• Always be thinking two jobs ahead to realize how the current position you are in connects you to where you want to be in the future.

• You must know your own value and be able to communicate your value to others comfortably.

• Often when a person feels most comfortable in their work is when outside contacts really dwindle. Don’t let that happen to you!

• Maintain a job pipeline by tracking leads for potential work.

• Make it a habit to log your accomplishments each week.

In today’s fast-paced work environment, most people cannot expect to stay with the same company for 20 years then retire. The current environment is much more dynamic with more opportunities for multiple avenues of success. Workers now can custom design a work life in ways that were not dreamed of 25 years ago.

You can work full-time, part-time, temporary, and/or be an entrepreneur. You can work from home or commute to the office only a few days a week. You can be an independent contractor working project by project. Most importantly, you can go from one type of work arrangement to another depending on which type best meets your lifestyle goals and compliments your stage of life.

To add another interesting aspect of the world of work today, you can even return to school at various stages of your career. In fact, to be competitive in today’s workforce we all must keep participating in education as a lifelong learners more so than ever before.

Want the best of the best career development tips, short and sweet? Here is my list. You can make a big difference for yourself by putting a couple of these into practice immediately.

Understand WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU WANT.

Find a MENTOR AND/OR FORM ADVISORY BOARD.

Keep a PORTFOLIO.

Focus on LIFELONG LEARNING.

Always keep NETWORKING.

Spend more time tracking your ACCOMPLISHMENTS than your goals.

Invest regular TIME AND MONEY towards your own career development.

Consider what it means to be successful today. Increasingly, success in work involves an aspect of quality of life. Baby Boomers watched their Great Generation parents work their fingers to the bone dragging themselves in to work day after day for 20 years. Generation Xer’s watched their Baby Boomer parents start along that same 20 year path only to be shocked with pink slips after 10-15 years on the job. Now, all generations are beginning to wisely take control of their careers and their quality of life.

Finding your dream job is a process not a destination. The key factor to start the journey is to define your dream job, yes, but also add “for now.” This is important for many reasons but mainly so that you can have some appreciation for where you are right now in the process. It is also important because you are continually learning more, acquiring new skills, and making new distinctions about whatever career you are pursuing so that your “dream job” is constantly evolving as you become more aware about yourself and the possibilities.

• The most effective networking is a lifestyle not a solution for job search woes. These days it is simple to keep in touch with folks. Just an e-mail every so often or lunching together occasionally with your most relevant contacts will keep you fresh in their minds should something come up. Don’t forget that simply sending a relevant article with a quick note saying, “Thought you might want to see this,” can do wonders.

• When you are in job search mode it is not necessarily your best friend or close family member that will get you the best connections. Even the most casual conversation with someone you hardly know is likely to get you access to the unadvertised job openings.

• Knowing what you want helps other people help you. A focused job target also enables you to better prepare your marketing materials such as cover letters and resumes.

• To take your networking to the next level, realize the reciprocal nature of successful networking. You may not directly help the person who helped you immediately but you will give your best shot when and if the time comes. What happens is that you begin to develop a help others where possible type of attitude and, like magic, you will find it easier to get help when you need it.

As soon as I read this post by Seth Godin, I thought about Norm Peterson’s line (title of post above) from the old TV show, Cheers…with just a slight adjustment, of course. Seems a lot of folks are feeling the same way about resumes. It really does stink to get a pile of resumes in that do nothing but list job responsibilities, and I know that usually people hate writing them as much as others hate to read the average resume. Seth has a good point though because extraordinary people are moving more towards a portfolio rather than just a resume. Yes it is true, they very well might have a blog, an electronic or hard copy portfolio, an outstanding reputation, or a network of people that propels them forward…or all the above.

I personally love to see people get a job without a resume because that means they are using job hunt and career management strategies that have a higher chance of success rather than just sending a blind resume to some giant job board somewhere. It is much more likely that the offer they get is for a wonderful job that they will be well suited for too.

Even so resumes are still relevant and usually necessary even if only asked to submit one “for the file” after being hired. And, frankly, writing a resume right can be an excellent exercise in formulating the marketing message for your personal brand.

Here are a few “beyond the basics” guidelines to make your resume writing exercise more fruitful from a personal marketing message development standpoint and to help you end up with a resume that stands above the crowd.

1. Customize a resume for each position you apply for after learning what you can about the company and position. The best way to manage this is to create a master resume file. Include in it every bullet point you develop and don’t worry about the length of the document. When you need to customize a new resume, open your master resume file and do a “save as” to rename the file appropriate to who the new resume is for or what the position title is (i.e. 2008-02-06 Acme Sales Rep). Then update the objective and delete bullets points that are not relevant to the position being sure to save the new file as you go tweaking along.
2. When writing bullet points, don’t tell me what you did on the job; instead tell me how you made things better while you were there. What where you especially known for? How did you help save the company time or money? How did you help the company make money? How did you increase client satisfaction or help to find new clients? How did you contribute to tracking the details or insuring follow through of processes?
3. Always write in terms of results on a resume. Give me the bullet point listing your accomplished results then be prepared to give me the full power story once you have intrigued me into inviting you to an interview.