Planning your career for 2011. A strategy proposal.

All writers like similes. Career is a complex topic to write about, though. Their promise to add flavour to a thought aside, we don't usually use similes because we're afraid of confusing our readers. Career builders and job hunters are never at rest; similes don't quite equate with our subject matter, it's that simple. We've believed so since ages...even before becoming moderators to this blog,

We're talking about similes because of a mail that has been sent to our Linkedin mailbox last night. The sender is inquiring about our changing styles in writing and it confuses him why (unlike the other career blogs he's following), we don't have something he can classify as a signature. Aside from ranting, which we've been using as a stress buster for quite some time now, we admit to being shaky in this department of writing. He's suggested that we use similes to solve the problem of 'uniformity' throughout Jobs in Singapore.

And in line with the rule we've recently imposed onto ourselves...

Looking for a job and building a career can be likened to a journey. Roadblocks will be encountered, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to achieve career success. All it takes to conquer these hindrances is confidence: confidence in yourself and the people providing you help.

That's not as good as most of you have expected, probably. But for grumpy writers like us, the attempt in itself merits some commendation. You see, we're not as creative as you probably think we are -- it's why breathers are a luxury for us. Such posts doesn't come easy on this blog because its moderators are grumpy, so to speak.

Though, if there's a serious need for creativity, even if we have to bleed out the words, we'll give you creativity. Like right now. The official website of the Dream Jobs Contest has just been put online by our editors, so motivation is pretty much covered. We were creative when we shared to you our dream job of helping the tourism sector by providing f&b jobs, hotel jobs, resort jobs, and tourism jobs via a hotel manager position, right?

Anyway, going back to the topic we've chosen to get today over with, although career is not impossible to conquer, it's not enough to just read career articles so you can produce a happy ending for yourself. Career building for us is all about moving parallel with the job market and using one's goals and credentials and help from career experts as tools. Our definition of career success involves the process of self assessment. Which means, the standard starting point for all career pursuits in our perspective, may that be job hunting or career changing or seeking for advancement opportunities, is labeled 'You'.

No, we're not making things more complicated. Get your 'needs' and wants' stably laid out first and you'll find the rest of the steps easy to pass. Plus, doing so is the closest thing to ending up in heaven -- you've prioritised your preferences and so there's little possibility of getting dissatisfied or down later on. We're using a theory of assumptions here, but nevertheless, if you're into our tips you should employ this as your main strategy for career success this coming 2011.

A lot of articles on Career Advice are about this, so you're pretty much covered. Job hunters will benefit a lot in reading this article by career counselor David Helfand at www.jobsdb.com.sg/SG/EN/Resources/JobSeekerArticle/29.htm?ID=376, for instance. "If relevant career options are not identified, the remaining steps (researching career options, resume writing, job searching, and interviewing) become more and more difficult to complete and, when completed, are more likely to result in job dissatisfaction." A favourite in the section, David's writing style makes the article refreshing to read.

Career builders have nothing to worry about too. From pay raise to training opportunities, we've got career articles by experts from here and abroad on the topic of career advancement. Roger Konopasek's article on salary increase can be found at www.jobsdb.com.sg/SG/EN/Resources/JobSeekerArticle/double-your-salary.htm?ID=377. It talks about designing a "killer" Unique Selling Proposition (USP), something that will ask you to see yourself as a company. Another good article on the topic of pay raises can be found at www.jobsdb.com.sg/SG/EN/Resources/JobSeekerArticle/ask-an-expert.htm?ID=489. This one's from Andree Mangels, a Manager at Robert Walters. His main point is to keep a positive attitude throughout the process. He's provided his tips in a step by step manner, so that's a good favor for you.

Remember our favourite quote from country head of ACCA, Darryl Wee? This article at www.jobsdb.com.sg/SG/EN/Resources/JobSeekerArticle/Career%20Guide?ID=404 talks about the importance of learning in career building. Considering this is the easiest to bargain for among employee benefits, this will definitely motivate you into suggesting you boss to give you and your coworkers more training opportunities and career seminars to attend.

A short note about Dream Jobs...
We're very grateful for those who participated. The things that make engage.sg.jobsdb.com/dream-job/shine are the entries, really, which our editors have classified into categories for easy reading. Those are very funky categories, BTW.

To call the contest a success is a big understatement. How so? Visit Engage to see for yourself.




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For career tips, we recommend Career Advice. From job hunting tips to career development guidelines, get advice from experts @ www.jobsdb.com.sg/SG/en/Resources/JobSeekerIndex.