Many people purport to show how you can take charge of your career change, but few of them have the personal experience or credibility to convince you that it is possible.

Many others would even try to tell you that it can't be done, but that is just their lack of imagination. All that you really need is some expert help and your own desire to make it happen.

When you know what is involved, you can use a very direct approach to drive your career change.

It is relatively easy to learn how you can change your thinking to a new way of thinking about your career change that powers you through the change and empowers you personally to take charge of your career. Just don't continue to believe that 'they' are in charge.

The Direct Approach and Unadvertised JObs

Job banks, search engines, job listings, and job guides are all useful tools in your employment search; however they won’t find you the unadvertised jobs. Statistics show that perhaps up to 60% of all jobs are unadvertised and are found informally - that is to say through networking and the direct approach - so the unadvertised jobs are what you really need to uncover.

You can uncover these unadvertised jobs and get back into the driving seat by putting together a carefully crafted direct approach letter.

This direct approach letter is no more and no less than a ‘marketing’ exercise to a specifically qualified target audience. It is NOT a mail-shot and certainly NOT ‘speculative’ letters that some people would have you waste your time writing. Compared to a direct approach letter, the speculative letter or mail-shot is a complete waste of time, effort and possible opportunity. So don’t do it!

Overcome those Interview Nerves

You also need to find out how to overcome those interview nerves and get yourself better prepared than the interviewer!

The “Tell me about yourself” type of question is used by many interviewers to allow you to settle in and feel comfortable. An interviewer who hasn’t prepared beforehand will tend to ask this question to buy time while she thinks of the next question. It's then only human nature to ask questions relating to what has already been said (by you). Your answer to the "Tell me about yourself" question can therefore set the whole agenda for the interview.

Prepare this well and you’re streets ahead. It should include a brief walk through your career history from the first job or when you left university; touch on each move you made with positive reasons for the move [e.g. I wanted to get some activity based costing experience...] and key in only relevant facts that show how you meet their needs. Allow only 3 minutes for this with most time spent on your most recent experience.

You will also discover that there are self-describing phrases that have interviewers falling over themselves to hire you.

A "Key Strengths" statement is one of these phrases and is a summary of your most powerful skills and attributes. You just need to prepare it carefully beforehand because it:

• Highlights your most important skills and abilities;
• Differentiates you from others and quantifies your added-value;
• Avoids the generalisations that most people seem to fall foul of;
• Provides specific examples of your achievements;
• Should be spoken naturally and take no more than two minutes.

Understand the Purpose of Your Resume or CV

Want to know what's wrong with your Resumé or CV and why they often just get in the way of your progress to the job you want?

All the poor recruiter wants to know is this: "Should I interview this candidate?"

You must make it easy for them to conclude: yes I want to interview this candidate. That is the sole job of your CV or Resume. So get your information in the right order and keep it brief and relevant. Too much information can disguise all the good things you have to offer, because nobody can find them. The first page is the most important part of the CV or resume. The reader needs to see immediately who you are, what you have to offer and how they can get hold of you.

• What specific skills are showcased on your CV or resume?
• Have you clearly identified your level of expertise and competence?
• Have you worked in different sectors?
• A short section of “Key Skills & Achievements” can cover a lot of ground for you.

Negotiate a Better Salary

Learn how you can use tried and tested negotiation tactics, without upsetting anyone, to negotiate yourself a better salary package and take charge of your career.

1. Choose the best and most receptive time for your boss. Ask for a meeting midweek, when the initial issues of the week have been dealt with and the end of the week is in sight. Most people are in a slightly more amenable frame of mind at the midweek point;

2. Make sure you have all your performance statistics at hand to show how you have added value. Your boss is only interested in paying for results, so what can you show?

3. Don't go in aggressively or in an adversarial frame of mind however much you need the extra money. Start pushing and you may as well forget it;

4. Use friendly language and gestures - the issue needs to be a "what can we do?" discussion, rather that a "what will you do?" confrontation.

Peter Fisher
http://www.your-cv-coach.com/