Be Sceptical About Most of the Free Career Advice That is Around and What to Do Instead

There is a plethora of free career and job hunting advice around today. Every job board, CV database, and many recruitment agency websites seem to offer all sorts of advice and information about how to write a CV / Resume, apply for jobs, conduct an interview etc. And whereas this is useful you have to think much more strategically in today's competitive job market.
If what you are doing is not working - stop doing it!

You will know just how many job applications you have made and whether or not you have had any success at all. There is plenty of advice around as to how you should carry on regardless, try and try again and I'm mindful of the old saying " winners never quit and quitters never win " BUT any good marketing person will tell you that one of the keys to being successful in marketing is to TEST various campaigns and stop the ones that do not work. And the job market is a market like any other.

The tactics have to be changed - but to what?

Well how do companies survive in difficult times after they have cut costs. They innovate. They adapt. They bring on board people with newer and more relevant skills. They retrain their people. This is what separates the winners from the losers. Individual people facing the same essential problem have to do the same.

• Innovation - Just as a company would innovate in their marketing strategy by re-examining their channels to market so you have to revisit your channels to market. Don't just carry on regardless with the same old methods of job finding. Start to use the phenomenal resources now available on the internet. Try out everything that is available. As an example, use social media such as twitter. For example, if you certain twitter tools, you can put in a search term that describes your function / discipline it will show up everyone who has that in their bio. If you follow them, many people will follow you back and you can then start a conversation ( twitter is a very social medium ) This can be a very good source of research information and even opportunity and it is FREE.

• Adapt - don't just go into the market as someone who performs a function, valuable as you think it might be. In today's market you have to take a " value proposition " to a potential employer. As an example, a young guy I coached recently is a very good credit control manager ( I suspect he is on the market because he was better than his boss ) He had reduced the accounts receivable book by 50% in a matter of months. Importantly, he had not lost a customer in the process. His " value proposition " is that he can improve his next employers cash flow situation considerably. Now that is a real " value proposition " for a company in today's cash strapped marketplace! The fact that he did it without losing a customer is his "point of difference" and will be prominent in any approach he makes to a company.

• Bring in new skills - find a good career coach with a PROVEABLE track record. No two cases are the same. I can only say that if I want to learn a new skill, I find a coach or mentor!

• Retrain their people - Really LEARN new skills. By this I mean go to Amazon and buy the books such as " How to REALLY use Linkedin " by Jan Vermeiren or " Guerilla Marketing for Job Hunters " by David Perry and Jay Conrad Levinson, two books I would highly recommend. Once purchased, then study them studiously. I promise you it will not be time wasted!

These are just some suggestions as to how to rethink your job hunting strategy. For more suggestions for a new job search or to to enrol for our FREE 5 day job hunting course go to http://www.careers-advisor.com