The problem with job seekers is that they think like job seekers. \u00a0Just the words alone imply that getting a job is about seeking for jobs as if all one must do is search and find. \u00a0What happens after you find a job? \u00a0Do you apply and then hope things will go your way? \u00a0What happens once you land a job? \u00a0How do you progress in your chosen field? \u00a0Is it a matter of luck?<\/p>\n

Job seeking is arguably the easiest part of the entire process of successfully becoming employed. \u00a0However, building a career is a much more complicated process that requires strategic planning to take steps toward an ultimate goal. \u00a0Preparing to enter a career field or to progress in a career field requires self assessment, research, goal setting, strategic decision-making and hard work sustained over time. \u00a0Having worked with many job seekers, I have come to realize this is not common sense. \u00a0Hoping for success will never replace working toward success. \u00a0One of my favorite quotes is from Aristotle who said, “We are what we repeatedly do.\u00a0Excellence<\/em>, then, is not an act, but a habit.” \u00a0Success has nothing to do with being hopeful but rather habitual. \u00a0So, what should job seekers make habit if they want to achieve their goals? \u00a0Here are 5 tips:<\/p>\n

\n
1. Self-Assessment <\/strong>– Self analysis is essential to understanding your skills, knowledge, abilities and values and is the starting point of finding how they can align with a chosen career.<\/li>\n
2. Research<\/strong> – You can’t have a plan if you don’t know what you are planning toward. \u00a0Career development requires constant research so you know where you are going and what steps are necessary to achieve your goal. \u00a0Research is the basis from which a plan can be derived and can come from traditional sources such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics or informational interviews.<\/li>\n
3. Goal-setting<\/strong> – Career management is like project management. \u00a0Take your ultimate career goal and break it up into milestones identifying what actions need to be taken to hit each milestone. \u00a0As each goal is achieved, you work closer to your ultimate career goal. \u00a0Your milestones are derived from your research.<\/li>\n
4. Perform<\/strong> – Career advancement means you must differentiate yourself from others. \u00a0Whatever you do, master your craft and be the best at it to stand out and advance.<\/li>\n
5. Continuous Self-Improvement<\/strong> – Don’t limit yourself to mastering the skills of your immediate job. \u00a0Seek opportunities to gain new experience, build new skills, and acquire new expertise. \u00a0This means going beyond continuing education but also volunteering, gaining leadership roles in professional associations, asking for increased responsibility and just getting involved.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

   Make these 5 suggestions habitual and you will see yourself climbing the ladder of success. \u00a0If you’re thinking this is hard work, it is but investing in yourself should be the easiest decision you make. \u00a0Just remember that if you want the return, you must put in the work.<\/p>\n

   You may also want to read:<\/p>\n

   \n
   • 5 Reasons to Send a Thank You Letter After Interviewing <\/a><\/li>\n
   • HOW TO: Use Twitter to Build a PLN <\/a><\/li>\n
   • Why the Job Market is Like Amazon.com<\/a><\/li>\n
   • What to Do After Landing the Big Job: 5 Steps to Standing Out <\/a><\/li>\n
   • The Reverse Job Search <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

     The problem with job seekers is that they think like job seekers. \u00a0Just the words alone imply that getting a job is about seeking for jobs as if all one must do is search and find. \u00a0What happens after you find a job? \u00a0Do you apply and then hope things will go your way? \u00a0What […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":860,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,59],"tags":[135,532,28,675,535,31,171,529,530,531,533,534],"class_list":["post-716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careerdev","category-personalbrand","tag-career","tag-career-advancement","tag-career-coaching","tag-career-development","tag-career-strategies","tag-career-strategizing","tag-job-seeker","tag-job-seekers","tag-jobseeker","tag-jobseekers","tag-keys-to-success","tag-tips-on-career-advancement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":863,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions\/863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/careertipster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}