DO YOU HAVE A JOB...or a CAREER!

Managing a career is different than managing your job.

When you manage a career you are thinking longterm – about what you want to accomplish over your work-lifetime.

Peter Clayton, president of Total Picture Radio, is an expert on managing careers – having interviewed hundreds of luminaries from all industries for his career audio download site.

“There’s a lot more corporate upheaval these days,” says Clayton. “You can’t be passive about your work. You have to manage your career on a daily basis. Don’t just wait for job loss or a headhunter to push you forward.”

Clayton has 8 specific tips for making sure you view your career in the longterm:

1. The best position to be in when you look for a new job -- is to already have a job. You will appear more successful to the employer —and you will feel more confident when interviewing. Always be looking.

2. Start a blog that represents you as a person who’s passionate about a specific thing, idea, subject, skillset. Don’t fill your blog with a diary of your day’s events. Fill your blog with proof of your brilliance.

3. Recognize that extremely talented people are being fired/downsized suddenly. Constantly network and join organizations.

4. It’s okay to keep upgrading to better and righter positions. As recently as a few years ago people had 3 or 4 jobs in their lives. Now it’s up to 9 – 15 jobs in a careerspan.

5. Think of yourself as always in career transition. Continually take classes, read books, be learning.

6. Get known in your industry as the GO-TO person.

7. Keep up-to-date on the latest technology. If you’re reporting to a Gen –Y-er, they’ve been connected to tech since birth.

8. Subscribe to RSS feeds that keep you fed high-concentrated essential information that help you stay an expert in your field.