I just recently went through a successful job search and want to share my experiences with others perhaps my experience can be helpful to those in search. I thought of putting together the key steps I took to land in a great job in short amount time, understanding that many factors may influence the length of time and type position you may find - such the economy and employment rates, the specific industry or the supply and demand of the position itself. With that said, there are lot things that you can do to mitigate, control and overcome those external factors. Here are things you can do speed your way into that dream job. These steps listed below will guide you through the process and hopefully help you in your journey, click on each one of the links below and read my series of articles related to each one of these steps and please provide feedback and share them with friends and family so they can benefit as well.

1. Well…Invest the Time!
2. What is Out There? Do Your Market Research!
3. It’s all About You! Your Marketing Materials
4. The Power of the Power Pose
5. “Mentors” and “Mentees”, Who are they?
6. Scope it all out!
7. Use of Technology
8. Is About Who Do You Know and Who knows you: Networking and assertion
9. Tell your Mom what she wants to hear! Interviewing 101
10. Who Gets to Talk About You? Your References
11. I got the job now what? The Aftermath

“LatInc offers key features that allow you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”

One of the things that were very helpful for me was to do a lot research on what was out there in terms of job postings, skills in demand and trending issues in my industry, it was also very valuable the understanding of the economy and unemployment rates in my area. I happen to be in a very hot industry, Information Technology however Technology is a very broad field and sometimes one domain within the technology industry can be more in demand than others, also with the rapid changes in technologies, employers require of new skills and capabilities that did not exist before.

Understanding the status of the economy, what the employers were looking for, what positions are been posted, what are the trending skills on-demand allowed me to be more strategic about where and how to target my searches and what to expect in the market place. These researches also provided me with the lingo and knowledge of general industry trends, market leaders and industry issues and challenges that significantly helped me at the time of interviewing with companies or having informal conversations with employers.

My suggestion: DO NOT get out there without knowing what is going on in your market place and in the economy overall. This is not going to be a test of how smart you are; it will be a test of how diligent you are in doing your homework. Doing a market research on your occupation, industry and economy outlook will enrich your search, your overall knowledge and will speak about your professional ethics. I bet you will find it incredibly interesting and you will be hooked to continue doing over the course of your career. Cool? Let’s get hit the libraries!

“LatInc offers key features that allow you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”

When you are looking for a job, you are the product and as we all know it, the product competition out there is fierce and intense especially in some types of occupations; for so, your marketing materials have to reflect the very best of your skills to immediately call employer’s attention. Nowadays you should have readily available some or all of the following items based on your professional background:

• A very clean and polished resume
• A cover letter template
• A Reference page
• A biography
• A one-page profile
• Business cards
• Digital profiles (on different professional networks and job search boards)
• A Personal webpage
• Portfolio/sample work materials
• A thank you letter template

These marketing materials are there to showcase your professional background and experience. Draft your profile content and have it critiqued, reviewed or proof-read it as many times as needed by one or more professionals in your area of expertise (perhaps by your mentors).

Use a professional looking photo of yourself and yourself only according to your occupation. Marketing materials should strike a balance of the right amount of information not too brief, not too detailed or wordy and marketing materials also provide a better impression if they follow some sort of standard style such same font types and sizes, color themes, line types, etc. If you don’t have any of these materials, start by making an inventory of your skills, experiences, educational achievements and accomplishments or contributions to society. Once you have it all documented is the matter of putting in the right format, and asking friends, family and mentors for feedback. Read my article on Mentorship and let’s continue the journey!

“LatInc, offers features that allows you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”

This is a topic that is very close to my heart, why? Because I do not think I would be where I am without the guidance of, not one but the many, “mentors” that I had over the course of my life. Who are these people that come to life weather you look for them or they look for you, or just that life randomly puts them in your path? Who are these people that significantly impact your present and future?

As I reflect about who had been and who are mentors, one thing I noticed is that they do not follow a particular profile, they all come from different age groups, colors, gender and sexual orientation.

These mentors had come and go as I need them to help me mature, learn, come up with personal and professional goals, they had served as role models, listened to my aspirations, championed my ideas and challenged me to go that extra mile. The funny part is that some of them did not even know they were my mentors and they still had a great impact on me and still helped me through my journey.

There are expected mentors and those that are unexpected; when you are young your parents, family and school teachers are expected to be your mentors. However as you get to be an adult, it is upon you to find the guidance that you need to continue to move forward.

That’s when I realized that a “mentor” is more about being humble and open enough to learn from each other than being taught by others; it is about being able to absorb and share knowledge and wisdom that we had already experienced and to use those for each other’s advancement. This mindset makes us all “mentors” and “mentees”, both at the same time, it is about creating meaningful relationships with each individual regardless of background and reaches for that knowledge and wisdom that we all have and leverage it for each other’s personal and professional success. Now, just look around, think about who can be your mentor in your network, if you cannot find one, search on LatInc for professionals with similar background, ask others for guidance and offer guidance to others, believe me you won’t regret it, reward is the word...I guarantee it!

“LatInc offers key features that allow you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”

When I saw the Ted Talk from Dr. Amy Cuddy from Harvard University, about the power of body language, where she states that “Ourbody language affects how others see us, but it may also change how we see ourselves” Dr. Cuddy’s research also concluded that "We make sweeping judgments and inferences from body language, and those judgments can predict really meaningful life outcomes, like who we hire or promote, who we ask out on a date"

This research made me reflect on my personal experience and how my body language may have helped me or not in certain situations. I noticed then that when I had consciously or unconsciously presented myself in front of others as a powerful and in self-control individual things had worked out to my benefit. This was not new to me, I always knew that my body language; the way I shake hands, the way to move or look at the others in a given interaction may have a big impact in their judgments about you specially because this person is about to make an important decision about your career.

However what struck me the most about this research is the effect that body language makes on ourselves, the fact that by just adopting certain poses we can boost our self-esteem and self-regard is invaluable knowledge that could significantly accelerate our professional and personal success. Dr. Cuddy goes on to say that “When you pretend to be powerful, you are more likely to actually feel powerful." we all know that when we feel powerful, we also feel balanced, in control and are able to make more promptly and accurate decisions in our day to day life. Adopting positive and powerful poses and body languages helps us understand and appreciate ourselves and consequently reflect that understanding and appreciation to others.

This theory may sound easy but believe me it is not; for many people this may be natural but for many others it takes time, attention and practice. Many people know the importance of body language to their success and so they practice it and invest a lot time on polishing their posture to achieve it; this is called in the corporate environment “Executive Presence” or in the political environment is to look “Presidential”; this does not mean you are going for an executive position or for a presidential position, what it means is that you are perceived as a person that can do the “job” and that can exercise a strong leadership regardless of the position they are going for.

Several things you can do to improve your body language and physical posture to achieve success, always keeping in mind that this about how you feel about yourself and the image you will project to others, here are some tips that can help:

• Watch Dr. Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk or read her new book Presence.
• Get a mirror where you can see your whole body and strike powerful poses every morning
• Take pictures of your self-striking powerful poses and post them where you can see them every day, (I posted my power pose pics in my screen saver).
• Practice disciplines such as martial arts, yoga, tai chi, meditation, etc. these help with mind and body balance. (I do kickboxing).
• Wear outfits that make you feel comfortable with yourself and that is appropriate for the occasion.
• Ask trusted family members, friends or mentors to watch as you move and talk and to give you feedback and correct as needed.

These are just a few tips that could help. The power is within you and you just have to show it especially if you are pursuing a new job, a new business deal or new connections. Start today and may the power be with you!

“LatInc offers key features that allow you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”

Once you realized you need or want a new job, the first thing you have to do is to make this decision a priority in your life; you must put a laser focus on the decision and allocate enough time for this important transition in your professional life. Finding a job should be a “part-time job” or depending on the urgency, a full-time job! This means that you have a much better chance to find a new job sooner based on how much time you invest in searching for that dream job.

Let’s start with the basics, you have to immediately set a quiet place where you can sit and focus on the task at hand without much interruption; you will need a computer, fast internet connection, a cell phone, a voicemail box (with a professional greeting recorded), a new personal email address (specifically created for this purpose), plenty of pens and notebooks readily available.

You should create a daily schedule (weekdays and weekends) for you to work on this activity, I recommend at least 2 hours per day six days a week, yes you can take a break…one day of the week. You will need to spend time doing market research and job searches, do networking and mentorship activities, review your marketing materials, etc. These activities will consume time especially in the beginning of the search since you have to build your profile and mature your job searching skills if you don’t have them yet.

I recommend you start your search by establishing a timeline for yourself as of by when you will reach your goal, for example within three months, six months or even better, set a due date to be done with the search, for example by Labor day, by January 1st, etc. This will give you a sense of urgency and believe me it works!

One important aspect of your search is that you need to be very sure of this transition decision since you will be putting yourself out there in the market and it will consume time and effort from your part; you must make your family aware of your decision and let them know how important is for you to devote the appropriate time to this activity along with asking for their support during this journey.

If this is what you want to do? Don’t wait…let’s go for it! We’ll be there with you all the steps of the way.

“LatInc offers key features that allow you to create your digital profile, a personal webpage and connecting you with mentors and colleges that could help you with your professional marketing materials. LatInc also offers you job search and networking events opportunities for you to achieve your goal of landing in your dream job.”