First of all, I want to thank you for all of your compliments, questions and comments in response to last week's story. In writing this column, I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can. Please understand that I'm not a recruiter and I can't personally connect you with a job. But what I can and will do is help you find opportunities on your own and explain how to position yourself to take advantage of them.

As I noted last week, new opportunities are opening up in the job market. Improved corporate earnings, downsizing, right-sizing and optimism among CEOs are all contributing to this.

But you still need to take the right steps to cash in on these opportunities. Over the years, I've seen too many prospects who can't land job interviews and offers even though they have outstanding qualifications. The reason they can't translate their credentials into opportunities is that they don't understand the dynamics of job seeking. Here are three of the most common mistakes that I urge you to avoid:

1. Overlooking the Importance of Constantly Building Your Network

Job search and career management is a process not a project . You must constantly build your network both inside and outside your current company. That includes a network of recruiters who know you and what you can do. In today's job market, if you don't do this, you'll fall behind.

It's no accident that the successful people who always seem to be in the right place at the right time are skilled in the art of networking. Most successful executives succeed by networking- both in their current jobs and searching for new ones. According to a recent ExecuNet survey, 41% of executives got their most recent job through networking, 26% were recruited by a search firm (generally by networking), 9% through an Internet job posting and 9% via an internal promotion.

If you're not experienced or comfortable networking, I suggest you join a career and professional network. Remember, it's not what you know but who knows what you know. More than 70% of new jobs are landed as a result of networking, rather than by answering ads. Don't wait for opportunities to look for you; you could end up waiting a long time.

2. Interviewing Without Sufficient Insight

Some of the best advice available on a management-level job search is summed up in the words of Louis Pasteur: "Chance favors the prepared mind."

Before interviewing with an organization learn as much as possible about the challenges it's facing. The Internet has made finding this information easier than ever. Other helpful sources include personal contacts (on and off the job), your stockbroker (who has access to industry and company research and annual reports) and industry trade magazines. Also check out the five websites listed below. To help put your findings into perspective, research the company's top two or three competitors with an eye toward identifying key similarities and differences.

3. Thinking Your Perfect Job Is Just Waiting for You on the Internet

Many jobs are posted on the Internet. But finding a job calls for something more proactive than responding to Internet postings. Competition is intense and getting the attention of recruiters requires the latest and "best" competitive tactics to market your skills to maximum advantage both in a resume and in each step of the process. To speed a search, you need multiple tools, clear direction and the support of your network to create options effectively.

Until next time, wishing you career success.

Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet
www.execunet.com

POINTERS FROM LAURYN

5 Great Internet Sites for Company Financial Info

• Hoover's Online: www.hoovers.com
• Corporate Information: www.corporateinformation.com
• EDGAR Database of Corporate Information: www.sec.gov
• Business Wire's Corporate Profiles: www.businesswire.com/cnn.shtml
• The Web 100: www.w100.com

MEMBER FEEDBACK

Responding to Lauryn's column of last week, a SafetyXChange member wrote:

After reading Lauryn's recent article it occurs to me that her analysis of the economy and the prospect for hiring more safety professionals is correct. The thing that really bothers me, though, is that whenever there's a downturn in the economy, companies generally slim down, with the first recipient of cost-cutting being the EHS manager. I sense that this will continue to be true and the only protected EHS managers are the ones that can demonstrate cost savings to the bottom line.

Reply:

Thanks for your note. I suspect you're right. Check out our Safety Economics Weekly newsletter (which comes out every Wednesday) and the SafetyXChange archives. They contain articles showing you how to demonstrate the impact of safety on your company's bottom line. I'm not promising they'll help you keep your job but they might help.

Glenn Demby
SafetyXChange.org
Editor-in-Chief

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