Just because you’ve been working your butt off interviewing, networking and working every angle you can to find your next job, doesn’t mean every job is the right one for you.  When a job is not the one you were hoping it would be, you need to walk away from the a pending offer just like a you would a bad first date. For whatever reason when the job you want does not want you, you need to figure out a way to move on with grace, courage and the speed necessary to get enough traction between you and your next career move.

Like any seasoned professional worth their weight in contacts, knowing who can help you when you need a job is vital to your long-term success no matter where you are in your career.  Creating your client list is like new business development; you need to know where the opportunities are when you go to sell your best commodity, yourself.

You may not think of yourself as a business but you should.  You are selling yourself each and every time you update your resume, pick up the phone, call in a favor, apply for a job or consider yourself for a promotion.  Don’t underestimate the power of who you are in relation to whom you know.  Developing your list of contacts and knowing how to skillfully and masterfully apply yourself to developing your relationships is key to being tapped for a job whether you are actively looking for one or not.  Remember EVERYONE is your client so begin treating people as if anyone can be a resource in helping you along the way to finding your next job.

It’s a job battle field out there and it calls for a warrior spirit.  Whether you live in the illusion that you possess “job security” or you are swinging from the vine hoping the limb won’t break before you hit the ground, this is no time for the faint of heart. Knowing that your job is a battlefield makes you appreciate the times when you can kick back and enjoy the ride even when you are not always sure where that ride will take you.  These tough times can make or break you but it will take a brave-heart-like warrior who can navigate the treacherous terrain at all odds.  Do you have what it takes to sit back and wait for change or make change happen for you?  Do you have the true job warrior spirit in you?

When it comes to finding and ACCEPTING a job offer we all have our lists.  It may be that your list contains what you would and would not want from your next job much like a list you’d create if you were picking the perfect mate.  But we all have our limits of what we would accept from a job regardless of how great it all sounds.  Even if you’ve been at this for a while, you still have standards, whether you choose to lower them or not is entirely a different matter. I’m not judging you by any means.  Let’s face it as we get older we seem less inclined to be as picky about certain things as when we were eager beavers graduating school wanting to take the world by it’s job-balls!

Spring is the time to get rid of the old to make way for the new.  Flowers do it.  Birds do it.  So why don’t you do it?  It’s okay to take stock of what’s not working in your life.  But do you ever focus on what is working in your life and do you take it for granted?  Purging the past to make way for the new doesn’t mean just going through your closet to see what does or does not fit.  Accepting what does not work and heralding what does work makes your career cleanse an easy process.

We all know stress is not good for you or anyone else for that matter.  But what if you could use it for your benefit?  What if stress were your friend?  If you could harness the energy that comes from the nervous knot in your stomach, you might be able to use it to your advantage when the competition heats up and you need that extra push towards achieving your goal

By Lisa Kaye

You've done the interviews, references have been checked, and your recruiter called and said they've prepared an offer. You wait and wait and then wait some more and two weeks pass and nothing. When your job world has gone stone cold silent and you are ready to sign it off, there are a few more things you can do to stir the proverbial job pot before throwing in the towel!

When you think about the past year what are you most grateful for?  Are you grateful for the job you have or the one you expect will come?  Are you still wishing for something big and wonderful to come into your life?  Opportunities abound and the future lay bright and sunny but do you ever stop and give thanks to what you have today?

You may make the mistake of thinking that the only way to change your circumstances is to make a clean break.  Sometimes that strategy helps, other times it can be seen as an over-reaction in your attempt to shake things up.  When you are in doubt about your circumstances, whether you should stay or whether you should go, or think about moving to a new job, stop, and ask, “Could I improve my situation instead?”

Like the man in the photo, “SALESMAN, Short, Fat, Bald, Single, Broke, Needs Real Job” you can paint whatever picture you like of yourself that does not mean you will get a job.  How you see yourself and how others see you may mean the difference between getting a “real” job offer and one you make up inside your head.  How you paint your job picture is up to you but realize you get what you put out there like it or not.