Think and Grow Rich 2: Finding a great job starts with wanting one (and who doesn't?)

By Jeri Hird Dutcher, CPCC, CPRW, CEIP

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In Napoleon Hill's best-selling "Think and Grow Rich," everything starts with desire, the first of eight steps to success Hill identified in his conversations over 20 years with the most financially successful people of the early 20th century.

Hill's eight steps correlate to components of a job search, as well. The first step is knowing what you want.

Many times, a certified resume writer will be asked for a "general" resume. "Let's write the resume, and then, I'll go figure out what I want to use if for," says the jobseeker. That probably did not work very well even in Hill's era, and it definitely does not work today.

The resume writer's response to the jobseeker should be, "I can write a general resume, but I advise against it because it won't work very well for you, and I hate to see you waste your money. Taking the time to decide now what you want is a much better investment of your time and money." If this is not the response, find another resume writer.

The resume writer will be able to help you define your goal or refer you to a certified career or job search coach who will be able to work with you. In either case, you will be shortening your job search considerably because you will be looking for a specific position. You are also likely to find and be interviewed for positions that fit you better because you are choosing your goal rather than fitting yourself into someone else's role.

Coming in Part 3: Visualization and belief as part of reaching for your goal