Recommended reading: Your Dream Job Game Plan

In a recent interview with Molly Fletcher, author of “Your Dream Job Game Plan: Five Tools for Becoming Your Own Career Agent,” she provided her five-tool approach for setting yourself apart from the competition.

 

Tool 1: Passionate style. It is the belief in your vision and ability to persevere appropriately in critical times. It is a collection of intangibles that people demonstrate at various moments when they are communicating with others. At the most basic level, it’s your brand or your DNA and how you exude that brand.  

 

How do you demonstrate your passionate style? First, you must do your research and be prepared for every meeting, every phone call and every interaction. Second, you must “wow” the person you are meeting with by knowing something they don’t expect you to know. Something about their business, that you have uncovered in your preparation, something about their clients, their industry – something that a young, entry-level person probably shouldn’t know since they aren’t immersed in their day-to-day business, but you know!

 

Tool 2: Fearlessness. It is the way that your passion is brought to life in your behavior. It is your ability to embrace challenges without allowing the fear of failure to inhibit your efforts. It is your guts and your tenacity.  

 

How do you demonstrate your fearlessness? You must constantly send yourself the right mental messages. Control that little voice inside your head – and ensure you send yourself messages like, “This company needs me” or “I can make a difference in this organization” or “The people I am meeting with are going to like me and want to hire me or help me.” As you continue to send yourself the right messages, you will have the confidence to call anyone and meet with anyone – and when you can get in front of any one – the sky’s the limit.

 

Tool 3: Game plan (the road map). It is your tangible step-by-step guide to pursue your dream job. It is your strategy, the resources you are using – it is your plan.

 

How do you demonstrate your game plan? There are several layers to initiating your game plan. First, you must gather and create your tangibles – résumé, cover letter, e-mail address (professional address), cell phone (professional voicemail), business cards, personalized stationary. After you have pulled together your tangibles, you must identify two categories of 10 different kinds of people. Make a list of 10 people that you know (i.e., family friends, neighbors, parents, colleagues, etc.) and a list of 10 people who you currently don’t know but have a connection of some kind to the field you are interested in (either people who have the job you want or people who work with people who have a job you want). And, the true test as to whether they like and respect you is if you can walk out of their office with three more names of good people they will introduce you to in order for you to continue to build relationships.

 

Tool 4: Flawless execution. Demonstrating your passionate style and your fearlessness while bringing to life your game plan during your interactions. In other words, you have worked very hard for this meeting – handle it well.  

 

How do you demonstrate flawless execution? First, you must demonstrate that you are interested in their world by being prepared. Second, send positive signals during your time at their office. You must have the appropriate level of confidence with a respectful tint to it. Following the meeting, you demonstrate your flawless execution with a post-meeting plan, which includes a comprehensive timeline with action steps.

 

Tool 5: Managing choices. Choices are a product of hard work, of executing against your plan and making opportunities a reality.  

 

How do you manage choices? It’s easy. You have worked hard to position yourself for choices; remember what is important to you and stay focused on the best path to your long-term goals. You could work 100,000 hours in your life – manage your choices so you ensure that you enjoy all those hours.

 

For more advice from Fletcher, listen to her interview on JobRadio.fm.