An often misunderstood aspect of a successful job search campaign is the concept of personal branding; and he benefits speak for themselves. As Martin Yate puts it:

“…if you get personal branding right, you will attract your ideal opportunities rather than having to seek them out.”

Actually, he was quoting William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson in their new book “Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand.” Imagine that you are going about your business and get a call in the middle of the workday from a recruiter; or someone in oyur network. They’ve got a line on a job for you, at a hefty pay increase and plenty of time off.

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I was checking out Employment Digest’s blog on 23 Creative Ideas for Job Finding and guess what was first on the list? Carry a business card; even if you are out of work…carry a business card. Which then of course begs the question: what do I put on the business card?

Well, I would say stack it with skills. Skills sell. Skills are always in demand. Business cards are tiny, so make it count. Sketch out your Top 20 career accomplishments and prioritize them down to 15. Keep paring them down until you have 5 career-making accomplishments.

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The Situational Interview is definitely tough. In fact, I am pretty sure I did not get a promotion because I was ill-prepared to answer a situational interview question.

Employers like to see what sort of employee you will really make; so, they dig out a scenario and lob it your way (much like an armed grenade, I might add) and see what happens. With me, it exploded in my face.

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