JANUARY 20, 2005

Courtesy of ExecutiveAgent.com

TOP TIPS

10 Tips for Career Success
By Alvah Parker

  1. Find ways to learn continuously.
  2. Find ways to improve whatever you do. Be willing to incorporate the new ideas that you learn in #1.
  3. Do your work completely and with pride.
  4. Be true to your own values.
  5. Clear up those irritations (energy drains) so that you can devote your energy to your work.
  6. Practice self-care so that you feel good about yourself.
  7. Keep work in perspective so that you have time for other parts of your life (family, friends, hobbies, volunteer work).
  8. Listen carefully to everyone. Managers need to walk around and talk to employees and customers.
  9. Network within your company and outside.
  10. Delegate tasks when appropriate and empwer those doing the work to do it their own way.

Alvah Parker is publisher of Road to Success and Parker's Points, e-newsletters providing strategies to advance your business and career goals. Click here to subscribe. Alvah is a Work/life coach, who can be reached at asparker@asparker.com, or visited on the web at www.asparker.com.


COMPLIMENTARY RESUME CRITIQUE

In today's competitive environment, a well-written resume is critical if you want to get noticed. If your current resume isn't generating interest among executive recruiters and potential employers, you may want to consider hiring a professional resume writer.

Kennedy Information, the publisher of Career Tips and Tactics, has partnered with a leading resume-writing firm that specializes in helping executives and career-minded professionals get noticed. You're invited to receive a free critique - conducted via the telephone - of your current resume. If you choose, you can also ask the professional resume writer to provide you with a price quote if you determine that your resume could benefit from an overhaul.

To receive your risk-free telephone consultation please email a copy of your resume to resumecritique@executiveagent.com


The turn of a new year provides the opportunity to reflect on the past and craft a strategy for the year to come. With this in mind, this issue of Career Tips and Tactics provides sound advice for both looking back and taking action to move forward.

Looking Back - A career coach I know encourages her clients each year to write down 100 accomplishments from the year. It may seem like a lot, but when you consider the many aspects of your life - career/professional, family, financial, health/fitness, spiritual, personal growth, etc. - it becomes easier to recount the highlights. Honor the impact you made over the past year. Sit down in a quiet place, enjoy a hot drink, and reflect on your many "wins" - large or small - that were meaningful to you in 2004.

Moving Forward - Career-related goals regularly rank among the top New Year's resolutions. Networking is one of the most highly publicized ways to start taking action toward a new job. In this edition, Diane Darling, author of The Networking Survival Guide and CEO of Effective Networking, provides advice on how to cultivate successful connections for your career.

-- Jennifer Zaslow, Editor, Career Tips and Tactics


TOP TEN NETWORKING SKILLS FOR 2005
by: Diane Darling
  1. Quality vs. quantity - The number of people you know does not matter. It is the quality of your contacts that does. Who are the decision makers? Influencers? Who can you help and how?

  2. Slow down - No one gets married on their first date - business relationships take time too! Get to know people not only from a business perspective but from a personal perspective too.

  3. Go low tech - In some cases, a quick phone call can be more efficient than many emails. Pick up the phone and even find time to meet face-to-face. Email is excellent when sending documents or directions - don't overuse it.

  4. Diversity - The old boy's network is alive and well - but so are many others. In the financial community, a diversified portfolio is preferable. The same is true with your network.

  5. Introductions rule! - This is the ultimate in flattery when someone takes time out of their day to make the effort to introduce you. This separates name droppers from the genuine networkers.

  6. Practice 3rd party networking - Take the time to introduce two people so they can benefit from meeting each other. You get to re-connect with someone when you don't need anything - become a "networking node."

  7. Zen - Make 2005 the year where you include positive people who add value to you and your network while keeping your distance from those who distract and de-energize you.

  8. Avoid 911 networking - When the economy tanked all of a sudden people discovered "networking." They called people in a panic asking for referrals or job leads. Today, build relationships BEFORE you need them.

  9. Make random "hello" calls - When someone comes up in a conversation or comes to mind, make a random "hello" call. You don't need to have an agenda or reason, simply share that they were in your thoughts and you wanted to connect.

  10. Unlearn shyness - Research shows that we learn shyness. As a child you wander over to someone at a playground, introduce yourself and play. As we get older we experience rejection so we learn to "shy" away from being friendly. If shyness is a challenge for you, start a conversation with a stranger in the elevator just before you have to get off. Say something quick - "great tie" or "have a nice day." Too often shyness is misinterpreted as indifference and you don't want to send that message - think friendly.

As you use Diane Darling's networking advice to strengthen long-standing relationships and establish new connections, keep in mind this statistic: in a recent survey by career services firm DBM, 61% of respondents cited networking as the source of their new jobs. This percentage was 10 times greater than the percentage who found jobs through Internet job sites and print advertisements.

 

 
 
Career Tips and Tactics is provided courtesy of ExecutiveAgent.com. Written in a brief, executive-style format, each issue contains executive-only career strategies and tactics.

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