Hack #3: Know your most marketable skills, competency, and relevant background. Create a personal branding; things that make your “package” distinct. Blaze past your competition and neutralize yawn factor in candidate- selection boredom by linking your portfolio of contribution to employer need.

Hack #4: Know how to win multiple, simultaneous interviews. Spot core three strategies to gain exposure that penetrates both advertised and unadvertised job markets. Isolate which one is used least but rewards most, in terms of results.

Hack#5: Know how to create effective resumes and letters that sell solutions. Build a campaign action plan that sends your tombstone resume to an early grave. Leverage your knowledge to solve employer problems through tailored special-ops marketing tactics that creates “you” stickiness in decision makers’ minds.

Hack#6: Know how to multiply your access to those who have power to hire. Networking is out. Building strategic relationships is in. Be there…where. Informational meetings with those who have knowledge you need puts you in driver’s seat when hiring patterns emerge.

Hack #7: Know how to give your inner critic a name and tell it to be quiet. Visualize results you want, not ones you fear. Trigger right reactions in your targeted prospects by looking for ways you might be sabotaging yourself, then adapt, improvise, overcome.

A professionally-run job search gets you there faster. It gives you defined direction and leverage to compare, negotiate, and deal from strength. Try to imagine alternative; hitchhiking to nowhere at mercy of blind luck. Can you think of one rational reason why you’d want to take this trip alone?

2.Work smart and fast. If you're slow on computer, increase your skills. If you pace yourself or spread your work out through day, don't. If you don't have time to train someone to help you, make time. The more you can leverage yourself and more work that you produce, more valuable an asset you become. Invest in yourself.

3.Choose making progress over being busy. Spend a day answering emails, reading mail, completing miscellaneous and unimportant tasks, and at end of day you're no further along on your important work than when you started. Sure, those recurring tasks need to be done, too. But choose first to make progress, then do recurring tasks, not other way around or you'll find there's no time left for big stuff that offers a better return on your investment.

Want to be winning at working? Invest your personal capital wisely and you'll find your ROI compounding year after year and your career stock rising.

(c) 2005 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved.