Rarely have greater numbers of competitive candidates existed for job prospects. However, hiring hasn't completely stopped, in spite of the declining market, housing collapse, even the upcoming election! To beat rivals, those seeking employment need to lift themselves to the head of the pack by taking care of their inventory.

Details matter - Be precise in terms of your special skills and strong points. You need to have smart examples ready to support the argument that you are the ideal candidate.

Words matter - You have observed the political arena, and the efforts of skilled speechwriters for politicians. Yes, a lot of victorious politicians earned their success solely by having excellent speechwriters who told them what to say. When speaking, tell people exactly how you can contribute. Be truthful. Use good judgment.

Cleverness matters - Position yourself in the best places to network with those who can help make your job search successful. Make the acquaintance of the appropriate decision makers. Offer to share assistance that is timely. If you don't get noticed by the people who make big hiring or career-related decisions, they'll choose somebody else when it's time to decide. You must be out there all the time.

Persistence matters - Continue practicing these strategies, without fail. Don't ever let your focus and drive diminish. This is not to imply that you need to invest additional time clicking away on your PC. Get yourself up, get moving, and get your smart, sound, meticulous career search accomplished. This is what separates the wallflowers in business from those in the forefront.

Don't give in to the temptation of applying to everything and talking to everyone you see; do the opposite thing. You can't allow your discouragement to lead to hopelessness. You need to channel your feelings of discouragement into a plan of action. This stressful anxiety should be transformed into stressing the up-side.

What is your area of expertise? What types of jobs have you excelled at? Think of a time when you have been a top performer or a subject matter expert in your work life. Consider all of the skills you have mastered during your career. Come up with a group of corporations where you could flourish. You shouldn't simply wait to find a listing posted online. Yes, you should examine websites for those businesses with job posts that interest you. However, you mustn't quit with this. Get to those that make the decisions. Present evidence that argues why you are the ideal expert for their company. This is the moment they must think about the talents and abilities you offer for their success.

What should you do if your target field is just too small or too outdated? In that case, you need to focus on parallel tracks. To put it another way, you should broaden your search to encompass businesses that resemble your former place of work. Next, exercise strict discipline in a focused attack in this latest field.

It's all about the tactics and strategy you use. Be the top at what you do, yet be smart in terms of articulating precisely what that field is. It's true that you will need to alter the way you think and the way you speak. However, you must not let up. Details matter, so keep finding more specific targets and fire away at them. That way you'll be able to pinpoint the exact goal.

Susan Reynolds is a senior partner at Newmarket Careers http://www.newmarketcareers.com/index.html, a Los Angeles career counseling firm. Susan enjoys helping top level professionals with Santa Clarita resume writing http://www.newmarketcareers.com/resume-services.html, employment search assistance, and career coaching.