In the world of work, the most prevalent way we have of measuring our value is the salary or the total compensation package. That makes sense – after all, we are selling our services to a market place and the value of those services is reflected in how much we are paid for them.

But is that the only measure of your value?

Association staff today are experiencing the discouraging notion of having to go back to a salary they were earning 20 years ago or at some earlier stage in their career development. This is happening for a …

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After a happy and satisfying stint with an organization for which you thought you were a great match – until you got downsized and out-placed – what can you do to move on?

Celebrate what you accomplished!

No doubt you left behind a long list of accomplishments. If you can’t make a list of 10 – 20 things you accomplished there, ask some of your former colleagues or look at your past performance reviews and make a list of all of your successes, both big and small.

Close the door on what you didn’t accomplish!

You also probably left behind a few unfinished …

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In the last post we talked about assembling the tool kit for the job search process. For the next few weeks I will be posting some of the processes that you may want to systematize so that you can use your time effectively get the most out of every one of your job search days! Today is the process of Managing Your Job Alerts. We will also be covering processes for Networking Follow-up, Preparing for the Interview, Assembling Your Top 30 List, and many more.

Hey, if you have some ideas about which processes would help you to become …

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11 Tools for the Job Search Process

Have you ever noticed when you sit down to do a do-it-yourself assembly project that the first step is always to assemble the tools and make sure you have all the pieces that you should have. How many times do you just dive in and start the project thinking that you will just get the tools and figure out what pieces you have along the way? Have you ever noticed that you can waste an inordinate amount of time and cause unnecessary levels of stress for yourself and for others around you when …

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Last week I did a webinar for ASAE Career Services about the Qualifications Summary in the resume. The title was Taking your Resume from Good to Great: Putting YOU in the Qualifications Summary!

“The concept of being able to be ‘me’ in a resume was almost stunning. Didn’t think that was ‘allowed’. Wow!”

The response to the webinar was eye opening. Over 325 people registered in advance so the title obviously struck a note even before the webinar began.

The most telling responses on the post-event survey were all along the lines of the quote above. Over and over people implied …

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Be curious. Ask great questions!

Going for an interview or exploring some potential employers?

Ask open ended questions of people you meet who work there –What do you like best about working there? What is the prevailing management style? What is the average age (or most prevalent) age of employees? How long have people on staff been on the job?

How often does the leadership meet face to face with the employees? What is important to the organization? What kinds of goals do people have? Are there incentives offered for performance? Is information shared in all directions? …

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Just what does it mean – we’re looking for someone that is the “right fit”?

The chances are good they are not talking about a skills fit, an experience fit, or an accomplishment fit! Those are a given by the time you pass the screening for the interview – or they are close enough that the organization knows that what it needs to check for now is “fit”.

The questions that interviewers are trying to answer about “Fit” include:

Do you have enough in common with and compatible with the people with whom you will be spending a lot of time?
Do …

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