Blog Post: Let’s Get Back to Basics for the New Year , Russ Haines, CPRW

As you move towards your goal of re-employment, you will find the road ahead is wrought with many barriers, you will see many good possibilities that will turn into a dead-end and you will miss opportunities because they have not presented themselves as excellent opportunities. Diamond in the rough syndrome, more missed opportunities than you would believe.

A word of caution to the recently unemployed, do not rely on any one method to find a job. An Internet only search if not done with a full understanding of how it works is not only disappointing but will set many job seekers back months in their search. It is very tempting to search on the Internet as an easy way to find that next job.

Do a quick review of your tools and job searching skill set

• Great résumé,
• Dynamite cover letters,
• Interview skills are honed to perfection,
• A fully engaged network.

Still not successful in landing a job and you do not know why. You may have all of the basics down, Résumé, Cover Letter, Interview skills & Networking skills or you may have one or more areas that need some work. Remember a job search is a process that requires the four elements work together:

A great résumé will be overlooked if the cover letter is weak.

A weak, out-of-focus résumé will not generate interviews.

Your interview skills may be excellent but unless you can find the opportunity (networking), your interview skills will not be able to shine.

You have been reading books and articles on the job search process, you may have attended free workshops or seminars and learned the “what’s” and “how’s” of a successful job search. You may have had a professional résumé prepared for you or developed your own and received excellent feedback from friends and colleagues. The bottom line to all of this begs the question “is this getting me back to work?” This is the time to regroup and get back to basics, just like spring training for baseball players, get back to the fundamentals. Too often, we forget about the basics, our plan is lost in a fog of how to write the perfect résumé, how to be unique amongst the competition, how to answer those tough interview questions and how to network like a pro. These are all nice to know things and are very helpful once you have re-focused yourself into the basics of an effective job search.

Let’s get back to basics, with résumé, cover letters, interview skills and networking, then develop your plan for success; this will lead to your next great job. Good luck in 2009, please visit my website www.mycareerstartshere.com for advice and tips on finding that next great job. Also, please attend the workshops and seminars I will be presenting in January and February 2009. This includes the Jobing.com job fair in February www.jobing.com and a seminar in January for the Pinellas County , PPN www.worknetpinellas.org .

Contact me if you have any questions regarding your job search Russ@mycareerstartshere.com