A significant percentage of my trusted and valued friends and business colleagues have gone through some sort of job transition or search in the last 3 years, and I’ve picked up a few tips I thought I’d share.

  1. Stand out in the crowd – if you are one of 1,000 (which hasn’t been unusual), there is NO other way to proceed. What can you do to differentiate yourself from the competition?
  2. Be there first – by the time an ad shows up on-line (as newspapers are a thing of the past too), it is usually too late. Instead, you need to find the job openings before they show up in the typical places.
  3. The power of relationships – undoubtedly, 80%+ of my contacts achieved success through relationships (a referral, a recruiter they kept in touch with, a business colleague who remembered them after receiving a note etc.)
  4. Linked In – there is an amazing trend towards Linked In. Not only are recruiters searching Linked In, but it is a great repository for your profile, references/ recommendations, etc.
  5. Provide value – the most successful job seekers provided value. One poured through search engines and sent appropriate leads to other colleagues searching for a job. One provided referrals. Etc…..