Everyone thinks they know how to find a job. Right? Wrong! Take this little test. If this is your version of how to find a job, you already flunked! To find a job you write a resume, distribute it to employers via online job sites, emails, letters to agencies and recruiters, and, of course, to a bunch of companies. Then you wait for someone to respond. If they don't, you repeat the process. Now, this is OK if you've got weeks or months to wait. Or if you don't care what comes up as long as it's work. On the other hand, if you're the kind of person who wants to select your next job rather than settle for it, then you have to try an alternative approach. You can't expect to make your way successfully through the job marketplace without a roadmap . . . or a job search market plan. That's because the successful job candidate these days must learn to run a job search like a small business. A carefully prepared job search market plan guarantees how to find a job with success. It's one of the most important strategies for the 21st Century job marketplace. Why is a job search roadmap so important? Because since 9/11 and Katrina everything's changed. There have been significant advances in hiring practices. Employers have new and different expectations of a job candidate. And all this has required new and alternative ways of thinking about finding a job. Here are the components of a successful roadmap:

1. Identify and list your work-style values, ethics and philosophy that guide your everyday employment activities. This list must go way beyond a ritual recital of your accomplishments or work history. Employers today are much more interested in the kind of person you are rather than what you used to do for someone else.

2. Target companies and organizations that hold an interest for you. Make your written list expansive. Do not eliminate employers because you think they wouldn't hire you.

3. Identify the hiring decision-makers in those organizations. In other words, who would your next boss be?

4. Build a list of contacts who can assist you in your search. On this list are the names of any individuals who could help by introducing you to hiring decision-makers, or to someone who could open the door for you through a referral. Do not pre-judge who could or could not help you. Remember people are always anxious to give you advice even if they can't refer you.

5. As a last step, put together a resume to use as a "business card" to leave behind for your contacts.

6. Begin contacting everyone on your list in person to ask them for their advice as to how they can assist you in your job search. Putting together a job search roadmap with this information gives you a real head start when you're anxious about how to find a job. From here you're ready to explore the unique opportunities that may be waiting for you in today's amazing marketplace.