What's Your Value Proposition?

As an executive recruiter and corporate consultant, the first question I ask executives wanting professional representation to potential employers is "what's your value proposition?"  This question always triggers a delayed response.  Before we can successfully open doors to new career opportunities we must understand why a company would want to hire you and the value you can bring to an organization.  It's critical for us to quickly and accurately define your value to potential companies. The more your perceived value...the more doors we can open.

A New Year, A New Attitude, A New Career

We've all heard the Albert Einstein definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result".  However, every year we write out our goals but then fail to execute....so let's do something a little different.  Let's try a different attitude, a different approach and let's focus more on the execution and less on the goal or objective.  In other words, we know what we want but often we seem to lose focus on the execution.
In order to succeed in the execution we have to make the execution the actual goal.  When we fail to reach a goal it is usually because we failed somewhere in the execution.  Make your goals very simple and base them on tasks and execution rather than outcome.  As you complete each task check it off as a victory and a goal successfully attained.  These small but significant successes, will increase our level of production and career progression.
As our level of execution goes up, so will our career potential and our level of confidence. As our confidence level increases, our interaction with decision makers and upper management increases and we begin to exhibit leadership attributes, which in turn opens the doors of opportunity.

Planning Your Job Search Strategy

Whether you're baking a cake or climbing Mt. Everest, any successful professional will tell you, "chances for success increase exponentially when you have a plan".  I'm amazed however, at how many intelligent professionals fail to plan their careers, stumbling from one position to the next, and literally reacting to the forces of the market. Leaving your career to fate is a high risk gamble and will usually end in disappointment.  Ironically, these same individuals would never consider retirement, family vacations or structuring a complex corporate budget without a comprehensive plan.  It's simply moronic not to take a more proactive approach to the very thing that provides us our standard of living, pays for our kids college, and allows us the many  freedoms and benefits we enjoy throughout our lives, not to mention a roadmap for achieving professional and personal goals.  Although our careers are only a part of our lives, how we manage them not only determines our income and level of success, but if managed properly can grealy reduce unwanted stress while allowing us the ability to control our own destiny.  During these challenging economic times, it is more critical than ever, to have an ongoing Career Plan and a Career Advocate that can provide consistent market data and new career opportunities while allowing you to remain one step ahead of your peers.