Get The Job You Want, Even When No One's Hiring: Take Charge of Your Career, Find a Job You Love, and Earn What You Deserve

Chapter 21. The Start at the Beginning Strategy

To get your job search started on the right foot, it's important to build a solid foundation of self-knowledge and clarity. The exercises and questions on the following pages will help you clarify some of the issues and values that are fundamental to your lasting career success. They'll also provide you with a uniquely personalized set of keys to unlock the door to a great job, even when no one's hiring.

It may seem to you that doing these exercises during a job market crisis will just delay the launch of your search. You may even feel that such introspection is a waste of time. If this is true for you, I urge you to reconsider. After working with thousands of clients in transition, I have seen consistent evidence that these exercises actually accelerate my clients' progress and get them to their career destinations much faster. I assure you that the time and effort you invest in these exercises will pay off in many multiples.

Exercise: Values Clarification (Downloadable)

Rank the following values on a scale of 1 through 10, with 1 representing "Not important to me at all" and 10 representing "Very important to me." The context of these questions is "your whole life" (personal, family, professional, community), and not just your work or career.

Collaboration/Teamwork	1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Management/Leadership	1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Money/Wealth	1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Security/Safety	1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Adventure/Discovery	1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Independence/Freedom ...