Helpful Career Information
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The following eight suggestions for career seekers reference chapters in Richard’s book Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!). The eBook is available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.
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#1 Get Clear on Your Goal
(Chapter 3) As my favorite 20th century philosopher Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else”. Whether you want a similar career opportunity, a better one, one in a new industry, etc., the more clearly you define your goal position/title the more likely you can achieve it. Make sure you don’t skip this critical first step in getting from where you are to where you want to be. Quality (read “not free”) online assessments can help greatly. Here’s a link to one I recommend for this specific purpose. You get a teaser sample after finishing and you will need to pay to see more results: https://assessment.com/TakeMAPP/?AccNum=06-5872-000.00. Don’t feel any obligation to purchase this assessment.
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#2 Stop Applying Online
(Chapter 7) Stop applying for jobs online and hoping. Applying online consumes hours/days/weeks of your time that is better spent elsewhere. In my book I warn that “many postings are for company policy reasons and qualified internal candidates have been selected in advance”, “many posted jobs are never filled”, and “a significant number of postings are for non-existent jobs”. Since the majority of jobs are NOT found by applying online (as well as virtually all higher paying quality jobs), why waste your time competing with 50 or 100 or 200 other applicants? The majority of jobs are found through networking (and many through executive search firms, for the high paying ones). Tune up your networking strategies and put your efforts there rather than on indeed.com, linkedin.com, etc. Get out of step with the masses.
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#3 Replace Group Networking
(Chapter 12) It can feel good to get out of your home and meet nice people at executive networking events, industry organization events, church job seeker meetings, small group job seeker coffees, etc. The problem is that you don’t have a quality, trusting relationship with 90+% of these nice people and the vast majority of them are looking out for themselves — not for you! Rather than relying on the charity of these people, get better results faster by strategic networking one on one. Start with the people who actually know you… and like you… and trust you. Meet them (or zoom if necessary) with a clear purpose of helping them and seeking their help, rather than begging and hoping, and you will get better results sooner by asking for what you want… introductions to people of value.
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#4 Get Hyper Focused
(Chapter 9) #1 (above) urged you to get focused on your job/career goal. #2 urged you to get focused on networking. #3 urged you to get focused networking with the people who already know, like, and trust you. Then what? You need to make it as easy as possible for those people to help you! Create a prospects list of 50 to 100 specific employers for whom you would like to work. Your list can include new industries of interest where you can conduct informational interviews. if you want. Share your list in your one on one networking meetings to help focus those who want to help you! Do this and people will be able to help you more easily and effectively. Specific beats general, every time.
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#5 Improve Your LinkedIn Profile
(Chapter 12) While rewriting resumes is one of the top time wasters for job seekers and cover letters are a distant second, improving your LinkedIn profile makes sense because 100 times more people will “see” it versus your resume (my best guess). If you apply for 100 jobs, you will get rejected mostly by Applicant Tracking System software. Almost all remaining resumes that make it through the ATS and other inhuman screening processes are statistically likely to get tossed by a human after a 10 second scan. In contrast, your LinkedIn profile is available 24/7/365 and is searchable by virtually every recruiter and hiring manager in the country. Make your profile more findable and (when viewed) highly relevant to what you want to do. Then, recruiters and hiring managers will be more likely to find you and reach out!
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#6 Prepare Strategically for Interviews
(Chapter 14) Your end goal in networking is to get in front of people who can inform you and connect to those who can hire you. If you are looking for information about a role/industry/company, informational interviewing is a great strategy that takes the pressure off you. Have an agenda and questions prepared. Sometimes these uncover jobs. When you identify good opportunities and get job interviews scheduled, prepare very well: research the person, know your resume and the job description cold, anticipate questions you will be asked and prepare thoughtful answers that you practice until you are confident, prepare your questions for the interviewer(s), use body language to reinforce you verbal communications, decide how you want to start and finish the interview, etc. These preparations will help you land the offer vs. nothing.
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#7 Consider Alternatives to Employment?
(Chapter 17) While the vast majority of W2 employees start looking for a similar opportunity when underemployed, unhappily employed, or unemployed, many other options exist. It is estimated that 10% of American workers are self-employed. Theoretically, the “safest” strategy for a W2 employee to transition to self-employment or ownership is by starting up those activities on the side while still employed. This may provide the advantage of reducing the shock of starting from scratch and allowing you to try it before you make the leap. Additional alternatives include working in the role (such as consulting) to learn the profession or working in a new industry to learn the industry. Since 49% of businesses fail in the first five years, when considering ownership you may want to consider obvious options with less risk such as buying a franchise or some other type business that is already in operation.
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#8 Be Proactive
(Chapters 8, 15, and 16) Being proactive during an active job search means you are not waiting for your phone to ring, but rather you are putting yourself out there as mentioned previously. Alternatively, the best time to actively strengthen your future career opportunities is when you are appropriately employed (title, income, success, etc.) and not looking for a new job. Being successful and achieving your goals in your current job is great for your resume, but virtually no one knows this. This is the time to be proactive by nurturing your existing relationships and building new ones, both in your professional network and with recruiters. If recruiters are not calling you from time to time with potential job opportunities, it either means they don’t find your LinkedIn profile attractive or they simply don’t know you exist. You can change this dynamic and reap the rewards.
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Watch a video interview and listen to an audio podcast that follow. There is an unintended misstatement in the video interview. The referenced client increased their job offer from $300K to $450K, not from $300K to $600K. Based upon these and other clients coached in the first six years of Richard’s practice, he delivered an average 380% (3.8x) ROI during those clients’ first 12 months on their new jobs. Your results will vary.
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Additionally, you can CLICK HERE to listen to an Audio Podcast Interview Richard did in 2015 which is still highly relevant to career planning and job search strategies in 2016 and beyond. Note that the website and phone numbers mentioned in this interview have changed. You are on the new website and 770-366-5875 is Richard’s contact number.
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Our Unique Approach & Methodology
Richard leverages a one-of-a-kind, proven, evidence-based sequential methodology designed to deliver impactful career planning and active job search services customized to each client’s needs. His unique programs use his book as a reference resource and add a world of additional practical advice and specific information too detailed to include in a book. His client consultations are a combination of coaching, consulting, and training/learning techniques that evolve as needed throughout ongoing confidential sessions and are reinforced through mutually-established accountability. Included are are industry insights, many additional reference materials, worksheets, personalized techniques…. and even verbatim phrasing/wording for your critical communications in order to improve your effectiveness in delivering your value messages in varying situations.
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You won’t find this holistic methodology in low budget executive outplacement programs delivered by $30/hour staff career coaches or from professional (but specialized) career resources who are by definition limited to areas such as resume and cover letter writing, LinkedIn profile enhancement, online job search strategies, interview prep coaching, etc.
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As of 2026 Richard is limiting time for career coaching, but available on occasion for specific, targeted help on your critical issues.
(C) 2026 Decision Point Executive Coaching, LLC