Tips to accelerate your career in bad job market

Career tips help you from time to time even when the job market is down or even when your skill is in demand. The following are some of the tips that will anyone accelerate their career.

Provide Value adds. Initiative is an important aspect. Don't wait to be told to do things. If you know it will help your company or team, do it. Surprise your boss with extras.

Good team member, mentor. Being a good team player means facilitating the involvement of everyone on the team according to their strengths. A good team player should also be a good team leader, team mentor and team supporter. Understand and be with the team at all times.

Planning and Time management. If you don't plan your activities, you are planning to loose. Planning, and executing based on the plan are two most important aspects. Time management would play an important role while executing the plan. Unless these two activities are implemented hand in hand, the expected task cannot be completed to perfection or time.

Please your manager. Think ahead for your boss. Anticipate his or her needs whenever you can and take action. Actively promote the good works of your boss. Just stay focused on doing great work. If your boss is really bad, his/her superiors will eventually figure it out.

Politics: Politics are not new and they are very common in most of the organizations. The only way to get out of politics is to play it and find a way out. Politics is "You help me and I'll help you." There's nothing wrong with that if your end goal is to grow business ethically and to grow your career based on good works. The only thing bad about politics is ignoring it.

Work Smart. Working smart is a step ahead of working hard. Rather than just working blindly, a better approach is to work smart. Be efficient with your time. Stay focused on activities on which you are measured.

Be Positive and Enthusiastic. Don't think you have to be serious all the time. People want to be around happy positive people. Be one of those people. See the good. Speak positively. And encourage everyone! Watch how it comes back to you!

Excel to perfection. In everything that you do, do it well. Dress well. Be on time. Deliver on your promises. Produce high quality work. In turn your career will manifest in accordance with your focus on excellence.

Focus on the Bigger Picture. It's easy to work in a just tasks that are assigned. Instead try to understand the bigger picture. Understand the business behind, understand the goal behind, understand the organization motive behind and understand the bigger picture.

• Keep the document to one or two pages. As such, it is important to summarize the most significant highlights of your professional skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for.

• Indicate the specialization. It is likely to be the second thing an interviewer looks for on your resume. Having your specializations listed will help ensure that a word search leads to your resume. 

• Submit your resume online, preferably in PDF format as an email attachment. A PDF file looks professional and can be viewed on different platforms without altering the fonts you use. 

• List complete contact information. Make sure you include your mailing address, phone number, fax number, and an accurate email address that you check regularly. 

• When saving your resume on the computer, use your last name for the filename.

• Indicate your educational background in the proper place. If you graduated recently and do not have much work experience, make sure you emphasize your education. If you are an experienced, you can move the education information to the end of your resume and emphasize your work experience instead.

• Proofread your resume thoroughly and have others proofread it.  

• Include relevant association memberships and credentials that you have certified. 

• Update your resume frequently. This will also help to keep your name fresh in the minds of prospective clients.

An interview represents the impression of a person to the prospective employer. As always, the first impression is the best impression. Though careful measures are taken by everybody before attending an interview, there are a few things that may still be missed out. Ensuring that these top blunders are not executed would surely pave way to a better impression. Top blunders that should not happen during an interview are:-
 

• Inappropriate dressing
• Poor communication
• Excess communication
• Poor body language
• Lack of confidence and expression
• Lack of concentration
• Dishonest answers
• Poor attitude to the interviewer
• Loss of direct eye contact with the interviewer
• Inadequate knowledge about the prospective employer
• Poor preparation
• Doubts over the content of CV
• Lack of punctuality
• Failure to ask questions

• Tell me about yourself
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• Tell me about whatever went well and what did not go in your past career?
• Why are you leaving the current job?
• Why should I hire you? You are overqualified.
• Where do you want to see yourself five years from now and on a longer term?
• Why do you want to be a part of this company?
• What is your opinion on reporting to youngsters?