Career Development Strategies

If your job search is going nowhere, you might need to utilize some new career development strategies to pick things up.

There are obviously many traditional career development techniques, many of which you might already be utilizing.

There are also many non-traditional career development strategies that you might not have even thought about that could really help not only your job search but your enthusiasm for your job search too.

Using the two in conjunction with one another can effectively improve your chances of finding a new job.

The worst thing that you can do is get discouraged if you’re seeing poor initial results but simply doing the same thing over and over again won’t help either.

Try out some of these career development strategies if you feel that your search is in a rut and you want to pick it up quickly by covering all your bases:

1. Read through each section of this website in order to fully understand each step of the career search process.

2. Ensure that you truly understand your career objective before you start job searching.

3. Speak with decision-makers in your industry to gain knowledge about how to build your career.

4. Participate in job fairs especially ones that are focused on your industry.

5. Post your resume on several relevant and professional job search websites including industry-specific websites. Your success here will probably be based more on you actively for companies rather than expecting that a hiring manager will read your resume online and contact you. Most of your calls will probably come from recruiters.

6. Make a list of companies that you’d like to work for and contact them yourself directly to enquire about career opportunities.

7. Locate several professional recruiters to help you with your job search.

8. Let your friends, family members and suitable professionals know that you are conducting a confidential job search. Ask them if they know anyone who is hiring or if they know anyone you should be speaking with.

9. Consider utilizing a professional writing service to help you with your cover letter.

10. Consider utilizing a professional resume-writing service to help you with your resume.

11. Investigate upskilling yourself by taking some relevant training courses.

12. Join a toastmaster club or similar organization that might help you improve your public speaking abilities which will come in handy during interviews.



13. Consider a career change. If you’ve been thinking about switching jobs or industries, look at pursuing a new career in a different field. If you'd like to see a great resource to help you plan a career change, I have a suggestion. With Your Career Change you can make the career move or a complete career change or easily achieve the job you really want. This might be with your present employer, but Your Career Change will help you to redefine what you want - and achieve it!

14. Consider a career working online. There are many opportunities to work online from the comfort of your own home (just like I do!). To learn about how I put this website together, click here to view the SiteSell homepage, which is the company who helped me build and host this website.

15. Look outside your backyard. Unless you absolutely don’t want to relocate, look outside your city, your state or province and even your country for opportunities. It really is a Global Economy and there are many excellent opportunities around the world. Click here for some international job search ideas.

16. Determine whether you have been an active job searcher or a passive candidate and why it matters.

The important thing is to consider career development strategies you aren't currently using.

Don't keep using the same job search techniques if they don't seem to be getting you closer to finding your dream career.

College Degree
Your level of education or lack thereof can hurt your career. Check out this page to learn more about educational options to further your career.

Self Improvement
Here are some options for self improvement in various stages of the job search and career management process.

Learn A New Language
Maybe you're not interested in a college education. What about learning a new language? Learning a second (or third!) language can open new career opportunities for you.