San Francisco Career Consultant Rachelle Canter, Author of "Make the Right Career Move," Offers New "Fast Track" Tips to Effectiv

San Francisco, CA (PRWeb) February 25, 2007 -- The following is a just-released bylined article available for reprint. The author, Rachelle Canter, a PhD in psychology who runs a leading San Francisco career advisory firm, is also available for radio and television interviews and other media queries on the topic of career advancement, job burnout, the "Princess Syndrome" in the workplace, and related issues.

Article Title: The 4-Step "Fast-Track" Course in Effective Career Management

By Rachelle J. Canter, Author of "Make the Right Career Move: 28 Critical Insights and Strategies to Land Your Dream Job" (Wiley, $21.95. 2007)

Time is an especially and universally rare commodity for busy executives and professionals. How can busy and ambitious executives reconcile the competing demands of big jobs and big careers? What follows is a four-step fast-track curriculum to ensure that executives can have it all: Do a great job and have a career they love.

Step 1: Define Personal Career Satisfaction

An extraordinary career by my definition requires not just doing well in the external world but also doing work you love. Differentiating career success from satisfaction is often a challenge for many successful executives. Here are four simple questions to determine the major sources of personal career satisfaction:

    - What are your greatest and most enjoyable skills?
    - What work interests you most and makes best use of your skills?
    - What kinds of rewards or results are most meaningful to you?
    - What work roles do you enjoy most?

Use these questions to help you determine your best career direction.

Step 2: Create a Simple Career Plan

Say the word "plan" to an executive and it instantly conjures up reams of information and analysis, pages of documentation, and months of effort. The instinctive reaction is "I don't have time for this!"

The career plan proposed here can be as simple as a one-page document that records your long-term career goal and how you plan to build your skills and experience to make yourself more employable in the next year, next three years, and over your career. Even a quick 4-7 sentences scrawled on a piece of paper can provide the needed focus to guide career choices and moves strategically. A thoughtful and strategic career plan does not require lengthy and intensive preparation.

Step 3: Write an Accomplishment-Focused Resume

There are two important reasons why every executive and professional needs a resume: opportunities and obstacles. Being prepared for the unexpected is a critical success factor on the job and is no less important in your career.

The unexpected generally comes in two different forms. The first is internal and external opportunities: (1) career moves within your organization, such as vertical or lateral moves, task forces, and special projects; and (2) external opportunities, such as board, trade association, community or civic leadership positions. The second is career obstacles including mergers, acquisitions, corporate downturns, restructuring, or loss of market share. Being prepared for positive and negative turns of events helps you thrive in even the most turbulent work environments.

Not only are there important reasons to have a strong resume at all times, but there is a specific kind of resume to have. A resume focused on achievements and results in quantified form is the best way to showcase your value. An accomplishment-oriented resume defines your particular brand of executive or professional in terms of concrete results. It's not job titles or responsibilities that matter most but what you accomplished in those jobs. The best predictor of future performance is past performance so put your emphasis there, since that is of greatest interest to prospective employers.

Step 4: Define Your Competitive Advantages

A strong resume builds your strongest case and readies you for opportunities and obstacles; identifying your competitive advantages further bolsters your case by providing a macro view of your brand that can be customized to a particular opportunity.

For example, competing successfully for a desired promotion to SVP of Marketing requires more than declaring your marketing and communications skills and a strong track record. Competitive advantages that highlight broad experience in all areas of the marketing function, including marketing communications, market segmentation, branding, and market research; creation of five successful marketing programs that increased market share a collective 20% over the past six years; leadership of a highly successful rebranding initiative at the company; and five prior years with the industry leader build a far more factual and memorable case.

You can have it all by following this four-step strategy for career management. Use a personal definition of career satisfaction, a simple career plan, and the indispensable career-promoting tools of an accomplishment-based resume and competitive advantages to derive the greatest career benefit from the limited time you can devote to your own career development. Get into action today to have your dream career.

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Right-Career-Move-Strategies/dp/0470052368/sr=8-1/qid=1172015497/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-5971496-6998418?ie=UTF8&s=books

About the Author: Rachelle Canter, PhD, has a doctorate in psychology and is president of RJC Associates, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that provides career, executive, and team development services to corporations, professional service firms, and other organizations. She has spoken and written widely on career, executive and organizational development issues, and is the author of the just-released book "Make the Right Career Move: 28 Critical Insights and Strategies to Land Your Dream Job." She can be reached at (415) 956-8438.

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