Yes, a new shiny MacBook Pro and a Smartphone will make you look like a thriving young professional, but they will not help you get a job.  There are less expensive things that are much more valuable that you can utilize in the search for the perfect career.  Your career toolkit houses these treasures and this is your opportunity to bypass the hammer and the screwdriver and use the tools you already have to make yourself successful.

So what’s in your career toolkit?

Dreams- I speak about the importance of dreams all of the time, as I cannot mention them enough.  If there is a career path that you are enthralled with then you must chase that as if there were no other options.  Obviously, you must make ends meet, and if that means working a job you do not like in the meantime, then do that, but please do not forget about things that make you excited to get out of bed in the morning.  The most successful people in this world love going to work in the morning.  Who would not want that?

Passion-This goes along with your dream, but it still must be mentioned.  The reason is simple; you cannot fake passion.  It is impossible and your productivity will suffer from its lack of existence

You Personal Brand- The employer is looking at what you represent, which just so happens to be your personal brand.  This is a new addition to your traditional career toolkit.  It is the Spade on the River to complete your Flush.  This will be the deciding factor in your battle against the other passionate dreamers out there.  Do not let your public image impact your dreams.

Knowledge of your skill set- You are good at certain things and bad at others.  It is important to recognize your faults early on.  This way you will be able to either work on these issues or hone your strengths so that they can compensate for your weaknesses.  The key is to emphasize your strengths in any way you can.  If you are a great conversationalist, but your lacking experience in a certain sector, then use your words to win over the interviewer with your great communication skills.  Focus on her and your budding relationship, not the exact position you’re interviewing for.

Team- Use your resources to accelerate your career.  Have your buddy who majored in Finance help you out with discounting cash flows when searching for a job as a financial analyst or have your literature major friend help you manufacture a job-winning cover letter.  People generally like to show off their skills, so they will be more than willing to help you out.  By using your team, you will be able to increase the breadth of your Skill set and increase your odds of jump-starting the career you know you can succeed at.  Tiger Woods has a team and he is the best golfer in the world.  His success is not a fluke; don’t allow yours to be either.

Go ahead, peruse your Career Toolkit and reach for the tools that will help you become remarkable.

Brendan Wales is a co-founder of StarvingFreelancers,com, a site dedicated to bringing together artists and opportunity.  He studied Finance at the University of Georgia and enjoys working with small-businesses.  Wales’ goal in life is to wake up in the morning and be excited about going to work.

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To put it mildly, the job market is the worst it has been in the past century.  Unemployment is continuing to rise as more and more people are being laid off and companies are slowing their hiring procedures.

With that being said, there are still jobs out there for you to work, but it is important that you dot every I and cross every T in your search for your next job.

One of the biggest mistakes we see time and time again is the fact that job applicants are forgetting the basics, and a good thank you note is a basic element that every job applicant needs to have in their career toolkit.

There are 5 elements to a good thank you note:

1. Timeliness! Let’s say that you just got done interviewing for your dream job and you know there are 100 others interviewing later that day.  I would be willing to bet you that only a handful of these individuals actually take the 30 seconds to write a good thank you note.  When you leave the interview you should have the thank you note already written and you should drop it off with the secretary on your way out or in the first mailbox that you see.  The key is making sure that the note is in the hands of the interviewer within 48 hours.
2. Spelling.  While the job interview may have gone really well if you send a thank you note and you misspell the person’s name that interviewed you, you might just as well start looking for elsewhere.
3. Grammar.  Just as spelling is important it is good for you to write out your thank you note in Microsoft Word beforehand so that you can make sure your sentences make sense and that it says what you want it to.  If you are not the best writer have someone else look over it for you.
4. Legible.  Now people will go back and forth trying to decide if it is acceptable to have an email thank you note, I believe that in today’s world it is alright however a hand written one is ALWAYS preferred.  If you do end up hand writing the note you should write slowly and make sure that the recipient is going to be able to read how much you look forward to hearing from them.
5. Short and Relevant. It is a thank you note, not a memoir!  2-3 sentences max!  You want to thank them for their time, explain how much you enjoyed the interview and how you look forward to working with them in the future.  Don’t make the note so vague that it appears that you have one template that you send to everyone.  You need to make it fit the company you just interviewed with.

Don’t beg for the job, don’t sound desperate, and don’t over think it.  A good thank you note will set you apart from the crowd. It could help seal the deal between two candidates, and it will remind them of your qualities at a later point in time.

Author: RJ Sherman

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