I am sure you have heard about the value of investing in a resume writer and/or job search coach to help you during your job search. Certainly, this investment in yourself and your job search will pay off in multiple ways including your ability to fully leverage yourself in your industry of choice, making sure you are optimizing your skills and strengths amidst the competition and securing the highest quality interviews.

However there are additional investments you should be making in your job search that lend themselves to rich and rewarding payoffs.

Have you looked at your home, your health and your time-off activities? Have you set up a system for yourself that provides you with adequate job search support?

Here are some examples:

1. Investment in your health. Are you taking care of yourself? Have you been putting off your yearly physical, your trip to the dentist or chiropractor? Do you invest in eating organic food? Do you get out for a few minutes each day for some exercise and fresh air? Your monetary investment to do this is relatively small but your short and long term payoff is vit al to keeping stress under control and your feeling of well being.

2. Investment in activities you enjoy. You have heard me say it before, investing in yourself, in activities you enjoy and that relax you are MORE important and need to be INCREASED during your job search.

Feel like you can’t find the time? Look at where you spend your time during the day, then commit to cutting out ONE activity that you don’t absolutely need to be doing. Replace it with something you love to do, be it spending time with your family, playing tennis, bike riding or reading a book. The more relaxed and balanced you are, the more energy and focus you will have to give your job search.

3. Investment in your surroundings. Is your office or home a mess? Investment in a clean work and living space will add to your feeling of peace. I have a young child and know how hard it can be to keep things tidy! But each morning I clean my office so I can think clearly, and be present and creative for my clients. In other words, your surroundings can mirror your mental outlook.

4. Investment in your clarity. If you are struggling with your confidence and your self worth regarding your job search, then grab a pen and paper and write out 30 valuable skills, strengths and traits that you can bring to your employer(s). Getting clear here will help you get in touch with how much you really do have to offer. We often devalue our profess ional worth, so this exercise will serve to fill in the gaps if you are leaving out any critical points in your resume.

5. Investment in job search “high payoff” activities. Are you licking stamps and envelopes and running to the printer? Why not consider hiring someone to handle these entry level tasks for you during your job search so you can invest your time focusing on your high payoff activities, such as targeting employers, following up with phone calls and preparing for interviews?

You get so much more done with a little help! Your investment in hiring the neighbor’s teenager across the street (or your own, if you have one) will definitely kick your job search results into high gear.

So, what can you invest in this week that makes you feel good, more balanced and less stressed?

I won’t name names, but I would like to share a little story with you about a past company I used to work for. The conditions were almost unbearable and although I was planning my escape and had my dream job in sight, it took about a year for me to make the transition. Sparing you the real grizzly details, I will simply say this was a company who did not believe in supporting their employees (financially or otherwise) and I had a passive-aggressive female boss who had made me her special science project.

I won’t say it was easy to deal with this unsavory situation but I got through it and really celebrated and appreciated finally being free when I left!

The following are a few mistakes I have seen professionals make in similar situations and some solutions for circumventing them and getting through a tough job:

Mistake #1: Quit Before You Have Another Job

Quitting will give you immediate relief but that feeling soon looses its luster and is replaced with a nagging anxiety to find a job. Also included in this is potential bad blood with your last employer (affecting strong references), money worries, potential loss of negotiating power (you generally have more negotiating power when you are currently employed) and something often overlooked until you are actually experiencing it, its harder to confidently express yourself to a potential new employer when you are  unemployed.

So make a plan to transition – start working on your career goals, your resume then start your search. If it’s at all possible, do anything but quit!

Mistake #2: Have It Out With Your Boss

I had wonderful daydreams of really giving my old boss a piece of my mind….and I had every reason to believe she deserved it. In my reasoning, someone had to advocate for truth, justice and liberation from tyranny! But, in retrospect, I am glad I held my tongue. My superiors should have seen and acted on this bad behavior and if they wouldn’t, then nothing I could say would have changed them or her. The only thing that would have happened is a string of negative circumstances.

So here is what I did: I avoided her and anyone else who vexed me as much as humanly possible. This allowed me some temporary relief and let me focus on doing my job.

By avoiding those that bother you, the eyebrows your elusiveness might raise will be a small price to pay for a job you are not planning on staying in anyway and it’s better than a hairy confrontation that may haunt you – right as you may be.

Mistake #3: Badmouth Your Employer

Getting yourself all worked up talking to coworkers and others about your companies shortcomings might feel good in some respects but it very well may come back to bite you, get back to your boss and even tarnish your own reputation. Personally I even considered writing a letter to the president of the company after I quite my “hated” job – partly because I had been dealing with the $%^@# for so long I wanted to share what was really going on with him and partly because I felt it was necessary for him to know. In the end I wrote him – but it was a thank you note.

Again, I held my tongue because little good could have come from my negative letter. What is not heard through productive communication certainly won’t be heard through anger and frustration.

So, what helped me? I made a list of all the GOOD things about the company and the benefits of the job – and I tried to concentrate on those positives. I confess I was amazed at how long this list became! All those points just became harder to see and appreciate through the bad times.

Almost all of us have dealt with less-than-desirable jobs. Just like the saying goes – you can’t change others but you can change yourself. You will feel empowered through having “survived” the situation and through the nobility you will experience when you take the higher road.

Knowing what triggers a company’s interest and quickly motivates them to sit up and take notice of you is powerful knowledge that you can use over and over again.

Of course, each situation is different but the running themes that connect them are the same. Here are several motivators you can begin using to increase a companies interest in you:

Motivator #1 You can solve a problem they have

Perhaps you read about it in a job ad or in a news article. No matter where, a company that has a challenge will appreciate your attention to it and willingness to be either a part of the solution or THE solution!

Motivator #2  You have little, if any competition

Don’t wait for a job ad to post on a major job board before you connect with you companies of choice!

Connect with a decision maker (not human resources) and express your interest and qualifications. Companies ALWAYS have a need for talented people across all departments – so why wait when responding to a job board ad means competing with hundreds of other resumes? Compounded by the fact that over 80% of jobs aren’t even advertised!

Motivator #3 You have a REALLY impressive resume

This is where hiring a resume writer really pays off. One of my clients told me he landed a great interview in a new industry he was targeting. When he got there, the first thing the interviewer told him was “I just had to meet the man behind this resume!” Needless to say, the interview went very well and he got the job!

A compelling resume is just one component of a successful job search, but it is a powerful help to have your interviewer “primed up” by impressing them with a resume that builds the excitement of meeting you!

Motivator #4  You are enthusiastic

You will score BIG BIG POINTS if during your interview you find an opportune time to say “I am really impressed with your company and I can definitely see myself working here” or “I am really excited about this position” or even “I want this job!” Just think about it, would you want to hire someone who didn’t want to work with you? Of course not!

Motivator #5  You are positive

There is no deal breaker like a string of negative questions and answers. People that are critical thinkers have to be especially careful about coming off too quiet or too questioning in interviews (my engineering, technology and finance friends you know who you are J).

You don’t have to be something that you are not – but take a little time to prepare for your interviews putting a special focus on the positive responses you can give, PLUS (and this is a big plus) stories about your accomplishments! Critical thinkers and introverts can display their brilliance and their aptitudes just as easy as outgoing people as long as they take time to prepare for their interviews.  

These are simple but tried and true techniques that are easy to overlook but pay off in more generous offers if you take the time to incorporate them into your job search strategy!

Are you looking for positive and tangible ways to increase your real and perceived value to your current company? If so, congratulations on your wise decision! Increasing your value can help avoid layoffs and job instability. It can also serve you in terms of excellent job reviews and potential salary increases.

Not only will your focus pay off in real time, but also in the future! If you love your job and want to protect it, here are 3 easy tips that you can take action on right now, for increasing your value:

Tip One: track your accomplishments

Do you ever catch yourself feeling like your boss should just be making mental notes of every accomplishment you make? Avoid making this potentially costly mistake simply by making a note of each of your accomplishments in real time, When your annual job review comes up you can present your employer with a list of challenges and what action you took. They will love it and appreciate your focus of attention.

You can then repurpose your list through updating your resume with lots of quantifiable accomplishments you may have missed by not writing them down! Don’t be tempted to overlook what you may see as small accomplishments that “are just part of your job.”  Often what you see as mundane others see as marked improvements and demonstrations of your skills.  Trust me on this one!

Tip Two: take on projects

Asking your employer for additional projects in areas you excel is an excellent way to demonstrate additional value into your position. Taking on a volunteer effort, being a part of a research or innovation committee or involvement in a special task force – lets say to “green up” next years operations, are valuable contributions and also serve to keep you motivated and challenged. It may even inspire a renewed enthusiasm for your company or position. You may be surprised on this one!

What if you are “too busy” to take on any additional work? Well, many professionals feel this way initially. However I would challenge you to look at how you are spending your time and see if you can find one thing you can give to someone else to manage in order to free up your time to do something where professionally, you stand to bring more value. Examples of this include administrative duties and repeat managerial or operational tasks that other support members of your team could take on as an additional personal challenge for them.

Tip Three: provide solutions

You know that glaring problem or issue in your company that keeps getting ignored either because it’s too large or too small for anyone to take care of right now? Proactively provide solutions to gain additional visibility by providing tangible value and demonstrating your positive initiative. Make sure when you present your idea; to present it to more than one person (3 or more is best) and just give enough information initially to garner some real interest. Don’t worry if initially you don’t have all the answers. That’s what teams are for! Progress towards active and positive change should be the goal – not perfection.

Using these simple steps will help you plan and achieve your goals faster and easier as well as increasing the value you bring to your company!