How to Get Ahead In Five Simple Steps

It may sound like a paradox, but you can focus too much time on your job at the expense of your career. Chris Smith, a 47-year-old executive laid off in October, says he did. The former general manager of CellStar Corp., a Carrollton, Texas-based wireless-handset-and-accessories distributor, says he should have spent more time meeting and talking with customers and vendors to build a larger personal network. Now that he’s job hunting, he’s finding that his greatest source of leads and opportunities comes from those contacts.

"When you’re buried in your current job, you say to yourself, ‘Gee, I have too much work to do here to go on that next trip and see people,’ " he says. "You must resist that temptation and get to know more and more of the key people in your business and your industry and develop relationships that extend beyond your current position."

In his next job, he plans to create a spreadsheet that tracks his monthly efforts to stay in touch with key people in his network. "I want to make sure in checking off the months that I made a contact with that person, whether over the phone or a visit," Mr. Smith says.

By Perri Capell

Full Story: http://www.careerjournal.com/myc/climbing/20050104-capell.html