Deep into my job search I quickly grew tired of all the hype around “use us, we’re the bomb,” and all the noise as I tried to decipher what a job search or career management strategy is made of. Here are things that I think are critical to career management - some may be applicable to you you right now, others may be applicable next year. Nonetheless, this should be a great resource for you during your career.

1. Relationship Manager. A free account on JibberJobber is a no-brainer. If you don’t want to use that then you can download the pre-JibberJobber spreadsheet. Alternatively, you should at least have a CRM tool that you use throughout your career (like Goldmine, ACT!, etc. - there are hundreds to choose from).
2. Professional Resume Assistance. We highly recommend hiring a professional resume writer. If this is absolutely not in your budget then download the free CareerHub eBook, check out The Resume Experiment (day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 on the JibberJobber blog, or purchase a do-it-yourself kit.
3. Retirement Management - We blogged on the idea of having a master retirement account, based on the idea that you change jobs every three to five years.
4. 360 Degree evaluation to help you understand your existing personal brand.
5. Blog and/or website to quantify your personal brand, especially the breadth and depth of who you are and what you have to offer.
6. Social networking profiles to become more “findable,” as well as increase your search engine viewability. Jobster, LinkedIn, Ecademy, etc.
7. Research tools to discover information about people and companies.
8. Career or Executive coach.
9. Personal learning system/plan. You should have a list of blogs that you follow as well as a short-list of books that you regularly read to keep up on career issues (from job search, to leadership, to your specialties and interests).

** Disclaimer: some of the services have affiliate relationships with JibberJobber. Nonetheless, the main purpose of this page is share ideas and resources for your career management.

If you have any suggestions please let us know.