A Journal of Your Accomplishments

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#990000" TEXT="#F7F7FF" bgproperties="fixed" background="474005a0dvldzz.png"> <div> <A HREF="alan.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Advice"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B>     | </B><B> </B><B> </B><B> </B><I><B> </B></I><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>MRIBiotech from SC James</B></I></FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#FFFFCC" FACE="Arial" ><B>A Journal of Your Accomplishments</B></FONT><B>    </B><A HREF="alan.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Advice"><U><B><IMG SRC="48f0e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"><B>     </B><A HREF="alan6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Only Need One Job"><U><B><IMG SRC="4910e0e0.png" border=0 width="14" height="14" ALT="previous" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></U></A><B>   </B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="14" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="14"></div> <div> <A HREF="alan3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="What if the money didnt matter?"><U><B>What if the money didn't matter?</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="alan6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="You Only Need One Job"><U><B>You Only Need One Job</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>A Journal of Your Accomplishments</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <I><B>A Journal of Accomplishments</B></I><I><B> </B></I></div> <div> <B>From Alan Schonberg's book, "Headhunters Confidential"</B></div> <div> <B>(Alan is the founder of MRI)</B></div> <bR> <div> I recommend that everyone keep a journal- not just people in search of their dream jobs.  It's never too soon- or too late- to start listing your accomplishments.  You don't need an elaborate journal.  A large notebook with dividers works fine.  Write down your important achievements on a regular basis, say, weekly.  In the beginning, this may seem difficult or even silly.  In any event write down the single biggest accomplishment of the week, even if it's just being invited to lunch by your boss.  As time goes by, you'll accumulate a lot of entries.</div> <div>      </div> <div> Documenting your achievements serves many purposes.  For starters, it's good exercise for tracking your career.  With your achievements on paper, you can review your progress, or, for that matter, see where you've stalled.  The impatient can see they are advancing, even if the pace seems slow at times.  A journal can highlight areas for your improvement.  In short, it's a way of having your own scorecard.  You can track your hits, runs, and errors, and see where you need coaching.</div> <bR> <div> You never know when a record of important dates and events might come in handy.  You might need to put together a quick resume to take advantage of a rare opportunity.  A well-written journal can save you hours of gathering the right places and times- everything is right at you fingertips when you need it.</div> <bR> <div> When appropriate,  a journal of your accomplishments is also an impressive tool in an interview.  An architect, for example, might use a journal to illustrate a step-by-step progress on a particular project.  This log of concept and execution, with accompanying obstacles and how they were overcome, exhibits job skills vital to any employer.  This is an excellent proactive technique- a subject I will address late on.</div> <div>      </div> <div> Finally, reviewing your journal is a great way to "pump up" just before a job interview.  You'll remember all sorts of past achievements long forgotten- things you'll find appropriate to discuss with the interviewer.  As one successful job candidate told me, "Reflecting on my past successes reinforced who I am.  What a great way to boost one's self-confidence."</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>