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The
book actually mirrors my own career progression over the past six years
and it demonstrates and addresses many of the trials, triumphs and
tribulations along the way. This book is not an autobiography and rarely,
if ever, do I talk about myself. I may give an example of how I used one
of the concepts I am discussing but that is about the only time you will
see personal stories about myself. This book is not a teaching manual but
it will hopefully inspire you to go out and learn all that you need to
begin building your custom career.
Keep
moving ahead and take a look at some of the motivations behind why I wrote
this book. Enjoy your reading.
I
have spent many years working and have worked a multitude of different
jobs in different industries. I have worked in the retail, service,
construction, training and telecom industries and even a few more. I have
held jobs for anywhere from 3 months to 3 years. Twice now in the latter
part of my career (in the past 4 years), I have decided that I needed to
make a change to increase my salary and have done so with an average
increase of 60%. How, you might ask, have I been able to increase my
salary by 60% by just deciding to make a change?
This
book is designed to show you methods to drastically increase your salary
and to expose you (Gracious Reader) to methods that will hopefully allow
you to custom build your career. Now, there are no quick fixes that give
you the mystical powers to hood-wink people into believing you are
something that you are not. This process involves lots of hard work,
diligence, discipline, creativity, luck and a touch of God’s good
graces.
My
personal process was also fraught with setbacks, last-minute changes and
failures. The most important thing you will hopefully gather from this
book is the knowledge and the motivation to continue pushing ahead no
matter what setbacks arrive and demand from life what everybody deserves.
Hopefully, you will custom build your career exactly like you want.
The
book does not guarantee you a job. You are the only person who can
actually get the job. Instead, the chapters in the book will help you plan
for changing jobs and making the change as seamless as possible. It will
help you plan for your future and start custom building your career. It
will help you present yourself as the best possible candidate for a
position. It will help you become a better communicator and give you tips
and tricks to put you at the top of the list or let you be remembered
after everyone else has faded from mind. Finally, it will help you look at
a job offer and weigh the benefits and the pitfalls in that offer, decide
whether to accept it and then keep it afterwards.
All
in all, your total presentation to prospective employers must be top notch
before you will be considered for a decent paying career position. You
must also have a plan in place for your career progression, for any
contingencies, for any emergencies and even for your retirement. The
chapters in this book are designed to help you understand:
- how to plan for
making a job change
- how to strategically
plan for getting where you want to be
- how to enact your
plan
- how to evaluate the
benefits a company offers to see if they will help you in your plan
- how to create an
award-winning resume that will get you interviews
- how to correspond
professionally with prospective employers whether they offer you a
position or not
- how to secure
interviews with the right companies
- how to impress those
who are interviewing you
- how to evaluate the
entire job offer and decide whether to accept or not
- how to keep your job
once you get it
- and, how to custom
build your career
Now,
I personally believe that everybody has the potential to do whatever they
set their mind to (see chapter 3). I have developed this belief over the
years by practicing what I preach and have had unbelievable successes. I
have convinced myself that I can do anything I set my mind to and so far,
I have done it. I currently earn more than three times what I made only
five years ago and I am continually looking for ways to increase my
salary. I am also still learning to set my aspirations higher and higher
so that my achievements will far exceed what I expected only one year ago.
In my book and in my life, the sky is the limit.
I
am also a firm believer in doing anything it takes to earn extra money (as
long as it is legal) and have taken second jobs at Starbucks, Applebee’s
and at a local Steak House. I currently perform writing services through
an online ecommerce site called Elance (www.elance.com)
and have earned approximately $1200 in the past 4 months. I also run a
resume rewriting service that stemmed from helping friends and coworkers
rewrite their tired, old resumes into dynamic, attention-grabbing resumes
that helped them get better jobs.
So,
jump right in and start your journey. Start learning the skills necessary
to custom build your career. We will start the process by reminding you of
something that you learned many, many years ago but probably no longer
remember.
As
children, our parents always told us that we could do anything we set our
mind to do. I’ll never forget the story that said, “I think I can, I
think I can…I know I can, I know I can.” The funniest part about what
our parents said was that they were almost always right. When your Mom or
Dad said you could ride that bike, you did. When they said you could climb
that tree, you did. And when they said you could drive that car, you
finally did.
So
what happened? I don’t know many people today who believe they can do
whatever they set their mind to. Did we just forget? Did our relationships
over the course of the years make such a negative impression on us that we
simply stopped believing? I am here to tell you that it is time to relearn
some old lessons.
I
fell prey to the same demons that affected everyone else and I forgot that
if I set my mind to it, I can do anything. Lately though, I have started
on a new quest with the mindset that I can do anything; I just need to go
out and do it. Here is what I have been doing to change my ways.
The
first thing I decided to change was my negative attitude. I woke up every
morning and said to myself, “today is going to be a great day because I
can do anything.” I started jogging and lifting weights to tone up and
lose weight because I knew I could do it. I lost my job and got another
offer within three weeks because I know that I could. I decided to have
more patience and spend more time with my son and I did, because I knew
that I could. Overall, I turned my negative attitude into a positive
attitude just using words.
I
don’t want you to think that all of these changes were easy. My second
day of running around the block found me hobbling home with a sprained
ankle. I had to postpone the jogging for two weeks while my ankle healed.
But, I stayed firm in my commitment to myself because I knew that I could
do anything I set my mind to.
One
other important aspect to consider when changing your attitude is
setbacks. When things don’t go exactly as planned try to look at it as a
learning venture and always remember that you can do it. Reset your goals
and try again or totally change the direction and go for something else.
Once
you have changed your mind set and you start each day with a positive
attitude, it is time to set some goals that are achievable. What you want
to do is set goals for multiple projects that can be completed in the
short term. Then, if one or two of your goals don’t work out
immediately, you can continue with your other projects maintaining a
positive attitude while you complete some projects and re-evaluate the
others.
If,
by chance, one of your projects fails, take the time to evaluate the
reasons it failed and make any changes in your plan to ensure success.
Keep at it until you get it right because, remember, you can do anything.
As you progress in achieving more and more of your short term goals your
confidence will abound and you will notice a subtle change in life; you
will notice that things get easier and easier as you achieve more
successes.
I
want to pass along a personal story to you that will hopefully inspire you
to change your attitude and also change your life. Approximately 5 years
ago, I was making just over $30K a year with little chance for advancement
and decided that I need to make some changes to ensure a happier future.
So, I enrolled in evening courses four nights a week for about two years
and attained my bachelor’s degree. Within a month of getting my degree,
I accepted a job offer for over $50K a year because I was confident that I
could do it.
A
few years later, after being out of work for six months with a couple of
surgeries, I was working again for about $45K a year. I decided that the
salary and position I was working in was not representative of my skills
and my experience so I decided to make some changes. I decided to go out
and get a job that paid me a salary that my skills warranted.
I
spent a couple of weeks reworking my resume package (cover letter, resume,
references and correspondence notes) and packed it full of my valuable
skills. I practiced my interview skills including asking questions and
responding to the tough questions. Finally, I started looking for a new
job and within three weeks, I secured an interview, received an excellent
offer and began earning in excess of $75K a year.
In
just five years, I went from earning a measly $30K a year to earning over
$75K a year because I was confident that I could make the changes. My
question to you is, “what are you waiting for?” Take some time and
improve all the necessary documentation, practice your communication and
interviewing skills and lock in a job that pays you what you are worth. I
know you can do it and hopefully by now you are starting to think you can
as well.
Now
that you are starting to remember that you can do whatever you set your
mind to, let’s move on to the next chapter to learn about utilizing your
internal energies to help you develop more necessary skills to custom
build your career.
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