Danny Bielik’s tips on Securing your Dream Career

On the 2GB Courses and Careers Show with Danny Bielik, Danny talks about securing your dream career.

Here are his top 10 tips:

• If you are looking at a new career, look at one that you reasonably think has a good prospect for growing for a long time.  I keep talking about aged care – because people are getting older.  I keep talking about community services and health, because of NDIS and Gonski are going to see growth in individualised care.  I often talk about more general qualifications at a Diploma level that can help you with a broader range of job opportunities - qualifications such as HR, Business Administration, Project Management etc. are in demand in a range of industries. Remember - you can also take advantage of the great government loan programs available such as HECS or VET FEE-HELP.
  
• Be careful of “fad” jobs or ones that are easily exported – IT, web development and application development.  If you’re looking to develop one of your own apps for a specific market, go for it, but if you’re looking for a job, good luck.
  
• Watch out for declining industries – journalism and retail, printing and publishing are good examples of today’s “buggy whip” industries.  Think about what industries are going away or under stress – manufacturing is a good example.  If you’re in one of these, you might be ok, but it won’t hurt to think of what other industries you could be pursuing pretty smartly.
  
• Now is the time to take a look at your CV – these days job agencies and employers receive tons of CVs at the click of a mouse button.  So get rid of the “guff”, no more 10 page CVs. Remember the people who are reading it will make their initial decision about you in  30 seconds.  It’s never too early to tidy and clean house.  Bullet points rule, no long form text.  Also remove general statements like “I am a forward-looking hard worker who functions well as an individual and as part of a team.  I am self-motivated and friendly.”  Oh please – pass the bucket!  Kill the management-speak too – anyone who sends me a CV with “High-functioning, circumstantial enterprise rephasing” will find their CV in the “circular repository” (bin).  Oh, and my personal favourite error, if you have made changes in your CV, make sure you delete all the changes thoroughly before sending it.  I have received CVs with people’s errors and changes and seen them do things like add $$ to sales figures.
  
• Add a profile to LinkedIn – don’t wait until you’re looking for a job – it takes time to build your profile and time to link to other people.  You never know who might come sniffing your way – if someone is looking for someone LIKE you, odds-on they’re using LinkedIn.  And if you are looking right now for a job, when you start making changes to your LinkedIn it also tells the world that you’re looking – so be prepared that your boss may find out.
  
• Clean your Facebook profiles – don’t put things like “I hate my job” or anything else offensive.  It can be quite straightforward for employers to see it if they know someone you know.
  
• Network – not always online, do it offline too.  Attend industry drinks and conferences, there’s always an association for everything.  A friend of mine used to be the President of the Australasian Bottled Water Association – who knew there was such a thing?  You might find there’s lots of other jobs, you might equally find it’s tough out there.  Meet people, hand out cards.  If you don’t have any in your job, get some made.  You can even get them for free on the internet.
  
• Find out what skills the market is looking for – then start up-skilling.  The skills required in almost any job change very frequently now and, like an old house you can find yourself slipping behind.  Again, the internet is your best friend, but networking will help you with this too – join some of the groups on LinkedIn for your industry.  You’ll be amazed at what you find out.
  
• Find out what you’re worth.  I have put some links to salary surveys below – check them out.  You might think you’re worth more than you’re being paid, but it’s really best to know.
  
• If you are interviewing for a job, please show courtesy.  Be polite, show up on time, be neat.  Thank people for an interview and any opportunity to apply for a job.  I have written words like “LATE” and “SCRUFFY” on someone’s CV before – do you think they came back for a second interview? My mother always said it costs nothing to be polite and let me tell you, as an employer, it really can make all the difference.

General disclaimer – Nothing in this blog intimates that MCI or Danny Bielik guarantee you can get a job nor keep it.  Work hard, work smart, study well, take control and be nice to others.
Links to Salary Surveys:

• Michael Page
• My Career
• Hays

Danny Bielik is a former Ministerial Adviser and CEO of Management Consultancy International.  Danny presents the Courses and Careers Show each Thursday on Nights with Steve Price.  You can listen to the Courses and Careers Show on 873 2GB in Sydney and 2gb.com.  Podcasts are on the 2GB website and iTunes.