In the following two-part series, we outline the career and business lessons that emerged or intensified during the past year. Some of these will certainly hold true in 2005.

Watch what other successful job seekers do, how they do it, and what worked or didn’t work for them. As the infamous American philosopher Yogi Berra once allegedly said, “You can see a lot by just watching.“ The rules of finding a job aren’t like writing a term paper in college. Plagiarism isn’t a guaranteed F or expulsion; it’s a best practice. Copying successful people and their ideas, emulating them, and improving upon them is a strategy we shouldn’t be embarrassed about.

In fact, one type of competitive-focused strategy that can be very effective is what Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com, calls “close following.” It has a lot of advantages: You don’t have to go down as many blind alleys. You watch and let other job seekers go down a bunch of blind alleys, but when they find something successful, you try to copy it very quickly and out-execute them. It’s a perfectly valid strategy and it’s used by others besides Amazon.com.

Don’t “wear out” your references. Even though you know from the start precisely who you want potential employers to talk to, don’t accompany your resume with a list of references. Neither recruiters nor employers expect such information until you’re about to get a job offer. And you’re better off not providing it.

Your references feel most enthusiastic and least imposed upon the first time they’re asked about you. If they have to respond several times, fatigue and boredom set in. Their answers become perfunctory, and after a while they begin to wonder why many people have investigated you and no one has hired you.

Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. This habit is as old as the human race, and it’s fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because they created them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination. It’s human nature to defend one’s own brainchild.

Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. It has always been a mystery to me why people spend so much time deliberately fooling themselves by creating alibis to cover their weaknesses. If used differently, the same time spent creating alibis could cure the weakness, and then no alibis would be needed.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. You can always fix them later. What is important is to get the facts and make a decision. Remember that no decision is still a decision. I firmly believe there are only two bad decisions: (a) the decision not to make a decision when there is time to make a decision and (b) a decision not to change a decision when you know that the earlier decision was wrong.

What is the impact of overseas job losses? A new study by Pollina Corporate Real Estate of Chicago reports that each American job that gets sent overseas has a reverse multiplier effect on the local economy of between 1.5 and 1.7 positions.

This means the impact of losing the 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs that vanished between July 2000 and January 2004 could reach 5.1 million in total lost jobs.

Consider this: every year the United States real estate industry loses the equivalent of one-third of the Chicago central business district — 53 million square feet of space is not occupied, resulting in approximately $1.2 billion in lost rent — due to offshore outsourcing.

Unfortunately, the trend is accelerating. Approximately 8,500 industrial facilities have been closed or significantly vacated during the past four years as blue-collar jobs move to low-wage markets across the globe.

The Pollina study said that millions of Americans are unnecessarily losing their jobs to cheaper overseas competitors because the federal government and most states are not providing the training, capital investment, incentives and general positive business environment that business and industry need to compete in the global marketplace.

A company that can replace an aging factory with an efficient, automated plant is better positioned to keep its manufacturing jobs here and the states that have provided assistance in this area have been more successful at retaining jobs for Americans.

In parting for this week, I would remind you that “Life is a checker board, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, your options will be constantly wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision!” (Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich)

Please note that many of today’s successful careers aren’t planned out in advance. They develop when people are prepared for opportunities because they have rigorously assessed their unique characteristics. I sincerely hope this two-part series challenges readers to take responsibility for managing their futures, both in and out of the workplace.

Joe Hodowanes, a career strategy adviser in Tampa, Florida, offers a free resume and career analysis. Fax your resume to (813) 936-0201 or email it to jmwanes@jmwanes.com For questions, call Joe at (813) 936-0091 or visit www.jmwanes.com on the Web. All Job Search Advisor articles on this website are the property of www.jmwanes.com (J.M. Wanes & Associates). You may download a copy for personal use. Redistribution without permission is strictly prohibited.
© 2005 J.M. Wanes & Associates.