, particularly those dedicated to niche recruiting, can be a source of appropriate nomenclature.

So exactly what kind of words should you use in compiling this all-important keyword main list? 

• Words that are industry and job specific 
• Words that highlight the job candidate’s experiences and qualifications 
• Words that refer to hard professional skills 
• And words that indicate useful “soft” personal attributes for the position. 

As an exercise, try writing your own ideal or fantasy job description. Which words are you using to describe the occupation? 

It is not enough to craft a resume with a killer profile, quantifiable accomplishments, richly worded qualities, and which is aesthetically pleasing. It is also imperative to populate the resume with the right keywords to land you that interview which could change your career and your life. 

If it is not too late, I have a New Year’s resolution suggestion to make to all professionals, whether unemployed, underemployed, or gainfully employed. The suggestion is to simply define yourself. 

Do so succinctly and economically. Define your value. What do you offer? How does your work community benefit from your input? Being able to professionally and exclusively define yourself is an advantage. To become known and recognized as a quality and reliable asset is a core utility of career development. The career gain that can be realized spreads across all employment scenarios. In fact, venturing forth without a way to define yourself leaves you at a disadvantage during a time when competition for great jobs is increasing. 

Large corporate institutions, as we have traditionally known them, are undergoing a transformation. It probably began way back with the growth of middle management but is now characterized as an increasing reliance on more horizontal teams that can cross-pollinate ideas and result in synergistic production.  

Many executives are becoming more coach-like in their function. Employees are desired for their ability to get along with others, have a strong work ethic, and to be creative problem solvers. Hopefully, your self-definition incorporates all these virtues. 

We know that small business is a major force in driving the economy. When small businesses start hiring, we can expect an easing of the high unemployment rate. What drives small business? People with ambition and smarts do. In the same way that an entrepreneur figures out and communicates their value proposition, each of us should be able to do the same. Being able to provide solutions, improvements, and advantages to the marketplace is the grist for small business employees’ definitions. You would not want your business to be a white bread commodity, so why tolerate it for yourself. 

The Internet has created a new entrepreneurial landscape that didn’t exist twenty years ago. In the decade just completed, expansion of information access by way of increasingly sophisticated gadgets coupled with the growth of social interconnectedness is spawning innovative and constructive self-employment opportunities. In the upcoming decade we can expect more information filtering and selection technology demanded, and perhaps created by, end users. Staying with this evolution curve can be the brand basis for many neo-entrepreneurs. 

Whatever your career direction or place in the workforce, knowing your niche, your unique importance, and your significance will advance your position with existing and developing prospects. And just as important as knowing your positive traits is to become skilled at presenting and displaying them. Be in the mindset that others, be they upper management, colleagues, customers, or clients need you and that your talents are worth acquiring. Find the self-marketing techniques that are right for you. Promote yourself with the confidence that comes from knowing who you are. 

So, with the start of this new year discipline yourself to go through some simple exercises. What I recommend involves selecting descriptive words about you. Begin with a single attribute that makes you employable such as “trustworthy”, “competency”, or “adaptability”. From there try seven word phrases like, “a valued professional expert solution management specialist”, “take impossible projects and make them happen”, “Communicate. Steer the ship as needed. Deliver!” Eventually, craft a complete sentence about yourself. Some examples include: 

“I offer focused and deliberate care to the patients of this facility”. 

“My extensive knowledge of CAD software and ability to work hard results in high quality production.” 

“Accomplished professional with a track record of improving educational and operational performance through vision, leadership, and team building.” 

Try it. Go forward into 2010 and beyond with your own definition of your worth. The benefit of doing so is within reach. 

The priesthood is not a career. It is a devotion to service that does not differentiate into work time vs. home time or time-on and time-off. Being there 27/7 only begins to describe the commitment that a religious practitioner, whether it be priest, rabbi, swami, imam, or monk gives to others and to the deep pursuit of their beliefs.