Consider another scenario: You’re the not-so-new-employee at a small firm. Your career has stalled, and you’ve taken some unexpected turns. But you’re still smart, skilled, and hungry. How can you get your slice of the corporate pie?

As an old saying goes, “In order to have, you must be.” Oddly enough, many career experts dispense this sage advice to help plan for a promotion. Whether you want to take the lead position in a prominent division or simply make your talents known and valued within an organization, you must beworthy of a promotion in order to achieve it.

Define Your Goals

“Think strategically”, says Mary Foley, author of Bodacious! An AOL Insider Cracks the Code to Outrageous Success for Women. Once an $8/hour customer service worker with Quantum Computer Services, Mary became head of its corporate training department–and Quantum Computer Services became AOL. What’s her secret? She started “charting a career path from day one.” Patrick Lennahan, Director of the Career Center at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, often gives graduating students the same advice: “Begin preparation as soon as you start work. Promotion is an ongoing process that starts on your first day and continues endlessly.”

Assess Yourself

Self-assessment is another critical tool to use to prepare for a promotion, whether starting a new career or a new career path. Try to improve on your current capabilities, and thus increase your chances for a promotion. Do you need certain skills to perform well in your desired position? If so, then try to acquire them. While a sparkling personality is a nice asset, companies depend on people with concrete skills (communication, handling multiple projects, technical, and teamwork skills) to get important jobs done.

As Emory Mulling, executive coach and chairman with The Mulling Companies in Atlanta, says: “If you know you’re lacking skills in a certain area, [just] ask for training.”

LaVerne L. Ludden, author of Job Savvy, agrees. “Always seek to improve your skills,” Ludden advises. “Identify the skills that are required to achieve the promotion you want. Engage in training opportunities and projects that will help you acquire these skills and identify peers and managers that are willing to help you acquire [the skills you need].”

Know Your Role

How do your abilities help the organization? You can answer this by understanding your supervisor’s standards, expectations, and values–as well as the values of the overall organization. “Pay attention to these things as you set goals and priorities for your work,” Lennahan says, “so that you can tailor your job to what they consider important. Then, do your best to consistently exceed your boss’s expectations on the job. In this way, you will show that you have the ability to handle greater responsibilities.”

Inform, Don’t Advertise

Market yourself. “Share how you’ve helped contribute to the organization’s goals via your accomplishments,” says Foley. And Mulling stresses doing this with written reports–it’s also an excellent way to keep a record of your accomplishments for any performance evaluation or professional portfolio.

“Write up summary reports,” Mulling adds, “detailing your activities on a project. Distribute the report to the project team and copy key management personnel.”

Be Prepared

Finally, says Mulling, one must “always plan for the next step. Use the tactics mentioned above long before a promotion is expected. Don’t start doing these things once a new position is announced and expect to be chosen for the role. Career advancement is something you work on consistently, so when a promotion is available, you’re picked for it.”

If things don’t go as planned, at least you’ve honed your skills and gained more knowledge about your job and your company. You’re now more prepared for career success than ever before. So, if you don’t get that promotion, don’t worry. Armed with an impressive list of accomplishments, you’re ready for the success that you deserve.

What Are Work Habits?

Work habits? What the heck does that mean? you wonder. Sure, you’ve come in around 9:20 as opposed to 9 a.m., but they know traffic is murder that time of day. And you’ve been reprimanded once or twice for getting back late from lunch, but everyone’s stood in those mile-long cafeteria lines. And who knew your daughter would catch the flu and get sent home from daycare twice this month? Your reports are always on time. In fact, many times, they’ve been early, allowing you to take it easy at the end of the month.

These are thoughts that go through the minds of many employees who are surprised to find that their work isn’t as outstanding as they thought. Work habits are a very large part of the overall performance of every employee. And even though you aren’t in elementary school anymore, your work habits are still being watched, still being graded, and, like in the story above, can still stop you from being promoted.

But what are good work habits? “It is so much more than completing tasks on time,” according to David Carter, a career consultant in Detroit, Michigan. “It is your workplace behavior, the very way you do things, from the time arrive at work until you leave, that demonstrates your level of professionalism, and your understanding of your employer’s standards of performance.” These things, coupled with your ability to complete tasks correctly and on time, is what increases your value as an employee.

Good Behavior

Here are some of the universal standards of good work habits. How do your current “workplace behaviors” stack up against the checklist below?

• Attendance and punctuality. Be on time, or early if possible. If arrival times are a problem, try changing your route to work, eating breakfast earlier, or preparing your clothes on the night before. Take only your allotted time for lunch. Try not to take personal days on Mondays, Fridays, or whatever the busiest day is at your job. 
• Personal obligations. If your children are in school, try to arrange an alternate daycare source (grandparent or trustworthy neighbor) in case they get sick. Be sure you know your bus route to work, in case of car trouble. 
• Relationships/communication. Getting to know your co-workers creates a pleasant work environment. Make an effort to plan or attend events, especially company-sponsored ones, with your peers. 
• Teamwork. The person in the story above mentioned the ability to complete assignments early, freeing up leisure time at the end of the month. If this sounds like you, try pitching in to see who needs help getting things done, or what other projects are waiting to be started.

Keeping Track
When you read this list, were you able quickly to assess your behavior, or did you have trouble remembering what you’ve done? How can you find ways to measure your work habits and keep yourself on track? Here are some suggestions:

• Develop “co-worker habits.” Find a peer in your company to help you monitor your daily habits. Make an arrangement to alert each other to any displays of bad work habits you observe. 
• Keep a checklist, like the one above, and use it to keep track of days where you observe things in your habits that you don’t wish to repeat, or that could use improving. For example, if lateness has been an issue for you, keep a record of the times you arrive. Try some different morning routines and routes to work, tracking your arrival times for improvement. 
• Be open and interactive when receiving criticism. Don’t just walk away from a reprimand without input. Let your supervisor know that you are working on solving the problem. 
• Find a mentor. Ask for a meeting once a month to get their observations and to share any concerns you may have.

Whether or not these suggestions can address your specific work habits issue, they are good ways to develop your level of professionalism. You can set a standard for yourself that your co-workers and employer will appreciate. Before you know it, a new title will be waiting for you. But remember, after changing the way you do things gets you promoted, don’t break your good work habits.

During the past two decades, prominent U.S. companies offered early retirement buyouts to reduce senior staff and avert negative effects of corporate layoffs. Buyouts are a humane approach to staff cuts during economic downturns or internal/external changes, including mergers, plant closings and business practice revisions.

Buyouts are mutually beneficial arrangements, with specific terms that can vary widely. Terms are usually consistent with precedent, the company’s corporate culture, and the employee’s level and years of service. A typical package includes:

• Cash payment
• Benefits (e.g., health insurance and access to pension benefits)
• Severance bonus
• Outplacement services

If you receive an offer to exit early, take time to understand the terms, options, and conditions. Companies usually give employees several weeks, even months, to decide. During this time, seek assistance from the following:

• Your corporate benefits manager
• An attorney (to review the agreement)
• A financial planner (to help assess your long and short-term needs)
• A career transition consultant (to clarify re-employment issues)

Read the Fine Print
With personal issues, career goals and finances in mind, consider these questions:

Is the buyout optional?

Your company may or may not want you to accept the package. Consider whether you have a future with the company if you decide to stay. Determine if the buyout is widespread or isolated. An executive recently offered a buyout reported that when she discussed it with a senior executive, he said it was not intended for her, stating, “We hope you’ll stay.” Despite this tip-off, the offer was too good to refuse. She left and quickly accepted a new position in a related industry.

Can you sever close personal and professional ties? Leaving a company after a decade or more can cause emotional pain, especially for a loyal, dedicated individual who is highly invested in the organization. Will you be able to move on gracefully?

What are the risks if you turn down the buyout and remain? Do some research to help determine if the company is in a temporary or long-lasting slump. This will help you predict whether or not the company will be able to offer the same package later on.

Are you ready to retire? Buyouts are usually offered to an age group that is considering retirement. Some have been burned out by work demands and are eager to pursue their interests. Others, regardless of age, cannot imagine a fulfilling life without work. According to a recent study at Rutgers University, 42 percent of newly retired individuals, particularly those in their late 40s and 50s, returned to work. Think how you will handle absence of work, with its social and personal benefits.

How marketable are you? Your age plays a role in assessing your marketability. Career transition consultants agree that job hunting after 50, with several years of work experience in one company, is often challenging. Yet, during the recent economic boom, professionals with valued work experience in key functions and industries easily found work as temporary executives and consultants. If you are worried about finding new employment, discuss your circumstances with employment professionals.

What limitations will be placed on your future employment? Federal employees are required to pay back the full amount of their buyout if they later accept new employment with the federal government. Other employers enforce a non-compete clause that might restrict your options for up to two years after departure.

Can you financially afford to retire or take time off to reposition your career? Your financial commitments may be too strenuous to survive on your severance package or cover your retirement objectives. Remember that severance pay is taxable income. Financial planners advise you to examine your:

• Secure income
• Investment income
• Retirement expenses
• Retirement penalties
• Health insurance costs

You should also understand tax obligations related to your separation payments. Factor in “big ticket” plans, such as college tuitions and wedding costs. It is not uncommon for employees to inaccurately gauge the package’s long-term worth when looking at a large, lump sum of money.

Signing on the Dotted Line
Accepting a buyout is complicated by “what if” scenarios. Survivors will tell you this decision impacts every aspect of life. For this reason, you will vacillate between euphoria and despair while trying to decide. Accordingly, take time to consider the offer, analyze your personal circumstances, and then make your decision without looking back.

Money has become pretty tight in your organization, but you promised yourself that this year would be different–and you now have two weeks to make sure that it is.

You Are Not Alone
If it’s any consolation, you are not alone. People all over the country go through this scenario every day. Bill Peters, senior inventory analyst for a Houston-based pumping service company, received his raise but not his review because his supervisor says she does not have the time to do reviews in the fashion mandated by the company.

This might be fine for some people, but Peters would actually like some feedback regarding his performance. He would also like an opportunity to negotiate for the type of raise he feels he has earned, rather than settle for the amount written on a slip of paper without any discussion.

The annual review problem occurs at all work levels. Marc Cohen, director of computing operations and support for a Massachusetts university, has been waiting three years for his review. Like Peters, he has received raises along the way, but has not received a formal evaluation.

Several years ago, the university decided to develop a new performance measurement tool. That’s when Cohen’s boss decided to stop doing reviews–ostensibly until the new tool was completed, though it also was an opportunity for the boss to discontinue a task that he was never comfortable with in the first place. Thus, Cohen and his team have not received formal feedback in three years.

Be Direct on Your Annual Performance Review

It’s easy to get complacent, particularly if your raise has not been held up by a late review. But it’s still frustrating not to get feedback, at least on an annual basis.

Lisa Abeloff, director of staffing for Yankee Candle of Deerfield, MA, believes that you need to be proactive. When asked how she would advise employees on how to respond to late reviews, Abeloff says, “Send an e-mail requesting a meeting. In the e-mail let your boss know that you are looking for feedback so that you can be more successful in your job and therefore contribute to the company.”

If the boss still doesn’t respond, Abeloff says, you can ask to see him through his assistant. “Don’t give up, yet act professional, keep the emotion out of it and make sure your boss understands that you want feedback so that you can be the best employee you can be,” she says.

What Not To Do
Helene Buchler, principal of Wellesley, MA-based Helene Buchler Human Resources Consulting Services, agrees with Abeloff on the need to be proactive. She also offers the following advice:

• Don’t stew in it and not address your frustrations with your manager.
• Don’t discuss your frustrations with everyone around you except your manager.
• Don’t go above your manager without first addressing your concerns or frustrations with him or her.

Abeloff would add one more thing:

• Don’t let it go so long that the feedback is outdated.

Stay on Course
Don’t let the money, or lack of money, throw you off course. Increases can come in all shapes and sizes. If funds in your company are tight, you can negotiate for non-monetary rewards such as flexible work hours.

Buchler believes that you have to look at your long-term goals. She says, “If a company is tight for money, an employee may be performing well, but may not receive an increase. This is palatable if during better financial times an employee sees that he/she will reap the benefits. Employees should continually assess the reasons for joining a company.” Buchler’s approach will help employees decide if this is an issue worth addressing or if it’s time to move on.

There is no universally accepted credential for resume writers, so two familiar distinctions tend to stand out. The Professional Association of Resume Writers grants Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) status; the Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW) tag is a similar boast. But it is entirely possible to evaluate resume writing expertise on experience, not credentials.

The Nitty Gritty

Fees seem to vary, but expect to pay $200-$300 for the entire process of writing, reviewing, and revising the resume. Don’t pay more for a resume writer who promises a job afterwards–such guarantees are suspect. Besides, with so much other help available, do you really need a resume writer at all?

Absolutely, says Elaine Carmack, a professional resume writer and director of Dynamic Career Solutions in Virginia. “I find that more than ever before,” she says, “candidates need advice and consulting on their resumes. I suspect this is due in part to simple information overload. We have access to so much information, it’s easy to become confused, discouraged, or distracted from the task at hand.”

Information overload aside, many people still need help with the basics. “You would be surprised at the number of people who don’t even have the most rudimentary information,” Carmack continues, “in terms of how to conduct job searches or what is involved in resume writing. Sometimes, I feel like a glorified high school guidance counselor, as I walk them through the process and advise them on appropriate protocols.”

The Target Audience

Steve, a former lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, wishes he had consulted a resume writer. “After attending the Naval Academy, I was assigned to the USS Mt. Whitney. When my service was up a couple of years ago, I sent my resume out to graduate schools–only to find out my format was backwards, and I’d spelled the name of my ship ‘Mt. Whiney’ and not Mt. Whitney. It slipped through the spell check.”

David Helfand, career counselor and author of Career Change, sympathizes. “People still need help with format and content. Most people don’t know how to write their own resume–or at least an effective one.” So, why isn’t Internet helping enough?

“A jobseeker could get the same information I can give from the Net,” says Carmack, “but does he have the time? The interest? The motivation? No, no, and no.” But if a resume can be sent to Web sites without font or formatting, do you really need to pay a live person to do the busy work?

Carmack answers: “For a well-written resume, it’s still a necessity. Even though resumes are often copied as a ‘.txt’ file, the actual formatting itself is just icing on the cake. An experienced HR director can tell at a glance whether the candidate is worth pursuing by the way they express themselves–structure, vocabulary, and ability to write in a pleasing style.”

Resume books, much like Internet resources, also hold limitations. “[They] are helpful, provided the individual takes the time to read and digest the material. But you can’t get answers to those pesky little personal questions that pertain exclusively to your own situation, nor can you get instantaneous feedback.”

Helping Yourself

Yet books can support your own resume-writing efforts. “A combination of one-on-one help and books can be great,” says Helfand. “I have my career changers look at Yana Parker’s Damn Good Resumes–with 200 examples of ideas on vocabulary, format, and related information–then write a draft and run it by me. And it still usually takes at least three drafts.”

When we all wrote our first resumes, we probably had a college counselor or other expert walking us through it. That first job meant the world to you, and you should treat your resume with the same importance five, ten, or twenty years later. You may not choose to use a resume writer, but one-on-one help with an experienced professional may give you guidance and insight. It may also help you feel completely confident about how to present yourself on paper.

To help employers find you, try to think like they do, think like a computer. Here are some tips from industry experts, recruiters, and employers on how to formatting  your e-resume more searchable.

1. Use the top half of page 1 for the most important information. Employers search for their most important criteria first the same way they write job listings. Plus, many search engines pull hits based on the top half of page 1. So put your contact info, keywords, objective, achievements and your 10 most recent years of experience first.
2. Use page 2 for non-critical information. List other jobs, education, affiliations, or particulars like Spanish, Veteran, Will Travel.
3. Put a keyword list at the top. Include hard and soft skills in this order: technical knowledge, key action words (implementation, development), and relevant personal qualities (“organizational skills” or “detail-minded”). Include daily-use software (MS Project, Word, etc.) and cliche skills like teamwork and time management–provided they’re important to your job.
4. State clear and specific objectives. Yes: “To be a DBA working with Sybase on HR, payroll or customer systems.” No: “To use my technical and communication skills in a growing high-tech firm.”
5. Consider every critical job skill that employers might want. Consider this sample keyword list of critical skills and facts for an Oracle project manager: “Oracle. Project management for Oracle HR application. Team leader for 6-month implementation of Oracle Version 7.6. Development of Oracle Payroll application. Team builder. Organizational skills. Budget Management. Meets deadlines. $80,000 salary.” This list immediately makes 13 search combinations possible–all simple, specific, and unique: Oracle + project management, Oracle + development, Oracle + HR, Oracle + Team Leader, etc.
6. Just saying “Oracle” doesn’t work. Direct hits are like sales leads: to be useful, they must be qualified. Be detailed, tell employers exactly what you did on your last job and how you pushed the limits with your accomplishments.
7. Be redundant to get more hits. Having at least three mentions of each critical skill triples the odds of an employer finding and selecting your resume. Remember to be creative and leverage any acronyms: “Oracle knowledge, Development of Oracle HR system, Implementation of Oracle Version 7.6, and Team leader on Oracle payroll system project” produces four “Oracle” hits. “NT, Windows NT, and Win/NT” returns 3 “NT” hits.

Two More Essential Rules

Be sure you meet all of the critical job requirements. Here’s the acid test: If you can’t be 100 percent productive in 30 days, you’re probably not qualified. If the technology is new, for example, highlight related skills instead of traditional ones. The typical requirements for a job may be anything but typical.

Treat your e-resume like a newspaper ad. Passive marketing doesn’t work. Most employers still hire through traditional channels, so use a one-two punch: Send your resume and then follow up. It gets more attention and conveys more interest than a printout.

The Fine Print

There are a few computer basics to keep in mind when creating an effective e-resume. Play it safe with ASCII. HTML formatting looks great, but is not readable by every employer. Any key on your keyboard is ASCII. Other keys or symbols are not, and should therefore be avoided.

Use simple fonts: Arial, Courier, and Times Roman are the best. Set narrow margins, about 4.5 inches and flush left, to ease cutting-and-pasting of online resumes. And save your e-resume as a .txt file (the basic format for ASCII or MS-DOS files).

The resume has sprouted a new pair of wings. Since the dawn of digital documents, companies are accessing resumes at record volumes and speeds. Because of this, the task of screening resumes is not getting any easier. Recruiters and hiring managers need to find the good ones, fast, while maintaining high standards of screening and selection. Effectively spotting red flags on a resume is an integral part of this process.

Screening Out, or In?
After determining that a resume contains the minimum requirements for the job, checking for problems is the logical next step. These can be interpreted in one of two ways. The red flags often serve as a “screen-out” tool: Certain details about a candidate’s background simply do not show the proven track record that you are looking for. Conversely, they can be seen as a “screen-in” tool. When a candidate meets the major requirements for the position, any red flags on their resume serve as points for further exploration.

Below are some of the most commonly cited resume red flags, followed by a brief explanation of how to use these red flags in assessing a candidate’s background:

1. Obvious Content Errors

Errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar are often considered proof of poor written communication skills, or a lack of attention to detail. Even if the position does not directly require strength in these areas, questions are raised about a candidate’s overall standards. After all, recruiters assume that candidates are putting their best foot forward when sending their resumes. As Chandra Fox, career consultant for e-resume.net, says to her clients: “[The resume] is your shot at marketing yourself into the interview.” If candidates are ignoring spelling and grammatical errors, companies may think twice about how their standards measure up.

2. Short Tenures

The word “job hopper” comes to mind. But are short tenures necessarily a negative? Not always. More often than not, a candidate will explain short stays at each company with reasons that appear valid. The recruiter’s job is to dig deeper. Due to dizzying trends in our global economy (dubbed by some as the “e-commerce Armageddon”), it is possible that the candidate was a victim of layoffs, company closures, or sweeping cutbacks. Perhaps they have a family member whose job requires constant relocation. Good resume reviewers think beyond the job moves and wonder how candidates arrived at their decisions.

3. Employment Gaps

Are they hiding something? Did they take that long to find another job? If so, is something wrong with them? The truth is, employment gaps are not uncommon. Gershon Bergwerk, editor-in-chief of Resume.com, hears these questions all the time. “People have gaps,” he says, “and they’re easy to catch.”

Although spotting employment gaps may prompt companies to raise a red flag immediately, they usually just want to know more about the candidate’s thought process. Maybe the candidate quit their last job to start a small side business that failed. Or maybe they simply wanted take a long-deserved break. Whatever the reason, there’s always a decision-making process involved that may provide useful information.

4. Incorrect Degree/Certification Data

Someone “MCSE-certified” should not claim to be “MCES-certified.” An extreme explanation for this red flag is that the candidate has provided false information. On the other hand, there’s a good possibility that this is simply a typographical error. Either way, these errors make one wonder whether a candidate is honest or detail-oriented enough for the job.

5. Inflated Titles

“People can fudge [titles] or claim that they worked at a place longer than they did,” says Kevin Donlin, founder and owner of gresumes.com. An inflated title is sometimes obvious: It elevates the candidate unrealistically from one job to the next in their career trajectory. So recruiters ask, “Is this title really what the candidate claims it to be?”

But inflated titles are not always due to a candidate’s lack of honesty. Once again, consider the recent “e-commerce Armageddon.” Start-up companies admit to having inflated titles in order to boost morale. Also, smaller companies will tend to have people such as VP’s and CFO’s who were formerly managers or directors in larger organizations. The key in interpreting an inflated title, real or false, is to clearly understand what the role of the person was in that job.

6. Lack of Credible References

Although not all resumes will readily contain a list of references, those that do are worth a second glance. Donlin always looks beyond the appearance of good references on a resume: “First, check out the names and titles of their references. If they give you their former supervisor’s name, then that’s a good sign”, Donlin explains. But the converse is also true. If a candidate does not list any former supervisors on the resume, then it could be a signal that he or she did not leave a company on good terms.

To clarify, recruiters will ask for additional references. If they prove unsatisfactory, a final red flag goes up–and the candidate doesn’t get the job.

“To get where you want to be,” adds Nicholas Lore, “you have to start from the very beginning.” Lore is founder of the Rockport Institute, a Maryland career counseling and research organization, and author of The Pathfinder: How to Choose or Change for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success (Simon & Schuster).

“Think of yourself as a painter with a blank canvas and go from there,” Lore says. There are several design stages that serve as a practical guide to getting the career you want.

1. Know Thyself

Examine who you are, your strengths and weaknesses, your talents and abilities, and your values. This will be the foundation of your plan. “As much as I want to be a basketball star, if I’m four feet tall, that isn’t going to happen,” says Lore. “Make realistic goals based on who you are.” Self-examination can be hard to do on your own. Family and friends may not be the best sources of help. However, there are books (remember What Color is Your Parachute?), Web sites, and counselors that offer personality tests and provide objective assessments.

2. Know the Job

“This doesn’t mean that you must have a firm job title in mind,” notes Garver. “It’s an idea of the work you’d like to be doing.” What do you envision when you close your eyes? Are you barefoot and outdoors? Are you in mellow environment with a great view? Do people surround you in a fast-paced, high-energy office? To get a better idea of what’s required in a particular career, check out the Department of Labor’s Occupational Handbook, which gives summary information and earnings potential.

3. Know the Industry

“Get to know everything about the industry you’ve chosen,” Garver suggests. “You may even want to have a few specific companies in mind.” Read news articles, trade association publications, and industry journals to get a good picture of the industry as whole.

4. Put It in Ink

“Commit your goals to paper,” recommends Garver. Write down your big goal and then break it down into bite-size pieces. Where do you want to be in ten years? Five? Two? What are the specific steps you need to take to get there? Do you need more schooling? More experience? Better connections? Write down what you need to do to fill those gaps.

5. Find the Right Fit

It can be tempting to abandon your plan and jump at the first job you’re offered. That can be a mistake, especially if the job doesn’t further your career objectives. If you’re under pressure to pay your bills, take a stopgap job. ” Prospective employers will understand why you had to work for a time at McDonald’s,” Garver says. “What they won’t look kindly on is you taking a professional job in another field and then leaving a month later.”

6. Get Into It

Start wherever you can in your field. Working from the bottom up isn’t a bad way to go. “You should always be looking a few steps ahead,” Garver says, “so that you can better position yourself.” Take advantage of training opportunities that will add to your resume and volunteer to lead committees to gain experience.

7. Stay Motivated

“It’s human nature to seek the status quo. People talk themselves into killing off their dreams,” Lore says. If you find yourself in a job and it’s not going forward, step back and find out why your career is stagnating. “Ask yourself what you need to do in order to get momentum back, and then do it,” says Garver. If not, you’ll wake up ten years down the road, stuck in a job that was only meant to be a stepping-stone.

8. Review and Revise

A career plan is a living document. “It should evolve as you do,” says Garver. Review your plan annually on some important date, like New Year’s or your birthday. Update it so it reflects where you are on your career path.

The baseline logic is simple, Lore says: “Take practical steps to go after what you want. If you do that, your life can get pretty close to perfect.”

Flexibility is key so that you don’t inadvertently miss out on emerging new career opportunities that may not exist today. It would be foolhardy to have a rigid 10-year plan that’s fixated on attaining a certain IT position, because even if that position is strategic in 2001, it may be obsolete by 2011. Try to think in broad terms, such as the type of contribution you’d like to be making five years from now. And don’t expect to reach your career apex in just a few years, no matter how bleeding-edge your skills may be.

Once you have a flexible long-term plan in place and you’re weighing your immediate opportunities, remember that there are no hard-and-fast rules for IT career advancement. Neither is there a formula to guarantee that an opportunity in front of you will be a good one. So apply some creative thought to different kinds of career moves that might propel you toward your next goal or your ultimate goal.

With a crystal ball in one hand and a serious self-assessment in the other, analyze any new opportunity in the context of the current IT job market as well as where the market might be going a couple of years from now and balance that against your personal goals.

Ten Tips I Wish Someone Had Given Me

With nearly 30 years of IT experience behind him, Carl Wilson, executive vice president and chief information officer of Marriott International, Bethesda, Md., shares the advice he wishes someone had given him at the outset of his career. His 10 recommendations for IT career planning serve as criteria you can use for evaluating potential job opportunities. As you weigh various offers, use these points to judge an opportunity in the context of your long-term career.

1. Choose your company and boss carefully.

Does the company you’re considering conduct its business in a manner that you’re comfortable with? Is its main line of business one that you’ll feel comfortable supporting? “It’s very important that you can personally identify with what that company is trying to achieve, its products and services,” Wilson advises. “You will not achieve full success working in an environment that runs counter to your values.” For example, Wilson notes that he “would have a very hard time working for an arms dealer, but it feels great to be working for a hospitality company that’s trying to make travelers’ experiences wonderful.” Likewise, you probably won’t feel you’re meeting your full potential working for a boss whose values don’t mesh with your own.

2. Work only for an employer that reinvests in you.

Will the employer’s policies, practices and IT budget support your further skills development and career advancement? “Look for a company that has a career path you can progress through based on your own acquired and demonstrated skills, especially in the early stages, when you’re as much a student as a worker,” Wilson says. “If a company isn’t reinvesting in you, eventually that will impact your career negatively.” In each round of interviews you go through with an employer, ask for concrete examples of IT staff members who have progressed through different jobs in the organization, training that others in your position have attended and skill-development opportunities that would be available to you.

3. Build your network early and grow it over time.

Does the employer support participation in professional associations and industry groups? Is the environment one in which you can foster a variety of different relationships? Because you never know where a colleague — within your company or without — is going to end up, it always pays to build relationships with other professionals in your field, Wilson says. “Most major jobs in really good companies are filled by word-of-mouth and recommendations by employees,” he explains. Start developing a network of people you respect preferably while you’re still in college. Get involved in professional associations as soon as you enter the work force or launch a new career path. Not only will a solid network help you uncover viable new career opportunities, it will also expose you to new ideas, technologies and approaches to your work.

4. Try to not repeat a work experience more than two or three times.

Does the employer seem to pigeonhole IT professionals or does it regularly provide opportunities to pursue new challenges? “Make sure your role changes over time so you keep growing,” Wilson says. “You don’t want to accumulate 20 years of experience that’s really just four years’ experience repeated five times.” If, for example, you’re an applications developer, don’t get stuck building one particular type of application, such as sales-force automation systems.

5. Don’t be afraid to take a lateral or lower-graded job for more experience.

Does the company offer flexible career paths? Would it support unconventional moves that could benefit your long-term career development? Sometimes, the best career moves for your future are those that don’t necessarily advance you from your current position, but will expose you to new ways of thinking about IT. Wilson says his career has profited several times over from a willingness to step down the ladder rather than up it. In the mid-1970s, as a top mainframe programmer at Bendix Corp, he took a 6% pay cut to move into a business-process re-engineering job, because he “wanted the opportunity to have a direct influence on the design of systems and not be just a top coder.” The experience broadened his perspective on how IT could be applied to the business. Nine months later, Bendix recognized his efforts by moving him into a key project-management position. While you want to assess the pros and cons of an unconventional move carefully, don’t rule out what may be a good opportunity simply because it doesn’t fit a traditional model.

6. Don’t be afraid to take on tough assignments that no one else wants.

Does the company recognize and reward employees for taking risks and accepting challenges that have a high potential for failure? Does management provide a soft landing if you fail? “That should be part of the leadership role in IT because it’s not always an individual’s fault when a project isn’t successful,” Wilson says. “There may be extenuating circumstances or it just turned out not to be a good idea.” Management should encourage staff to take on risky assignments — and IT professionals should seek challenging opportunities — because “you learn at an accelerated rate when you take those on,” he says.

7. Realize you won’t be promoted by your boss, but by your peers and subordinates.

Does the job give you the opportunity to interact with colleagues up, down and across the organization? Does the environment support peer feedback and 360-degree reviews (in which leaders and subordinates review each other)? “The way bosses know who to promote and move forward is based on what they hear from an employee’s peers and subordinates,” Wilson says. “A lot of people try to manage their careers by ingratiating themselves with upper management, but it’s more important to focus your time on developing strong relationships with your peers and being an advocate and supporter of your subordinates. If you do those two things well, management will notice and upward movement will come automatically.”

8. Acquire project-management skills.

Does the IT organization follow sound project-management methodologies? Does it advocate project-management training? “This is the most sought-after skill set within most companies today,” Wilson says. “People who can organize work, break it into chunks, influence and get work done by others and define deliverables that produce value are very, very valuable to any company.” Even if you don’t plan to become a project manager, Wilson still recommends project-management training because “it helps you to be a better team player and understand the demands of the project; you’ll contribute more to the team’s success.”

9. Learn from your mistakes. If you don’t make any, you haven’t done anything.

Does the company’s management style make room for you to learn from your mistakes? Does it foster a generous, risk-tolerant environment, seeking to turn errors into opportunities for growth instead of admonishments and recrimination? “Celebrate your failures as much as your successes,” Wilson says, because that’s how you learn and grow. His favorite interview question is: “Tell me something that you really screwed up badly,” he says, because people reveal a lot about themselves in how they respond. “If they say they’ve never made any mistakes or had any problems, then they probably haven’t done a lot,” he says. “If they say it was everyone else’s fault, they probably didn’t learn anything. But if they say, ‘Yes, I had this project and I messed it up and in retrospect, I should have done this,’ then I know I’ve found a star.”

10. Live a balanced life, because your work is what you do, not what you are.

Does the company expect you to always put your job first, or does it promote policies and practices that will help you strike a balance between your professional and personal lives? “If we become too absorbed in our work and identify ourselves so closely with our work that it’s all we think about, we cease to be effective and that’s where burnout comes from,” Wilson explains. “You have to have a life outside of work.”

Build time into your day that belongs to you and “vigorously protect and defend it,” Wilson says. For example, he gets to the office around 7 a.m., but he avoids meetings before 8 or 9 a.m., so he can use mornings for thinking and strategizing. Likewise, he clears his calendar after 4:30 p.m., because that’s when he wraps up the day’s to-do lists. By 6 p.m., he’s headed home for family time. “It requires some prior planning, and there are times that the job demands that you step out of the lines,” Wilson says, “but you have to maintain time for you.”

So you come to my house to talk about it. From my ad, you know that the car is rust free, that it’s been meticulously maintained and that those once-in-a-lifetime car repairs have been made. I echo these facts to you in person, assuring you that I’ve done my best to take care of the vehicle since I bought it at the 125,000-mile mark.

Convinced, you hand over the $1,500 and leave with the car — right?

Of course not. You wouldn’t consider buying the car at this point. I may have assured you about the car’s performance, but why should you take my word for it? You’d want to take a test drive, to see if it runs as well as I claim. You might even take the car to a mechanic you trust for an independent evaluation of its condition.

In other words, even if you believe I’m sincere and telling you everything I know about the car, you’d want other opinions. You’d try to gather information from experts who have no vested interest, knowing that you’re making a big investment and may want to keep the car for a long time. Besides, the information I’ve provided is just a small part of the picture, and, since you don’t know how ethical or mechanically knowledgeable I am, you can’t be sure if it’s true.

With this example fresh in your mind, think about how you’ve gone about choosing a career. Given the large amounts of time, money and effort involved, wouldn’t it be wise to take the same critical approach for buying a used car to exploring and deciding on your career?

What’s the Truth?

All too often, I’ve seen college students decide on professions without challenging their own and others’ beliefs, assumptions and perceptions. They may ask a few questions, then say “here’s what I’ve heard” without finding out if it’s true.

Using limited and sometimes inaccurate information “is the predominant way for students to make career plans and decisions,” says Mark Schappert, associate director of career services at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y. “It’s the exception rather than the rule when someone takes a lot of time and says, ‘Let me look at who I am and gather lots of information on alternatives and what they’re all about.’ Instead, we tend to operate based on our own limited view of the world and of careers and career options.”

One problem, of course, is that given your student obligations, you’re likely pressed for time. Another is that not knowing about something can be unnerving. It’s easier to just blindly accept what you hear. I know — I did the same thing as an undergraduate. “This could sound flip, but 100% of students fall into this trap” of believing career myths, says Paul Fornell, associate director of the career development center at California State University at Long Beach. “All students — traditional and nontraditional — are walking around with untested assumptions, values and beliefs.”

Serious Consequences

It’s risky to let your unexamined beliefs and perceptions get in the way of learning about various careers. The consequences can be fear-provoking at best and tragic at worst.

A recent graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia felt she had wasted a year of college because her roommates persuaded her to switch her major to business from her real love — religion/philosophy, says Genevieve Carlton, the university’s associate director for career planning.

“They’d told her she wouldn’t get a job if she pursued a religion/philosophy degree like she really wanted to,” says Carlton. “Ultimately she did switch majors, but when it came to looking for a job after graduation, she was almost afraid to come to our office — because she feared we’d agree with her roommates.”

The student completed a resume and cover letter and did some research on potential employers. A week later, she landed a job as a researcher with a publishing company. “In this case, there was a happy ending, but this student still carried a fear through four years of school that she was going to be unemployable,” says Carlton. “She would have saved herself a lot of anxiety if she’d done some digging beyond what her roommates told her.”

Even more troubling, some students abandon career aspirations based on misconceptions about themselves or their desired profession. How many times have you heard a fellow student (or yourself) say something like, “I wanted to go into teaching but my dad told me there’s no money in it,” or “I’ve thought about computer programming but I don’t want to sit around in front of a computer screen programming all day.” It would be tragic to rule out your dream job based on unchallenged or inaccurate beliefs developed by listening to your peers, your parents, the media or other sources.

Four Guidelines

A more sensible way is to treat career exploration the same way you would when shopping for a used car or any other important purchase. Consider these basic principles:

1. Never assume.

Just as you wouldn’t assume that I’m telling you the truth about my car or that I know everything about cars, don’t assume that you — or other people — know everything about a career you’re considering. You likely know only a fraction of the relevant available information, and you must do serious research to learn the rest.

2. Gather information from a variety of sources.

If you’re considering a particular field, don’t just ask your roommate about it. Talk to professors in the department. Visit your school’s career services office and discuss the major with a counselor. Ask for literature about the field. Many career services offices have print or online brochures entitled “What Can I Do with a Major In?” Also ask for the names of alumni who pursued the major you’re considering and who would be willing to talk to you about their jobs and careers.

3. Critically evaluate your sources.

Attending college is about learning to become a critical thinker — and that certainly applies here. Think carefully about your sources of information on careers. How do your parents, friends and roommates compare with the U.S. Department of Labor when it comes to knowing trends in various industries? Who can give you a better sense of what it’s like to be a professional dancer: a dance professor or your faculty adviser from the psychology department?

4. “Test drive” your ideas.

Most campuses help students “try out” a career path without committing to it. If you’re thinking of becoming an accountant, for example, your school’s career services office or business department might arrange for you to “shadow” an accountant for a day or week to learn first hand the profession’s pros and cons.

Similarly, consider applying for internships that allow you to earn credits in your major and explore a career more extensively. And don’t underestimate the value of a strategically selected part-time job, which can give you a good idea of what a career or industry is really like.

Following these guidelines requires more time and effort than just late-night gabbing with fraternity buddies or dorm mates. When you settle on a career, you’re making an investment in yourself and your future. How you approach it could mean the difference between “the road not taken” and an exciting, fulfilling career.