- Don’t focus solely on your job—think about your career! And the best time to work on your career is when you’re happily and gainfully employed. If you practice perpetual career management, you’ll position yourself for salary increases and promotions and never worry about layoffs or job security because you’ll have so many coals in the fire through consistent networking and professional development.
- The best self-marketer (often) gets the job. In addition to keeping your resume updated while you’re employed, you should prepare and regularly refresh a one page biography, several powerful cover letters, a collection of stories of your accomplishments, and an elevator speech.
- Networking is more important than you think. In addition to traditional networking avenues, what can you do to expand the reach of your networking? Could you participate in LinkedIn Groups in your field or write a blog relevant to your industry? Does a group meet locally that you would enjoy bringing benefit to? What are you passionate about? It could be working on a fundraising campaign, building a Habitat for Humanity house, or volunteering for your favorite nonprofit. Anywhere where you’re regularly meeting people and building your contacts can constitute networking–and if you take the latter suggestions, you might get some good karma out of it too!
- Learn to think from the employer’s perspective. Having a “Founder’s mentality” is always a plus, and in a down economy, employers value this even more. Above all, an employer wants to know what you’re going to do for them—now. For a ticket to a job–and job security–identify and address the employer’s most urgent needs.