Your Career... Be In It to Win It!

Now Is the Time to "Get in the Game" and Advance your Career

Now is not the time to be sitting on the sidelines... The hiring economy is booming across the nation with the unemployment rate at a super-low 3.6%. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment increased by 266,000 in November, with notable gains in health care and in professional and technical services. If you are going to "get in the game" - you couldn't have picked a better time in recent history!

Now Is the Perfect Kickoff Time for Your Career

With the upcoming College Football National Championship Game Just Ahead, the oddsmakers are predicting the Tigers will win! Of course, since the LSU Tigers are playing the Clemson Tigers, that's hardly a risky bet... Each team wants to win (you know who I'm pulling for!), but the team that practices the best and has the best Game Plan, should win on Jan. 13. If you want your career to take you to the Promised Land, you will need to adopt the Best Practices that Strategic Resumes & Career Coaching promotes.

It's 2020... Time to Move Your Career Down the Field

But the news is good! Going into 2020, statistics indicate that talent challenges are affecting 72.8% of employers, 45% of companies are raising their starting compensation packages, 56% of U.S. companies will offer signing bonuses, and 68% of companies say they have increased their average salary offers in just the past year. On top of all that, there are more than 6 million current job openings nationwide.

New Orleans, Host of the Big Game

Consistent with many of the national trends in employment, according to U.S. Dept. of Labor BLS statistics, New Orleans has posted significant hiring gains for the most recent reporting period in the areas of Leisure & Hospitality, Education & Health Services, Professional & Business Services, and Construction.

What's Your Game Plan?

You don't go to the airport without knowing your destination and flight details, and the Saints or LSU don't take the field without knowing their Xs and Os... Do you know where you want to be in 6 months, a year... five years?

You are only likely to arrive there if you create a plan and "get in the game." Whether you use a career coach or chart a course yourself, now is the time to enhance your career path.

Strategic Career Plans Require Good Conditioning

It may seem obvious, but if you are physically or mentally out of shape, if your diet is unhealthy, if you aren't keeping the rust off by staying active, if you aren't enrolling in continuing education, and if you aren't "getting out there" to attend events in your sphere of interest, then you won't keep the edge that you need to advance.

How to Craft a Winning Career Game Plan

In order to stop being a spectator for your career and start getting in the game, you want to create a plan that includes the following elements:

1)?Available Resources?- Take a hard look at your available resources... Do you have a budget for career services? Should you upgrade your laptop or wifi speed? Are you carving out time to devote to networking & self-improvement?

2)?Basic Career Tools?- Is your resume where it should be? How competitive is your LinkedIn profile? Be honest!

3)?Scheduling -?Are you carving out time to devote to networking & self-improvement? Do you have a written schedule to take the steps required to succeed?

4)?Packaging Yourself?- Just as the products we all buy come in attractive packaging that changes and improves over time, studies show that people who care for their appearance tend to get selected first. Go out, by a new outfit, watch your nutrition, keep your hair and appearance top-notch, and put a spring in your step... You will be amazed at how many people notice.

5)?Be Your Own PR Firm -?You can dramatically increase your "buzz" by attending industry events, reposting some items you come across on trends in your field, or even writing and publishing an article or two about your observations on your professional areas of interest. And yes, the team at Strategic Resumes & Career Coaching helps clients with all of the above.

Our clients are distinguished by the knowledge that preparation and confidence are the keys to success, and they rely on Strategic Resumes & Career Coaching to give them an edge.

Grant Cooper?received the Career Directors International President's Award?(CDI National Conference, Orlando, FL)

Grant Cooper specializes in Reinventing Resumes, Upgrading LinkedIn Profiles, and Career Coaching for Success. Strategic Resumes & Career Coaching has assisted the U.S. Air Force, Kinko's, the Louisiana Dept. of Labor, the NFL, the NBA, as well as universities, regional banks, hospitals, celebrities, nonprofits, government agencies, entrepreneurs, and corporations. Our clients land competitive positions at Fortune 500 firms and attract the best offers.?Contact: [email protected] or call 504-891-7222?(please leave a message for quick return call from Lela Neff, our Client Director).