“The Internet?  We are not interested in it.” – Bill Gates, 1993

In 1989, we purchased our first home computer. It was around $1800 and even more if we added an item the salesman assured us we couldn’t live without… a 10 megabyte hard disk! (Yes I said 10 meg). Hubby was all for it. “It will be so much easier” he said. “You can save your documents on the hard drive.”

I couldn’t see the point. I was saving all my documents to the five-and-a-quarter-inch floppy disk already!

This you-beaut 10 megabyte hard drive seemed to be a no brainer for hubby, so with a cavalier attitude we handed over the extra cash as if were supremely wealthy and became co-owners of a brand new computer with monochrome monitor and a hard drive.

You may wonder why I’m telling you this story (other than to reinforce my fossil-like age) and what on earth it has to do with networking using social media. Well, it illustrates a point. New ideas and concepts aren’t always “just a fad”. Often they evolve and grow and change the world. Where would I be today if I had resolutely determined to keep that machine without a hard drive? Or if I’d never tried to use an ATM? I would have been forced to move with the times at some point, but how much learning would I have had to do to catch up? And how far behind everyone else would I have been?

That’s what reticence to embrace new ideas can do, and it’s a real problem for jobseekers who fail to adopt the concept of networking as a real and important aspect of the job search today.

“I see little commercial potential for the Internet for at least ten years.” – Bill Gates, 1994

Which brings me (as you knew it eventually would) to networking, social media and the job market. There are many people who are standing still, spurning the concept of networking and social media and dismissing it all as just a fad. Lack of foresight into what is happening around them still sees people pour over the newspaper classifieds in the weekend edition, circle jobs that appeal to them and follow the instructions given to send in a resume or call a specific number on the Monday morning. They’re miserable when no-one calls and they scratch their heads in amazement.

But things have changed.

Why? Because today, people and jobs aren’t clear cut as they used to be. Not by a long shot. Today a University graduate could have six years of management experience in a fast-food chain; she could operate an e-Bay store successfully, be a sought-after blogger, or have built a personal brand in any number of disciplines on the ‘net. A person like this needs more than the conservative, traditional approach or will never be seen for the multiskilled individual she is. Gone are the days of being a secretary for life with a narrow set of skills. Today is about adaptability, flexibility and multiple income streams and as jobseekers have embraced a range of skills and experience, the methods by which they need to get noticed have had to change too. The traditional ways will simply not work as they have in the past and this is where networking and social media has been a boon to jobseekers.

“The problem of viruses is temporary and will be solved in two years.” – John McAfee, 1988

Today it’s all about relationships; getting known, being liked, and receiving recommendations. Networking via social media using sites such as Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook can provide you with unprecedented insight into companies, what they do, how good they are to work for, and can give you access to decision-makers. Far from being one of the herd of people who Lemming-like send their resumes to the email address in the advertisement, you could have found out the job specifications weeks before the job was advertised and at the very least, tweaked your resume and cover letter to show the perfect synergy between what they want, and what you’re offering.

The important thing about networking, whether using social media or not, is that relationships take time.

Building trust takes time.

Perhaps you’ll recall a scene from the movie “GroundHog Day” where the main character Phil Connors (played by Bill Murray) having experienced the same day over-and-over again is impatient to speed up his relationship with love interest, Rita. His manic approach to building the relationship in fast-forward scares her and she backs off feeling overwhelmed and afraid. That’s what happens with networking when you approach it from the perspective that you want someone to do something for you or give you something. Just because you’re using technology to communicate, doesn’t mean relationships are established any quicker than they would be in the workplace or in your neighbourhood.

Networking via social media is no quick fix to your joblessness, but instead is a continually evolving and growing set of relationships that in time, can provide you with information you need to be more competitive, or to be found through the “brand” you have established with decision-makers.

By all means, if you feel comfortable going the traditional route such as newspapers, job boards, SEEK and more, then continue to do so but step outside your comfort zone and add the networking component as part of your tool kit. Why stand still when a new experience is waiting? A chat with friends over coffee, a call to an employer or connecting via social media, are experiences that are free, fun, and may just open up new doors for you. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re naturally shy as social media allows you to be “out there” without physically having to do so (at least for a while).

Don’t be the guy contemplating the need for a hard drive or you’ll be trying to play catch-up when the traditional way disappears forever.

Interacting with other humans isn’t just a fad. It’s LIFE.

I’m thrilled to be a member of the Career Collective, a group of professionals providing themed blogs on a range of job search and career issues every month. This month’s topic is networking tips and techniques.  Please visit my colleagues’ links below to learn more of this interesting subject and check Twitter #careercollective to find out more.

• 5 Little Secrets About Networking, @Careersherpa
• Networking: Easy as 1, 2 , 3, @WorkWithIllness
• How to Take the Intimidation Out of Networking, @heathermundell
• Networking for the Shy and Introverted, @KatCareerGal
• A tale of two networkers, @DawnBugni
• Introvert or Extrovert: Tips for the Job Search No Matter Which ‘Vert’ You Are, @erinkennedycprw
• Networking for Job Candidates Who Hate Networking, @heatherhuhman
• Networking? Ugh! @resumeservice
• Network, Network, Network, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes
• 3 ways to make networking fun for introverts and extroverts, @Keppie_Careers
• Grow Your Career Networking Seeds Organically, @ValueIntoWords
• Networking: It’s a Way of Life, @WalterAkana
• Social Media Networking & Your Career, @GayleHoward
• Networking for the Networking-Phobic, @JobHuntOrg

As the wind howls down the cold city streets reminding you of the folly of not wearing fleecy undergarments, you can always count on your humorous friend to cheerfully remark “Is it cold enough for you?” as you take refuge inside the warm coffee shop where you’re meeting for a spot of networking.

Yes, winter is a miserable, bone-aching and often depressing time and it is tempting to place your job search on hold, snuggle up on the couch with a DVD and think about getting a job another day.

Tempting yes, good practice? No.

Winter in Australia is an excellent time to kick start your job search. The business sector is working solidly without distractions, post-summer jobseekers are too busy to be disgruntled, and fewer decision makers are on extended vacation.

How can you heat up your job search and make winter a season that works for you? Here are five ways that you can keep up your momentum to ensure you are the hot candidate.

1. Telephone people in your network. Ah yes the telephone; a communication device that will allow you to avoid (at least for a while) venturing outside. Think of at least one person to call every day to advise that you’re back on the market and ask if he or she will keep an ear out for you.

2. Freshen up your resume. How long have you been adding new information to an old format? Years perhaps? Use your rainy day to research samples of how resumes are presented now or better still, to research professional resume writers to do the job for you. In preparation, rediscover performance reviews, testimonials, job descriptions and emails that will prompt you to remember some great examples of your achievements.

3. Establish or revamp your Linked-in Profile. Is it up-to-date? Does it indicate to someone searching for a professional with your skills that you are available? Linkedin is used by recruiters as a tool to seek potential candidates. Make sure they can find you easily.

4. Get in the right mindset. Winter can have a negative effect on many people; depression and inertia being just two byproducts of enduring endlessly grey days. For many, it is hard to ramp up enthusiasm and it will show in all your interactions. Consider a job search coach who will keep you accountable to your goals and be your partner in success. Start researching the type of service and people who can provide this service to you. Preparing yourself to last the distance in a job search, particularly in the winter months, can be just as an important tool as your resume or network.

5. Develop your job search plan. What type of job do you want? What industry? Who will you report to? What recruiting firms are you planning to contact? What salary are you seeking? What are your main obstacles to being successful that you can see? What action can you take to lessen those risks? What companies do you want to work for? Who should you contact? What are you offering that is more attractive than your competitors? Take your time to work on this seriously. Everything worth doing is worth planning for.

Following these five action tasks will heat up your job search and keep you occupied on those rainy day weekends. The ground work you put in now will yield a good crop of opportunities ripe for the picking come Spring!

I am a member of the Career Collective. A group of experienced career professionals who blog on specific topics every month. Look for our posts on Twitter #careercollective. Meantime, check out other member articles on this topic below.

Turn Off The Computer, Tune Into What’s Happening, & Heat Up the Job Search, @chandlee

Heating up the Job Search-How to Stay Motivated During the Summer, @erinkennedycprw

Light the Fire Under Your Feet, @careersherpa

Cool Job Seekers Heat Up Their Search in the Summer, @barbarasafani

Some assembly required, @DawnBugni

Summertime, Sluggish Economy Provide Strong Motivation for an Updated Resume, @KatCareerGal

9 Ways to Heat Up Your Job Search This Summer, @heatherhuhman

Getting Out From Under Chronic, @WorkWithIllness

Upping Your Job Search Flame; Be ‘Needed, Not Needy,‘ @ValueIntoWords

Is Your Career Trapped in the Matrix? @WalterAkana

Put some sizzle in your job hunt – how to find a job now, @keppie_careers

Summertime – and the Job Search Ain’t Easy, @KCCareerCoach

Hot Tips for a Summer Job Search, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Heat Up Your Job Search: Avoid Job Boards, @JobHuntOrg

Heating Up Your Job Searching Skills: Networking 101 and 102, @GLHoffman

Treasure Hunt—Yo-ho-ho! Heat Up Your Job Search, @resumeservic

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” Oscar Wilde

“Thanks so much!” said Jim as he prepared to leave my office with his new resume. “Oh there’s just one thing”, he whispered conspiratorially. “I guess I had better get a wife and three kids before my interview! Ha!”

Stunned, I stood there processing the fact that I’d been lied to as Jim took off down the road with a spring in his step, a cheery wave and a wink.

Thinking back, I had known in my heart something was wrong. I remembered that growing sense of disquiet I felt as Jim rattled off his widely diverse set of skills, credentials and career history.

It seemed as if Jim was one of those “been there, done that” kind of guys.

Drive a forklift? You bet!

Create a departmental budget? Sure!

Build? Present to executives? Lead teams? Tick Tick Tick!

It was the wink and the “wife and three kids” chuckle that prompted the penny to drop. Jim had been lying on his resume.

About everything? Some things? Who knew? Who ever knows the extent to which a person willing to deceive you once, will keep on going?

What I did know, was that I had been lied to and so had Jim’s next potential employer.

Jim had allowed himself to be tricked into a common job search blunder—modelling and shaping his resume and experience in a way that he thought people wanted to hear.

Instead of being truthful, he clearly believed that the truth wasn’t compelling enough for him to get a job; so he simply made up a new “truth”!

I suspect that Jim’s research had indicated that employers found family men, or a certain skillset or knowledge base the most attractive and so, he believed his best chance of employment was simply to claim those skills and attributes. Unfortunately for Jim as he would have no doubt found out eventually, the way to position himself as a valued employee, is through training and experience so that he could offer far more than just words.

One can only imagine the employer’s anger and sense of betrayal when hiring a forklift driver who couldn’t operate a forklift, a manager who struggled overseeing a budget, or a salesman who failed to invoke interest in a product.

Yes, Jim sure would have been in for a world of disappointment, and if he had been interviewed by a “pro” then his carefully constructed imaginary world would have come tumbling down in no time with just a few well thought-out behavioural-based questions.

The incident with Jim has rankled for years and comes to mind every time I have a client make grandiose claims. Having learned a lesson from this rookie mistake early in my career, my client job seekers are now questioned in-depth to find actual examples of their experience.

I smile now when I hear “Hmm… now that you mention it, I think you should leave this out, as I don’t really think that I did [personally bring in the largest account in company history / build the Sydney Harbour Bridge singlehandedly / change the world as we know it / or was instrumental in a multinational company expanding into China ]

The moral of this story is never fall into the trap of telling people what you think they want to hear, especially if your experience does not support it. What may follow your “little white lie” may end up being one of the worst and costly career and life mistakes you’ll make, if not through exposure at interview leading to your candidacy dismissed, then perhaps much, much later when you’re established in your career.

You don’t need April 1 to fall for an April Fools trick. You’re fooling yourself if you think that little white lie won’t return spectacularly to ruin your future and reputation.

I am a member of the Career Collective. A group of experienced career professionals who blog on specific topics every month. Look for our posts on Twitter #careercollective. Meantime, check out other member articles on this topic–links at the bottom of this article.

Please see other discussions on common job search blunders and possible solutions from Career Collective members below.

10 Ways to Tell if Your Job Search is a Joke, @careerealism

April Fool’s Day – Who’s Fooling Who?, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Don’t Kid Yourself! (The Person You See in the Mirror is a Good Hire), @chandlee

Avoiding the Most Common Blunder, @jobhuntorg

Are you fooling yourself? Bored at work? Is it your own fault?, @keppie_careers

Hey, Job Seeker — Don’t Be a Fool!, @resumeservice

Job Search Is No Joking Matter,  @careersherpa

Is Your #Career in Recovery or Retreat? (All Joking Aside), @KCCareerCoach

9 Ways You Might Be Fooling Yourself About Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman

Don’t get tricked by these 3 job search blunders, @LaurieBerenson

Trying to hard to be nobody’s fool?,  @WorkWithIllness

It’s not all about you, @DawnBugni

Mirror ‘their’ needs, not ‘your’ wants in #jobsearch, @ValueIntoWords

Stop Fooling Yourself about your Job Hunt: Things you may be doing to sabotage yourself – @erinkennedycprw

Same as it ever was – @walterakana

Don’t be fooled. Avoid these – @kat_hansen

Job Seekers: You Are Fooling Yourself If...@barbarasafani

Every day, probably every second, someone will have the decision to leave a job made for them. One of those people could be you.

It may be that administrators shut down your company with no warning, or you are forced to take a redundancy, or you fall on your sword for a decision that never was yours to begin with. These are the circumstances where you have no time to reconcile yourself for change.

The first few weeks are a flurry of preparation. Exciting times prevail as you ramp up your efforts for employment. You investigate and select a professional resume writer, collaborate on the development of your resume, complete interview coaching, and start setting up your Linkedin profile. Your confidence soars as you see yourself on paper how others will see you—confident, competent; a can-do person with a portfolio of skills and achievements of which can you can be justifiably proud. You start networking. Just like everyone says you are supposed to do. Every day you’re calling recruiting firms, seeking out past colleagues and friends; a coffee here, a coffee there. You hear rumours of firms about to hire and you send in your resume, call contacts and get your friends to keep their ears open. You have a couple of interviews.

Weeks go by and with the passage of time, feelings of doubt start to invade your thoughts.

You mentally check off what it could be that you’re doing wrong. Your resume is fantastic; all the recruiters say so. Leads haven’t materialised; companies have decided not to proceed with projects or roles, recruiters are no longer buzzing around you. When you call them, they’re non-committal, cool. You get the feeling that they’re trying to brush you off. Your “better than sliced bread” moment has mysteriously disappeared and it feels like there’s always something they want that you don’t have. Now you haven’t been placed early, you feel a little like a house that’s been for sale for too long. Everyone who would want to buy it has seen it and has moved on to newer properties on the market.

You’re convinced now you’ve done something wrong. Did you pitch your salary too high? Is it because you don’t have enough education or you are “over qualified”? Did you try too hard or were you too laid back? You wrack your brains remembering your last interview in detail, going over everything asked and answered. What could you have said wrong? Why doesn’t the recruiter call you more often? He knows how worried you are!

Suddenly, without warning, someone you haven’t met before replaces the optimistic person you were. This new iteration of you is plagued with self-doubt, rarely smiles and looks like he carries a great burden on his shoulders. Convinced that your whole approach is flawed, you kick yourself mentally that you didn’t jump on this earlier. You call your resume writer wanting the resume revamped to make your appeal broader for a wider audience, you spend hours searching job boards. You feel embarrassed that you’ve “forced yourself” on friends and decide to pull back on those coffees. You can only imagine how pitiful they find your desperate attempts to gain information.

At home, your partner is concerned. His or her efforts to remove that look in your eye are met with a dismissive cold shoulder. You don’t need pity or your partner’s disapproving eye. You know you’ve failed.

Why even bother? You sit on the couch and watch the TV without really seeing what’s on. Maybe you’ll review the situation again tomorrow, but today you just can’t deal with any more rejection.

The scene above is played out somewhere in your community, your neighbourhood every day. The negative impact of a long job search frequently brings about feelings of depression, loss, bitterness, anger and often hopelessness. These feelings in themselves create a cyclical situation—who wants to hire someone with an obvious chip on his shoulder or one who carries his burden with such lethargy that a smile seems like too much trouble?

There are no simple fixes to what can become a serious problem affecting not just the jobseeker, but families and extended groups of friends who want to help but don’t know how.

While it sounds trite, maintaining a positive outlook really is important and action—doing something—is equally important. If you are doing something then you are working towards your goal. If declining finances are an issue, then staring listlessly at the pile of bills on the table won’t help. What action can you take to take the pressure off? Call your bank, perhaps the extra payments you have made on your mortgage can allow you to temporarily cut back on mortgage payments, perhaps your loan can be extended. Contact utility suppliers, make arrangements to pay. If you are doing something, you are occupied and thinking ahead.

Doesn’t your résumé say that you anticipate and solve problems? Well here are some problems to solve. What else can you do to take action?

Give yourself a break from the unrelenting misery. What can you do to give yourself a break mentally? Go for a walk with your partner. Do small maintenance repairs around the house. Clear up your garage. De-cobweb the eaves. Keeping busy is important to clear your mind and the fresh air will do you good.

Come to terms with the fact that people, on the whole, want to help. Go back to having coffee or lunch with friends. Isolating yourself isn’t the answer. If you’re afraid that your “down” mood will alienate your friends then listen more than you speak. You’ll never know what you may hear as they complain about their jobs and the current project or situation. It may be something you can act upon.

Give recruiters a break. Or at least, adjust your attitude. Do you know how many sad, desperate, bitter people they see in any one day? Can you imagine what is it like to break bad news every day? Of bearing the burden of hundred’s of people’s distress? Give them a break and back off. If you have information to pass on from your lunch with friends that could be a concrete job, share it with them. They’ll be happy to pursue it if it is exists. It’s called a lead, and recruiters love leads, making placements and being paid.

Don’t torture yourself by setting yourself up for failure. Have you been applying for roles that are beneath your level of skill just to get any job? Stop doing that. It does nothing for your self-esteem to miss out on a job that you could have done 20 years ago, and frankly, you’re not the person for that job any longer. People don’t just hire individuals in isolation with a set of skills. They hire for their ability to fit in with a team. That lesser job is probably being filled by people all under 25. Realistically, they don’t want “dad” in the department. You’re just not a fit.

Can you complete a training course that will help keep you motivated and polish up a few outdated skills? What is available in your line of work that will be helpful?

Keep to what you know. Don’t go on a tangent thinking that you should run off and get a job in a factory or join a circus. Unless you’re an experienced factory worker, you won’t get the job. Unless you have a background as a lion tamer or ticket seller, there will be no joy there for you either.

Remember what you know. The higher you are up the ladder, the longer jobs take to fill. It simply makes sense. There are fewer jobs at the top of the pyramid. The salaries are higher, people tend to stay in these jobs longer. Be realistic about this. You are a unique commodity. If you have been successful in the past, you will be again.

It’s all a numbers game and a waiting game.

Have faith.

————

(Note: if you are having feelings of hopelessness and you are having dark thoughts, we urge you to seek the help of professionals. Beyond Blue is one of many organisations in Australia who can help. http://www.beyondblue.org.au/

————

I am a member of the Career Collective. A group of experienced career professionals who blog on specific topics every month. Look for our posts on Twitter #careercollective. Meantime, check out other member articles on this topic–links at the bottom of this article.

Please see other discussions and possible solutions from Career Collective members.

@MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive

@chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade

@heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues

@heatherhuhman, 10 Ways to Turn You Job Search Frown Upside-Down

@KCCareerCoach, You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-Energized

@WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel

@LaurieBerenson, Ways to Keep Your Glass Half Full

@resumeservice, Don’t Sweat the Job Search

@careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward

@WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand

@KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues

@keppie_careers, What do do when you are discouraged with your job search

@DawnBugni, It’s the little things

@ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search

@jobhuntorg, Just SO VERY Discouraged

@barbarasafani Making Job Search Fun (Yeah, That’s Right!)

@GLHoffman, How to Overcome the Job Search Negativity

@ExpatCoachMegan, Dealing With Job Search Stress: Getting to the Source of the Problem

Am I psychic? No. It just sounds like me that’s all!

So okay those goals perhaps weren’t realistic, or perhaps you didn’t want them as much as you thought you did when you were kicking back with friends and relaxing on your vacation. But here we are and it’s nearly the end of January. If you had a resolution to get a job, or change your existing job, or even to take your career to the next level, just what have you done about it? You created the desire at New Year, but did you ask yourself the question “How?”

First and probably the most important thing you need to get right in your head is “What do I really want to do?”
Seem obvious? Perhaps not. Some of the worst decisions we ever make about our careers are the ones where we close our eyes, jump and hope for the best.

• Don’t like my boss? I’ll just tell him off and just find something else!
• I hate my job! I can’t stand it anymore so I’m going to leave. I’ll take anything; anything will do!
• I’m just going to write a “general” resume so I can play the field and apply for a lot of different jobs. I have a lot to offer!

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard those comments throughout my 20-year career! And you know what? Without a plan, without a vision, without giving it some strong thought, these pronouncements are as useless as those New Year’s Resolutions you made that didn’t make it past the first week.

Some of the worst career decisions are made through a series of knee-jerk reactions. Hate the job, just leave! But where? What to? How do you know that the next job is not going to be exactly the same? Are you going to leave that one too?

What about giving it a bit of thought? Ask yourself… “What is it I dislike about this job? What specifically? Is it the tasks, the industry, the type of people I deal with? Is it the repetitive nature of the tasks? Have I been here before? Did I start this job because I didn’t like the last one? Am I forming a pattern here? Am I going to find myself right back in the same position again?”

These are questions you need to explore and examine. If you’ve been in four jobs as an Executive Secretary and have hated them all, despised the work and jumped from one to the next, then perhaps, just perhaps you need a rethink. What do you think you’d like to do and what steps do you have to take to reach that goal? Before you start jumping into the unemployment queue and end up at an equally depressing workplace as the one you have now, take a step back and examine what keeps going wrong and what you really want and like to do. You may find it a revelation if you’re honest with yourself.

Don’t have a plan in mind but you’re going to write your resume anyway because you need a job? If so, you need to rethink that strategy pronto! A resume is a marketing document. It markets you! Your skills appeal to only a small and specific segment of the employment market. If you’re not a qualified doctor for instance, you’re not capable of fulfilling that role; same with a lawyer, a cook, a tax accountant, an astronaut, an engineer or a horticulturalist. So you don’t just want a “general” resume to “get anything” because a great deal of the roles out there you don’t even come close to qualifying for. If you’re like most people, you don’t have a vast amount of skills that could be applied to a diverse range of roles. Most people tend to know what they have going for them and there are only a certain amount of jobs that they are qualified for enough that someone would want to pay money for them to perform.

So clearly this “general” resume is a fantasy. What you need is to channel your existing skills into a role that you have a good chance of being successful in and one that you like. If you’ve done your homework and you have come to terms with what it is you like and what you are good at doing, then you’re able to take the next step in your plan, and write what you know; target the audience you want to purchase your services.

If you’re getting good at this introspection then cast your mind forward to the end of this year. Where would you like to be? What would you like to be doing? If it is another job, what do you have to do to get there? If you don’t know, how will you find out? Could a careers counsellor help? Or could you search for training and professionals in the field who would be able to direct you? Sound like a plan?

The problem with New Year’s Resolutions is that while the resolution for change is there, the underlying question of “How” is never asked or explored. And without the “how” and the processes for developing a plan to make it happen, those resolutions are forgotten in the time it’s taken you to make them.

Make 2010 the year you plan!

“A Careers Collective Topic” I’m part of an incredible group of career professionals. We call ourselves the Career Collective and we post once a month on a specific career-related topic. See all my colleagues articles at the end of this article. You can also follow us on #careercollective at Twitter. Let’s read what the other Career Collective members have offered on this theme!

Walter Akana @walterakana Starting anew – Tips for truly managing your career

Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter @ValueIntoWords Is your job search strategy a snore?

Dawn Bugni @DawnBugni Ya, but

Chandlee Bryan @Chandlee Starfish, JobAngels, and Making a Difference

Martin Buckland @MartinBuckland, @EliteResumes Career Trends and Transition 2010

Katharine Hansen PhD @kat_hansen New Year: Time to Assess Yourself and Your Career

G L Hoffman @GLHoffman A Flash of the Blindingly Obvious

Heather Huhman @heatherhuhman Job seekers: 5 tips for making the most of 2010

Erin Kennedy @ErinKennedyCPRW Advice to Job Seekers in 2010–learn Yoga?

Rosalind Joffe @WorkWithIllness Dogs Can Do It, Can You?

Susan Joyce @JobHuntOrg Lifelong Learning for Career Security

Meg Montford @KCCareerCoach The Art of Being Gracious: Much Needed in Today’s Job Search

Hannah Morgan @careersherpa The Year of the Tiger

Heather Mundell @heathermundell Kaizen and the Art of Your Job Search

Barbara Safani @barbara safani Looking Into the 2010 Careers Crystal Ball

Miriam Salpeter @keppie_careers Help for job seekers in a rut

Andy Robinson @AndyInNaples What are you getting better at? Make This the Year You Become the Best You Can Be.

Rosa Vargas @resumeservice The Resume and Your Social Media Job Search Campaign

Debra Wheatman @DebraWheatman Making the most of a new year