CAREER CHOICES
Executive recruiting and career management go hand-in-hand. Recruiters are paid by companies who want value for the money they spend on a search. Therefore recruiters search only for top performers. Not surprisingly, most successful top performers had a forward-focused career plan in place when they were recruited.
Career management is all about assessing where you have been, where you want to go and putting an action plan in place to accomplish your goals. One of the first steps the firm undertakes when they partner with a job seeker is to conduct a SWOT analysis of a candidate's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
This analysis reveals the skills that need leveraging for career advancement. It also opens the door to new career possibilities. Additionally, the areas of weakness and threats can also be looked upon as areas of possibility. When you know where there are challenges in your work performance, it becomes an opportunity for training and mentoring. When a job seeker is candid about their areas of weakness and if they are willing to seek advice and guidance, they are beginning the journey toward career success.
An example of a recent candidate’s SWOT analysis.
| STRENGTHS |
WEAKNESSES |
OPPORTUNITIES |
THREATS |
| Successful Career |
Lack Career Brand |
Create Clear Career Vision |
Impact of Downsizing |
| Delivered Results |
Strengthen Work Accomplishments |
Partner with JWoods |
Survival Mindset |
| Hard Worker |
Not well-known Professionally |
Market Skills Better |
Work to Exist |
| Passionate & Loyal |
Career Goals are not Clear |
Create a Winning Career Strategy |
No Career Positioning |
| Skilled Expert |
Work to Survive Not Thrive |
Articulate Leadership and More Values |
Let Others take the Lead |
Competition for great jobs is intense and that intensity will continue. Our hope at JWoods & Associates is that candidates take charge of their own destiny and create a career management plan in partnership with us. Our goal is to help you realize your dreams and your potential.
TAKE CHARGE—EVALUATE POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS
If an executive recruiter called you and tried to convince you they have a great opportunity for you, what would you say? Are you prepared? How will you evaluate whether the organization is for you? With your career plan, you can more easily analyze if the opportunity fits. Additionally, with your standard and expectations outlined, you know in what ways you are willing to comprise and whether the opportunity advances your career.
Evaluate the organization’s leadership. Contact colleagues for insight and use the criteria listed below to assess whether or not the company meets your needs.
- Ethics Quotient
- Quality of Corporate Leadership
- Corporate Values
- Product Quality
- Marketing Message
- Industry Leadership
- Mission
|
- Cultural Fit
- Employees Value
- Career advancement
- Tools to do the Job
- Clear Expectations
- Respect of Boss
- Compensation
|
CANDIDATE "BILL OF RIGHTS"
As a JWoods & Associates candidate, you deserve to know how we value you and are committed to your success. You have the right to:
- receive pertinent information about the potential hiring organization
- be treated with dignity and respect
- communicate with the search and career consultant
- be informed about where you are in the search process
- complete confidentiality until release is authorized