Writing an executive resume has become an extremely complex art. Executive resumes generally are far more detailed than regular resumes. To compete for the high paying, high powered positions, you need to create a resume that doesn’t just inform, but excites, entices and extends the invitation to learn more about your skills, competencies and all the right reasons why you should be the next CEO, CFO or President.

Begin by remembering that very few of the executives in charge of hiring will actually read your resume in full. These days, with the high level of competition and well qualified applicants, even executive resumes need a special polish to attract those hiring. The idea is that this will lead you to the interview, where your other skills will then be examined. To get that interview, your resume needs to be sharp, direct, and catch the eyes of those in charge early.

You want to come across as a well-rounded, exceptionally professional and highly skilled applicant who is the best choice for the job. Don’t be afraid to outline all the skills and experiences that make you so desirable. Still, keep the summary brief, concise and up front, but allow for more details of some of the more important skills and experiences that will prove you are the best.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of your executive resume is establishing your value. Since the corporation or company will be paying you top dollar, you need to prove that you are of the greatest worth and unique attributes that are rare and can only be found in you (sell yourself!). Your specific talents for solving complex problems can be outlined, but describing the challenges you faced and the actions you took to solve the problems as well as the results of those actions will convey your worth in clear and undeniable ways.

Your focus needs to very targeted and clear. As an executive–a leader– you need to show the reader what you’ve done and what you can do for them. I have my clients get very detailed and accomplishment-focused. It may take some time to gather all the facts of what you’ve done, but it is ‘homework’ worth doing.  Nothing says, ‘I’m hesitant about my skills’ like a vague, unfocused resume.  These kinds of details will show them you didn’t just step off the truck, but that in fact you have been building your skills all along. Examine all your experiences carefully and pick the ones that best show the timeline of how you learned what you learned that will make you the best choice for this job.

Be very thoughtful about what personal information you include. While board memberships and professional associations might be relevant, certain religious or free time activities might not be pertinent (i.e. less is more). Some personal information can be used as an ice breaker (rock climbing as a hobby?), but be aware that some personal information may work against you and be used to screen you out of the running.

Does the sound of ‘group interview’ make you cringe? Does it immediately bring to mind Will Smith in ‘Men in Black‘ and the weird egg shaped chair? Did you think, ‘Uh-uh. No way!’? I did too, until I did a little research on it.

Group interviews are held when multiple applicants are seeking a limited number of positions, which they interview for together. The interview typically involves a company presentation, group discussions, and role playing exercises. Usually if a company is conducting candidate group interviews, it’s because they have a large group of applicants and are looking for the simplest, most cost effective way to reject the majority of them.

While this is unlucky news for most applicants, it’s great news for you, the informed interviewee . Group interviews are the perfect opportunity to stand out and define yourself as a leader, and you should have plenty of time to prepare, since human resources almost always informs applicants of the group interview format beforehand. Follow these few tips to ensure a successful, stress free group interview experience.

Before your Group Candidate Interview
• Get ready well in advance, and be a few minutes early. Dress nicely, as you would for a one on one interview. There may be individuals who show up to the interview dressed casually, but their sloppy appearance will only highlight your professional attire.
• Bring a light briefcase or portfolio with you resume, a writing tablet, and two working pens.
• Greet the other candidates warmly and genuinely, even though they are your competition. You will need a good rapport with the other applicants to really shine during the role playing exercises and other group activities, and, anyway, you never know who may end up your coworker or even superior.

During Your Group Candidate Interview
• Expect the group interview to start with an introductory greeting from the human resources or hiring manager, who may be joined by other members of management. Do your best to remember their full names and faces.
• Be confident and try to stand out as a leader during group activities. You can expect to have to work in teams and speak in front of audiences, so do your best to overcome any social anxiety. Even if someone else takes the leadership role, still remain engaged and active. You cannot do the bare minimum and succeed.
• If you are able to lead, make sure you lead well. Involve all team members, even more reserved ones, criticize constructively, encourage and take into account feedback, and praise when praise is due. These are the qualities interviewers are looking to see in potential employees.
• Expect to be watched at all times and judged. While you can particularly expect to be evaluated during group exercises, where interviewers will drop in on each group as well as observe from around the room, you can also count on your casual conversations during breaks to be analyzed as well. Always stay professional and friendly.

Typical Group Interview Activities
• Role playing: Group interviewers frequently plan this activity for candidates. Typically, the interviewer will give two or more people in the group a scene to act out, which is often related to workplace expectations.
• Presentations: Applicants, often working together in groups, are given a topic and a number of materials and are expected to create presentations. Sometimes candidates are given a hypothetical problem to resolve and create a presentation around.

Now that you know what to expect, doesn’t it feel a little less painful?

I am a member of the Career Collective, a group of  resume writers and career coaches. Each month, all members discuss a certain topic. Please follow our tweets on Twitter #careercollective

This month we are discussing helping job seekers stay positive during the job search process.  I encourage you to visit the links below to read other members’ posts as well!     +++++

They say life’s not about making it through the storm, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. Well if you’ve ever been “between jobs,” or “unemployed” for the more realistic of us, this saying has probably inspired and/or discouraged you at some point. We’ve all heard the statistics—unemployment rates are flitting on the edge of 15%. That means that more than likely, either you or people you are close to are unemployed. Heck, you probably know several unemployed people at the moment.

For those of you who directly relate to this predicament, you’re all to familiar with the uninspired words of supposed comfort from your loved ones—“let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.” Meanwhile your inner voice is screaming “give your boss my resume!” or “let me mow your lawn!” depending on your current length of unemployment. But here’s the rub: you can sit there letting your inner voice make all the assertions, or you can take some proactive steps towards bringing some positive energy back into your life.

The first step to keeping afloat during your job search woes is to stay on top of your game. This means to remain in touch with your industry (or preferred industry, if you’re looking into switching careers). This will not only distract you from your lack of work, but will actually boost your self-confidence, expand your knowledge base, and possibly lead to job opportunities. If this technique doesn’t automatically lead to a traditional job opportunity, you can also take initiative and create an industry related project of your own. For example, if you’re in the marketing industry, take an example of a crisis situation a company in the field is facing at the moment and write up a proposal on how to solve this problem. If nothing else, it is a piece to add to your portfolio and might lead you to become more aware of technologies and resources out there that you haven’t looked into yet. You can also use this time to become an expert at a technology or system you didn’t know of before. Look at it this way—if your resume isn’t getting you a job as is, then add to it. There is no better way to distinguish yourself than to become an expert at something your competition is not proficient in.

Secondly, use this time to establish a good life habit that you can continue when you do land that dream (or just-for-now) job. Take up old hobbies or healthy habits such as exercising. Not only will the endorphins kick your blues, but a set schedule will allow you to set reachable goals which will help your self-esteem in a situation which would otherwise bring you down. But make sure your goals are logical for both the time-being and the future (read—when you have a 9 to 5), as you don’t want to set up any system which defines that you won’t have a job for a while. Always live as if you could have a job tomorrow, and this positive frame of mind will lead you to the manifestation of these thoughts, if by no other means than confidence alone.

Lastly, enjoy! Yes, it is horrible to be a part of the 15% statistic. And yes, you’re probably tired of hearing that you should enjoy these days, but people say it for a reason. When you’re sitting in that office looking forward to your next paycheck, don’t let yourself ruminate on the things you wish you would’ve done when you had more time. Visit family and old friends, even if you spend time job searching while visiting, any time spent is better than none. Go for a walk in the middle of the day and enjoy the sunshine those 9-to-5ers are envying right now. And if the sunshine turns to rain every once in a while, dance. You won’t regret it.

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Please visit the links below to read what other Career Collective members have to say about struggling with job search.

@MartinBuckland, Job Search Made Positive

@GayleHoward, Job Search: When It All Turns Sour

@chandlee, Strategy for Getting “Unstuck” and Feeling Better: Watch Lemonade

@heathermundell, Help for the Job Search Blues

@heatherhuhman, 10 Ways to Turn Your Job Search Frown Upside-Down

@KCCareerCoach, You Can Beat the Job Search Blues: 5 + 3 Tips to Get Re-energized

@WalterAkana, Light at the End of the Tunnel

@resumeservice, Don’t Sweat The Job Search

@careersherpa, Mind Over Matter: Moving Your Stalled Search Forward

@WorkWithIllness, Finding Opportunity in Quicksand

@KatCareerGal, Job-Hunting in a Weak Job Market: 5 Strategies for Staying Upbeat (and Improving Your Chances of Success)

@ErinKennedyCPRW, Dancing in the Rain–Kicking the Job Search Blues

@keppie_careers, What to do when you are discouraged with your job search

@DawnBugni, It’s the little things

@ValueIntoWords, Restoring Your Joy in Job Search

@LaurieBerenson, 3 Ways to Keep Your Glass Half Full

@JobHuntOrg, Just SO VERY Discouraged, http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-news/2010/02/25/just-so-very-discouraged/

@expatcoachmegan, Dealing with Job Search Stress: Getting to the Source of the Problem

@BarbaraSafani, Making Job Search Fun (Yeah, That’s Right), http://www.careersolvers.com/blog/2010/02/24/making-job-search-fun-yeah-thats-right/

@GLHoffman, How to Overcome the Negativity of a Job Search, http://blogs.jobdig.com/wwds/2010/02/25/how-to-overcome-the-negativity-of-a-job-search/

It’s no secret that we are all in the middle of one of the most dismal job markets in decades. Many people have been out of work or underemployed for record periods of time, and there are also record numbers of job seekers vying for almost every job that opens up. Craigslist, Monster.com, eLance and all the other job or freelance sites are overwhelmed with resumes and job seekers, with nowhere near enough open positions to go around. It’s a scary time to be looking for a job.

That’s why networking is more important now than it ever has been before. And with the rise of social media sites like Facebook (for casual users) or LinkedIn (for professionals), networking has taken on whole new dimensions in recent years. Here are some things to consider:

• Get an early start. If you’re fresh out of college or if you’re trying to get a foothold in a new career move, the sooner you can start making those connections, the better off you’ll be. If you’re freelancing, cultivate more connections whenever you possibly can, from fellow freelancers or from your clients themselves. If you’re in school, hook up with your classmates or find student chapters of professional societies.

• Choose your associates carefully. Unfortunately, a down job market also brings the scammers and fly-by-nighters out of the woodwork. They know that there are job seekers (and sometimes clients) who are bordering on desperation. They might be out to take advantage of you, or they might be looking for a pawn to help advance a cause of some sort. You don’t want that hung on you, so tread carefully and make good decisions.

• Cast your net wide. Don’t limit yourself to just your field, or to people with tastes, interests or skills to your own. It’s easy to make this mistake and to just have associates that are in your “comfort zone,” but remember that the wider a network of people you have, the more resources you can have to fall back on if things go sour.

• Quid pro quo. Networking is a two-way street. If there’s anything you can do for your associates in return, whether it’s job referrals, professional references or anything else, don’t hesitate to do it. It will pay off for you in the long run.

• Go online. A staggering 84% of Americans now are engaged in some sort of online social networking, whether that means forums, newsgroups, social networking sites like LinkedIn, dating groups or what-have-you. This has been a true game-changer in many ways, helping build networks among people who may never meet face-to-face. But if you’re new to a site or forum, bear in mind the culture and environment of the site, don’t be pushy and don’t be rude. You may need introductions to get your feet wet and to be accepted. Trust your better instincts in these cases, and those connections can take you far.

With unemployment rates still looking dismal, it’s important to make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. One easy way to do this is to learn what the biggest mistakes job seekers make are, and how you can avoid them. Paying this extra attention to each part of the job seeking process should increase your appeal dramatically.

One of the biggest mistakes made early on is failing to network. It’s important to know that networking isn’t a simple cold and impromptu request for work. It’s building relationships that will be beneficial in the long run, if not the immediate future. Since the majority of jobs aren’t actually listed, networking can be a great gateway into the workforce. And while it’s very important to network, it’s just as important to remain tactful. If you meet or know someone who works for a company you’re interested in, for example, ask them about the hiring process and the work environment; don’t ask them for a reference. Throughout the entire job process you’ll want to be creative. Networking is no exception.

Apart from networking, there are other ways to expand your options. There are the classifieds, of course, but you should also keep in mind that employers often post job listings on their websites. To find these you can go directly to a company’s website or perform a search for the company name and the word job, career, or employment. If the company you’re interested in doesn’t have any listings, consider either mailing or dropping off in person your resume and cover letter.

Resumes are, unsurprisingly, another source of huge mistakes. It’s important that your resume is focused and detailed. People often send out the exact same resume to every posting they see, but this is ineffective. To avoid this mishap take a little time to tailor your resume to each position you’re interested in. Familiarize yourself with the language used in the job listing and on the company’s website and then use it in your resume (and cover letter). This will help convince them that you are familiar with and, maybe, an ideal match for the company. In the very least, it demonstrates you’re applying out of a genuine interest in the position and company, not out of desperation.

Another way to keep your resume focused is to avoid listing broad job responsibilities and activities on your resume. Instead, you want to list specific accomplishments, contexts, and quantities. It’s much more impressive to hear that someone increased profits by 7 percent in a period where competitors all saw a decline than to hear that the same person “helped avoid unnecessary expense.” Objectives, though not necessary, can be a great resume unifier. If you do decide to list an objective, make sure you state how you’ll benefit the company and not vice versa.

The mistakes made during the interview fall into the same category as those made in the resume. Too often people just aren’t specific enough or knowledgeable about the employer they’re applying with. The interview is your chance to drive home the fact that you are the solution to the company’s problem. You should know in advance how you fit in with the company’s future plans and adequately express this in the interview.

Finally, don’t make the mistake of thinking you’re alone in this. There are plenty of resources available. There’s probably at least one support group for jobseekers in your area. These groups can be a great way to network and keep focus. Focus and common sense are, after all, two traits to keep strong during your search.

Society is in an ever evolving state of change. As new industries develop and older ones are outdated, the newest version of technology will quickly replace the methods used before. If you are considering a job change, or are new to the job market, you must keep up to date on the most dynamic and flourishing industries to apply to. Unfortunately, there are some industries that are on their way out.

Statistics show that as the population ages and manufacturing jobs lessen, the most growth in the next decade will come in service industries like health care or business services. Consult the guide below before investigating any new opportunities in these fields. All percentages provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics report released in the final weeks of December 2009.

Wired Telecommunications Providers

As the country becomes more and more wireless, land line phones and payphones are becoming obsolete. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that this industry will lose 11% of its employment opportunities by the end of the next decade. Companies like Total Telecom and Adtel Communications are among these providers.

Gasoline Stations

Gas prices keep rising and stations become more self sufficient than ever. As this evolution continues and the dynamic markets of clean and alternative energy flourish, this industry is one that will not be as secure within the next decade.

Mining Support

Mining support agencies and companies are projected to lose around 23% of their current jobs within the next decade.

Newspaper Publishers

Internet publications are on the rise, and print media is in decline, however unfortunate that may be. Newspaper publishers are projected to lose 25% of their current job markets.

Apparel Manufacturing- cut and sew

Outsourcing to less expensive labor markets is the main reason that this industry is projected to lose 89,000 jobs in the next ten years.

Printing Services

Most companies are now choosing to “go green”- therefore eliminating paper products and exchanging more information electronically. Unfortunately, this also means eliminating about 16% of the jobs in the next decade.

Postal Service

With the elimination of paper goes the elimination of paper delivery. The postal service has been an embattled industry for years, and the Bureau predicts it will lose 13% of its employees in the next ten years.

Auto Parts Manufacturing

After this record year of auto industry flops, it is no surprise that the manufacturing side of the auto industry is projected to lose 19% of the 544,000 jobs it provided last year.

Semiconductor and Electronics Manufacturing

A projected loss of a massive 34% of its jobs in the next decade is sad news for an industry that generated such a spark in the last half century.

Department Stores

More people are shopping online or in low-cost bargain stores, rendering department store services obsolete. Although services industries are projected for growth, these relics of a bygone era will be cherished in memories alone as the industry is expected to lose about 10% of its overall job market.

If your job falls in one of these categories, maybe you should consider training of another sort, as backup. It’s better to be prepared for the unexpected… don’t you think?

If you’ve never heard of LinkedIn, you’re already behind.

According to their homepage, over 55 million professionals belong to the networking site, including every chief executive of a Fortune 500 company! Right now, every second, LinkedIn gets a new member. The masses have spoken with their profiles: LinkedIn is a necessary resource to increase the number of contacts you have in your own industry as well as others, and if you want to be a successful businessperson in the new decade, you’ll have to join.

Fortunately the site is free, so there’s no investment other than time in joining the site. The first step you’ll have to take is creating a profile for yourself. Remember, LinkedIn is not Facebook. You don’t want to be sloppy here. In fact, the more professional-looking your profile, the better.

Just as with a resume, triple check your spelling and punctuation to ensure there are no gaffs or typos that could damage your public image. Because even though the only people who can see your entire profile are within your contacts list, this profile will be public in the sense that it will be used to help you get new jobs, new clients, and new contacts. If you want to ensure you have a job through the next decade using LinkedIn, don’t be lazy on your profile.

You’ll have to give your employment status, your industry or trade, and your location, as well as your educational history. You then have the option to allow LinkedIn to use your email contact list to find contacts for LinkedIn. I recommend letting LinkedIn do this if you want an aggressive strategy for finding new contacts in industries other than your own, or even within your own industry. However, random contacting is kind of like shooting buckshot into the sky, and hoping it hits a bird. Sniper targeting for efficiency is a bit better. But everyone is different, and you may like to play the numbers game with contacts. The more you have, the more likely one will be of benefit to you.

Once you have your profile set up, you can begin inviting other members and non-members to link up with you. What this feature does is give you a pool of contacts through which you can invest some time in discovering whether any could be potential employers or clients. You’ll use these people as references in your other business contacts, as well as reconnaissance for jobs out there that are right for you.

Now that you have set up your profile (with a flattering photo!) and made a large coterie of contacts, start inspecting the job listings everyday, which you can find under the jobs tab at the top of the screen. Also, join a group that is pertinent to your field. For example, I joined the Twitter for Sourcing and Recruiting group because I wanted to keep up with recruiters and how they use Twitter to find new candidates so I can pass the advice on to my clients. These groups are great ways to meet people in the industry you’re interested in breaking into.

Gone are the days of searching for a job the old fashioned way… knocking on doors.

Today’s job seekers are leveraging the power of the internet to network with colleagues through online profiles, make connections with decision makers, and apply for jobs through a company’s website online.

Social media is changing the landscape of how people relate to each other. Before the advent of keeping track of people online, it was harder to maintain an extended network. Now, it’s possible to catalog all the people you’ve known through previous jobs – and to keep in touch with them as well. This has had numerous impacts on the workplace, and how people get jobs.

In the early days of the internet, people would search job boards. Monster.com and Yahoo!Jobs were touted as the hot new thing, and these job boards were huge for the recruitment industry. Here was a (relatively) cheap way to reach thousands of people across the whole world with news about your job opening. While still extensively used, job boards seem to have fallen to the baseline. They require little to no personal interaction to apply for a job. On the recruiter’s side, they often have to deal with spam bots which send out limitless replies to job advertisements. Not as bad as spam bots, but still very annoying, are people who apply on every job on the board, regardless of how qualified they actually are for the job. The entry-level recruiter who spends their day sifting through hundreds of applicants for an administrative assistant’s job is practically tearing his/her hair out.

Now, a lot of recruiters are on Facebook, and there are some people who exclusively advertise job openings they’re working to their Facebook friends. This is helpful, because friends can direct their friends to connect with recruiters – and people that are recommended for a job are much more likely to get it than a random faceless applicant.

Twitter is another way that job news is getting out. Subscribing to a Twitter feed is an easy way to get information on a job – even if it’s only 140 characters. A job title and a few keywords are often enough information for a job seeker to determine if they’re interested in an opening.

LinkedIn, which is a site dedicated to professionals looking to maintain their personal business network, is also another place that has exploded with opportunities. At first, LinkedIn was just a way to keep track of people – now, you can post pictures, presentations, your blog posts, Twitter feeds, daily ’status’ and so much more. LinkedIn is ripe with job opportunities.

At first, people created groups for job-seekers. Then, recruiters made groups through which they would post openings. Groups such as, “Jobs for Software Developers” attracted only the niche market they were going after – people who were looking for software development jobs, and friends of people who might be interested. LinkedIn capitalized on this phenomenon by creating a job board integrated with their website. Now, people can pay for a job ad, and have their links recommend their friends for a job. I am going to stop right here with LinkedIn. You all know how I could talk about its benefits 24 hours a day.

What has made social media a great outlet for finding a job is the fact that the internet has changed from a broad scope to a niche marketing tool. Take advantage of it.

In a tight job market, there are ways for job seekers to show potential employers that not only can they fill a job need, but they can potentially save an employer money by having little start-up training time, and they can be an on-site expert in their field.

Through demonstrating specialization or large amounts of knowledge in a specific area, job seekers can show a high level of value to potential employers while achieving job satisfaction. Specialization can make the process of looking for a job much easier for the specialized job seeker.

Through job specialization, a job applicant can realize some benefits in the job market.

• Specialization in a niche sets a job seeker up as an expert in their field. For positions that require a great amount of knowledge, like nursing or computer/IT, specialization separates you from job applicants with generic pools of knowledge.

• Specialists can command a greater amount of money than non-specialists. When an applicant for a job shows an expert level of knowledge in their field, a company may be able to justify better pay for that specialized knowledge.

• Job specialization is in itself a form of marketing, a tool that makes an applicant stand out from others. It helps brand a person in a field, and in local markets, a person with specialized knowledge may find their name come up often, a great demand placed on their knowledge.

• People with job specialization have credibility in their position that creates trust for and reliance on their expertise from others.

• An expert in a field has knowledge that is not easily replaced. Many jobs emphasize the importance of having broad knowledge, but in many technological and medical fields, a wide range of knowledge is not as valuable. A nurse with a specialization in heart medicine will find her niche within a cardiology practice much easier than an RN with a broad area of practice.

• Specialization often means doing repetitive work, which may sound annoying in practice, but in a field someone loves, doing the same thing over and over is not as problematic. Specializing in the right thing is key, but it is important to remember that people who know how to do the minutia involved in jobs and do it well will always be in demand.

• Similarly, because specialization involves what some consider drudgery, fewer people are willing to do it. Be it becoming the person in the office who knows everything there is to know about a computer program to being a neuro-surgeon, specialization requires work some consider boring. If a person is willing to specialize, simply the act of specialization may be enough to set them above other job applicants.

• Employers often post narrow job requirements, such as knowing a couple of specific computer languages. Sometimes these narrow requirements are not the whole of the job but are posted as a way to weed out under qualified applicants. These narrow requirements will automatically eliminate many job seekers. By knowing the narrow requirements that employers post, an applicant has a far better chance of making it to the first interview.

I am a member of the Career Collective, a group of  resume writers and career coaches. Each month, all members discuss a topic. Please follow our tweets on Twitter #careercollective

This month we are discussing helping job seekers stay focused and encouraged during the holiday season.  I encourage you to visit the links below to read other members’ posts as well!     +++++

The holidays can be one of the worst times to find yourself out of a job.

Not only do you face pressure to attend family functions and buy presents, but it can also be very difficult to get an interview during the short work weeks, and all the vacation time that tends to pop up for recruiters and HR staff during winter. Still, it’s important that you don’t give up your job search over the holidays simply because people are hard to reach. In fact, this time can be an excellent point to begin a job search, for several reasons.

First, you have the greatest opportunity for networking during the holiday season. If you’re attending a lot of parties and functions, you’re guaranteed to run into acquaintances that may or may not know you’re looking for employment. Go to dinner parties and family gatherings as often as you can. Be ready to pass out your business card or resume at a moment’s notice. You’d be surprised how often a conversation over a punch bowl can serve as a preliminary interview. You’ll be exposed to plenty of people in a variety of fields. It’s an excellent way to build some connections.

Another often overlooked benefit of job hunting during the holidays is that most people don’t do it. Because so many quit just before the holiday season, or put off hunting for a job until after the new year, you have a great opportunity to get yourself out there before the glut of new applicants drifts in. Work with HR employees and recruiters now, while everyone else is still polishing their resumes to show on January 3rd. You’ll be forefront in everybody’s mind, even if you don’t get the interview until later.

December is also a great time for you to work on putting together a great presentation online. Because so many hiring executives will be traveling or spending vacation time at their homes, email and the internet may be the best way to get in touch with them. Make sure you have a great presence on all the social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook. You can also put together a slide show resume on SlideShare. You never know – an employer may get your cover letter while he’s eating Christmas dinner, but just because he’s not in the office doesn’t mean he won’t read it.

Most importantly, don’t get discouraged, no matter how long the job search takes. If you convince yourself that you’re never going to land an interview, or get your foot in the door of a new career, you probably won’t. Perseverance will serve you much better than luck. If you give up on the job hunt until it’s business as usual in the places you want to work, chances are that they’ll have already filled the position you want to occupy.

Treat the holiday season like any other job hunting time, and give it everything you’ve got.

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Follow us on Twitter with our hashtag #careercollective and read these posts:

@MartinBuckland, Elite Resumes, “Season’s Greetings and your Job Search”

@GayleHoward, The Executive Brand, “It’s Christmas: And a ho-ho-ho-hum?”

@KCCareerCoach, Career Chaos, “The Gift Every Laid Off Job Seeker Needs”

@resumeservice, Resume Writing Blog,“Holiday Resume Sparkle: Outshine the New Year Job-Search Mob”

@heathermundell, life@work, “Have a Holly Jolly Job Search”

@sweetcareers,Sweet Careers, “Holiday Job Search Tips for College Students 2009″

@careersherpa, Hannah Morgan: Career Sherpa, “Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa Cheers”

@careerealism, CAREEREALISM.com, “Holiday Tip for Job Seekers: 4 Ways to Impress Others with Your Professionalism”

@heatherhuhman, HeatherHuhman.com, “4 Tips for Making the Most of Holiday Job Hunting”

@LaurieBerenson, Sterling Career Concepts, “Three Resolutions to Take It Up a Notch”

@KatCareerGal, Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog, “Avoiding the Holiday Blues in Your Job Search”

@WorkWithIllness, WorkingWithillness.com, “Avoid this Minefield: Drive Your Bus!”

@DawnBugni, The Write Solution “Could that sound really be opportunity? During the Holidays?“

@andyinnaples, “Shift Your Focus to the Highest Impact Job Search Activities During the Holidays to Leverage Your Time”

@erinkennedycprw, Professional Resume Services, “How to keep up the Job Hunt during the Holidays”

@keppie_careers, Keppie Careers, “Four tips for effective networking follow-up for the holidays and the rest of the year”

@ValueIntoWords, Career Trend, “Navigating the Mistletoe of Job Search”

@GLHoffman, What Would Dad Say, “Merry Christmas! Can I Buy You Coffee to Talk About Me?”

@BarbaraSafani, Career Solvers, “Holiday Networking Can Facilitate New Year Opportunities”

@expatcoachmegan, Career By Choice Blog, “Expat Networking: Holidays Are a Great Time to Nurture and Grow Your Network”

@chandlee, The Emerging Professional Blog, “Footprints & Associations: Job Search Tips for the Holidays”

@JobHuntOrg, Job-Hunt.org, “(Holiday) Party Your Way to a New Job”