I’ve been watching the news and listening to the debate since the Occupy Wall Street protests started.

For all the press and commotion — things haven’t changed much .

Today’s job market is still a living nightmare.

The average time to find a job is now 40 weeks – that’s 10 MONTHS — according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And if it takes you 40 weeks to find work, you won’t be cashing 40 weekly paychecks.

That money is gone forever.

Can you afford that?

… Add in a mortgage, car payments, health care, and it only gets worse.

That’s the real cost of unemployment.

Now, suppose you could wave a magic wand — and make employers call you. [Note: I’m being sarcastic about the Magic Wand bit … this isn’t possible in the real world…]

Imagine … getting the job you want, doing work you love … bringing home the salary you deserve … taking your family out to dinner to celebrate at your favorite restaurant … telling your friends and neighbors, “I got a great new job!”

Wouldn’t it be nice to get your life back?

Well, you can in 30-45 days – many other people are. But you can only do it if you’re willing to pay the Price for Success .

What do I mean by paying the price of success?

I am talking about you investing time and real effort in finding a career you love and a job you’ll excel at!

NOT by accident but ON PURPOSE!

Despite everything you or your friends may have read or heard about the “Secret” and the “law of attraction”.

HOPE AND DESIRE ARE NOT A STRATEGY!!!!!!!!!!!

In the real world no one is going to pull-up in front of your home.  Send you on vacation and fix your life while you’re at Disneyland.  That just doesn’t happen.

The labor market has changed.  We’re not going back to the “good old Days”.  Job search success only comes with hard work!

You need a plan.  A detailed plan!

Now look out your front window.  If there’s a bus and a camera crew on your front lawn I apologize.  You just got lucky!!!  Disregard everything I just said..

No bus?

Hunker down… make your own luck with.

Paying the price of success really only requires you to

shift your thinking.

unleash your creativity

maximize all your personal assets

transform from just another job seeker into one who stands-out.

In essence become a Special Forces Guerrilla who’s ready to experience victory.

Career Combat has 5- steps you need to take to get a job and get your career on track.  you must take each step in order if you want to turn your job search into – a job found.  Skip a step and you fail.  

Ready – Set – Go!

1. know what to do;
2. have the desire to do it;
3. are willing to do it;
4. are able to do it; and
5. Finally, you get out and do it.

Sounds simple enough – Right

It’s not!

Life is conspiring against you.  On that note the Occupy Wall Street Protestors are correct. 

You’re actually not paranoid — the system is designed to keep you right where you are – to smash your hopes and dreams AND make you think that’s normal.

You have a right to be angry and frustrated.  Society has begun to accept, and expect, under performance.  And that’s killing your job search.

Let me explain exactly what I mean.  

Today we live in an era of “participation awards”

Sports. Schools. Your work place — they all reward participation versus real achievement.  Trophies are handed out to every member of the team instead of honoring top performers – that sucks.

Everyone gets the same minimal raise every year whether they deserve it or not.  And most don’t.

Society rewards mediocrity.   In the real world just showing up isn’t a cause for celebration.  It’s a crock.  In the real world you only get a super bowl ring for winning.   

With job hunting  either you get the job OR you don’t.  It’s all about wining and the preparation and practice that goes into that 45 minutes of game time called the interview.  There’s nothing for the second place candidate.  Nothing.  They go home and wait for their “next chance”.

Wait?  Who has time to wait!!!    You need to take action.

Reading Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0  isn’t a panacea for job-hunting.  Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying.  The book is great – the experts who share their advice are the best in the business BUT….

And it’s a big BUT

You actually have to do the work.

Unfortunately this is where most people fail.   I know just a ton of people who’ve read the book and still don’t have a job AND it’s always because they read it AND DiDn’t apply any of it.

Still interested in the truth?   Willing to risk a little sweat equity in yourself?

Yes?

Then follow along

1. know what to do

You can’t win the game if you don’t know the rules. To be successful you’ve got to know what you’re doing.   Well the rules have changed.  In spite of the fact that baby-boomers are retiring in record numbers, employers are even pickier about who they hire and are taking even longer to make hiring decisions.  If you don’t understand how to make an effective networking call, develop your marketing materials, or incent a hiring manager to make a decision — you’d better find out.

On our end, we’re going to show you how to: pick a career and a job that’s right for you;  write a great cover letter; craft a stop them in their tracks resume; harness the power of the force-multiplier effect;  unleash a personal marketing tsunami; interview with confidence; and close a great offer.  We spell out exactly what you need to do.

2.  have the desire to do it.

Here’s where the train comes off the tracks for most people.  You have to actually want to do the work.  Many people know exactly what to do, and exactly how to do it. Yet they simply choose not to.  It’s easier to do nothing and whine about it.   People get stuck in that state until doing nothing because it becomes more painful than fixing it.  It’s like having a broken window in your house – it’s not really a problem until winter comes along — then it’s less painful to fix it than ignore it.

It always surprises me to see how many job hunters start their day with NO plan… except perhaps a vague notion of what’s for lunch.  I guess that’s why we admire superstars.  Because they are in the minority… they always get the job done, no matter what. The average person knows very well they should plan for the next day before leaving for the day.  But there’s always a reason it’s more important to walk out the door at 5 p.m. today than to plan to be successful for the next.

The diet industry knows this and makes billions every year…  people say they want to be healthy YET many still eat junk and sit around playing video games instead of going to the gym — unwilling to execute what we know to be true  by eating healthy and working out.

Many want to believe you can take a pill and get thin. It’s like surfing web sites and emailing your resume… the results are predictable…  But it’s easier to do that than make a networking call or customize a letter.    And their bottom grows larger by the day

Indeed, fat people stay fat until they change their behavior  — but only when staying fat is more painful than dieting.

There’s no quick fix

for

career success.

Unfortunately, the cost of failure in life is much bigger than whether or not you look fit in your suit. When you fail to achieve career success, it affects not only you, but your kids, your spouse, and your friends. If you choose not to pay the price of success, you fail, and it can quickly become a habit.  Repeated over and over, dreams become distant prayers and your true potential never materializes. A lot of things can happen along with habitual failure, none of it good.

3. are willing to do it.

The book,   The Secret      has turned millions of people into do nothings.  I’m telling you now it isn’t enough to just say you want to succeed. You need to learn everything there is to know.  You need to be a student of success and learn everything you can about job hunting so you can be more successful.  And then you have to actually do it.  And this starts by defining success, setting goals and getting leverage.

Before you can succeed, you need to define exactly what that means to you. At the beginning of your job search you need to write your personal goal cards.

• What are you going to get out of this new job?
• What’s in it for you?
• Money, power, prestige?
• Why are you doing this?

Failing to write down what the goal is and why you want to achieve it will doom you from the get-go.  Remember, success cannot be defined by a manager, your wife, or your buddies. That is up to you, and you alone.

Personal leverage is powerful.

It’s a public admission that you’re going to do something, knowing that if you fail you’ll be humiliated.    Leverage may be the best way to overcome psychological barriers that prevent you from staying focused. There are many different ways you can create leverage. Start by defining your motivation for achieving your goals: if you can define the reason to achieve a goal, you will be much more committed to it. You need to know what’s driving you to make it happen.

4. are able to do it.

When you have the right guidance.  The right insider knowledge.  The right tools.  The power is in your court.    You have no excuse for failure but your own lack of ambition.

1. pick a career and a job that’s right for you;
2. write a great cover letter;
3. craft a stop them in their tracks resume;
4. harness the power of the force-multiplier effect;
5. unleash a personal marketing tsunami;
6. interview with confidence; and
7. close a great offer.

5.  finally, you get out and do it. 

When you don’t accept failure as a possibility, you can’t lose.

This is a powerful rule to live by. Napoleon Bonaparte used this to his advantage. When sending his soldiers into war, he instructed them to burn their ships on shore.  There was only one way home — straight through the enemy lines. Apply this to your life and you will be amazed. When failure is not an option, people will do whatever it takes to succeed.

The difference between a life well lived and a life half lived is as simple as a decision. Whether or not you choose to pay the price of success can determine whether at the end of the day you look back on your life with joy or regret.

*******************

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.

Top 10 Reasons Occupy Wall Street Protestors Can’t Find a Job

# 10 – You’re Gullible

# 9 – You’re Invisible

# 8 – You’re Irrelevant

# 7 – You Network Like a Girl!

# 6 – Your Resume is Ugly

# 5 – Your Cover Letter is Boring…

#4 – You Don’t Know What to do When a Recruiter Calls

Reason # 3 You Inc. – Top 10 Reasons Occupy Wall Street Protestors Can’t Find a Job

Reason # 2 You’re NOT leveraging the Internet – Top 10 Reasons Occupy Wall Street Protestors Can’t Find a Job