I mean, you feel certain uneasiness. You tell yourself you r career could be doing better. Or maybe you're not sure this is the right direction for you. Or you're just plain tired of the same old same old.



Friends will tell you that there's a job out there just waiting for you. But, knowing there's a job out there just waiting for you sounds great. You know, the one that is just right for you and your career.

Maybe you've been fired and you're getting desperate. Maybe you're jammed up in your current job with no moves left. Or you've faithfully followed a lot of traditional job search advice and nothing works.

There are few of us who don't worry about our job. And with good reason. It provides the fuel that fires what's important to us in life. A job is not just "what we do." In many ways it's who we are. Much of our life is defined by how we make a living.

It's tough to finally make a decision to move ahead. So when the time comes to make a move, we prefer to do it as quickly and painlessly as possible. We don't want to be twisting in the winds for weeks, even months at a time. We hope against hope that the right situation will drop in our laps.

That's the desperate way to look for a job.

Making your career move can and should be a dynamic and enthusiastic acknowledgement of your ability to grow . . . to be successful. Most of all it should show us that we can be in control of our destiny rather than a victim of it.

So, here's a simple strategy to help you stop twisting in the wind and steady yourself for a bright future. It's called "doing your homework!" And here it is:

1. Decide what useful information you want to acquire, e.g. corporate literature, Who"s Who for specific decision makers, product or services information, job change tips, resume-writing examples, interviewing techniques, etc. Also take advantage of college alumni, community, headhunter, and newspaper sites.

2. Save, digest or bookmark sites you discover using good search engines. Put them into easily accessible digital files.

3. From all this information select areas of interest starting with geographical preferences. Then move on to products and services that attract your attention or that match with your interests or work history. Finally make a list of companies that fall within your parameters.

4. The last piece of essential research is perhaps the most important of all . . . identifying specific decision-makers by name who could possibly be your next boss. You'll find this information at the corporate websites, Who's Who, local service club info, online newspaper files, alumni sites, etc.

When your career is wavering . . . punt! In other words, go into action mode and do something that's not threatening, but will get you out of denial on the track to an exciting and productive future!