Advancement in technology and Internet has now helped people to make money online from the comfort of their home with little or no investment. There are many legitimate work-at-home jobs and home based businesses available today to suit different people’s needs. Here are few of them to help people get started with their own home business.

First well-known job option is a virtual assistant. People who can handle calls and have little knowledge on Microsoft office tools can definitely choose this option. Most small business people and freelancers look for an assistant who can work from their home. This method doesn’t cost them much money therefore, a person can grab this opportunity and can earn a decent amount of income per hour. These jobs can be found on many job sites listed on the Internet.

Next demanding home based business is the medical transcriptionist and this job is suitable for a person who has worked with the medical professionals. A person can either work with the individual physician or any group of medical professionals. The work of the transcriptionist is to listen to the medical professionals and type up the words. A person is usually paid on an hourly basis and a skilled person can earn up to per hour.

Next is the translator. People who have fluency in any language can go for this option. The work involves translating documents and audio files. The difficulty level generally determines the pay, and the higher the difficulty, then the higher the pay. This is one of the highly paid home based business jobs and demand for this position is highly required in scientific, management, and technical consulting.

Another great opportunity for making money online is a web designer. A person with good knowledge on designing the web page can obtain this job. The job listings can be easily found on the Internet or any local newspapers. The pay depends mainly on the experience and skill of the person, and also the difficulty in designing the web page.

Next great opportunity for home based businesses is teaching. It can be done either online or offline. If a person is expert in any academic subject they can apply for this opportunity. Offline teaching requires only presence and material for teaching. Online teaching also requires some knowledge about the Internet and some basic teaching tools.

“It’s scary when the ones who are going to drive the economic recovery and put people back to work are saying, ‘We’re going to hold off a bit because we don’t know what our government is going to do.’” So says Brian Calle. The columnist and editorial writer for the Orange County Register got fed up with public-sector jobs programs and sluggish private-sector job growth, so he decided to ask business owners why they weren’t hiring. The result is an ongoing, multimedia project called “The CEO Solutions Series,” in which business owners diagnose the problem and propose solutions. Reason.tv’s Ted Balaker sat down with Calle to discuss what should be done to spur private-sector growth, the role uncertainty plays in hiring decisions, why business leaders are often afraid to complain about public policy, and the myth of the laissez-faire CEO. Approximately 10 minutes. Interview by Ted Balaker. Shot by Hawk Jensen, Alex Manning, and Zach Weissmueller. Edited by Jensen Go to reason.tv for HD, iPod, and audio versions of this and all our videos, and subscribe to Reason.tv’s YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

I won’t stop until I have achieved my goal I am 60 years of age and I am going to keep searching for a job to keep my business afloat online and give myself some time to make some money out of this. If I give up now I will loose everything I have done  on my website.

I have been forced to try and make money online without any money to use for advertising, so here I am loosing my unemployment and having to think of what to do next. But all is not lost I have a few ideas up my sleave.

At this stage it is not costing my anyting at all to keep my buinsess afloat online and at least I have my own blog and hosting account and that in itself is something I am grateful of.

If I had a penny for my thoughts I would be rich by now, I have just thought of somthing that might be worth while doing, and that is Article Writing and submitting my articles to the article direcotries this will be good.

I used to enjoy Article Writing so much but I got a bit rusty becasue I hadn’t done it for a while but as the old saying goes you never forget what you have learned before. That is true with some things.

I got a lucky break the other day I called my old job after putting an appliation in there and they told me to come in for an interview , but they would never of called me if I didn’t call them first but it just goes to show if you persit in your dreams they will come true.

Then after all of that my friend from old called me the other day and told me that there may be an opening job comming up where he works, so I told him to see his boss and he said ok, I am going to be praying tonight.

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Having a home business career has become a real possibility with the dawn of the Internet. This brought about the beginning of a new way of life for many people. Instead of struggling to make ends meet with a low paying job, now you can have a business career at home by operating your own Internet business. This is not a difficult task and the cost of getting everything set up is not at all high. You can stay at home, work when you like and dress how you like with a home business career.

Many people shy away from the idea of a home business career because they feel it means door-to-door selling or managing home parties to sell products. With the advances in technology, you can have your own turnkey Internet business with just the click of your mouse. Getting started with this type of Internet home business does mean you have to do a little research to find out what it is that consumers want to buy.

Online shopping makes it possible for you to have an Internet home business career that you operate from home. With the convenience of the online retailers being open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, more and more consumers shop for just about everything they need through the Internet. An online pharmacy, for example, is a very profitable type of turnkey Internet business as is selling hard to find products, such as plus size clothing.

The wealth of information available on the Internet about various turnkey businesses and how you can get started right away is overwhelming. You do need to find a home business career in something that you really love, whether it is jewelry, address labels, or hot tubs. Anything and everything is sold on the Internet and setting up your own website is the first step involved in having your own home business career. You can write articles to lead in to each product and link to another company if you wish to become an affiliate and make money this way. Either way, a turnkey Internet business is profitable.

You do have to be patient because success with a turnkey Internet business does not happen overnight. You do have to build up the website in the search engine rankings so that people looking for the product you sell will find it. In addition to setting up your own home business career with an Internet site, you can have Google ads that pay you every time someone clicks through on one of them. Having a home business career is an excellent way to have more leisure time, but you do have to put in time getting it started.

So if you want a home business career an internet home business is a very viable alternative.

Andrew Silberman is President of the Tokyo based AMT Group, a management training organization he founded in 1992, and a graduate of the Monterey Institute’s Fisher International MBA program. In this interview, Andrew offers some advice and counsel to current MBA students about the skills necessary to live and work in Japan.

Related Business Careers Articles

Your kids probably love this. They are using this to read their favorite Barney or Dora the Explorer stories without obtaining the printed manuscripts of these stories. They can access this through your personal computer units or probably your laptop computer.

This is the modern learning tool- the E-book or electronic book.

As the name implies, E-books are the electronic version of the printed manuscript of previously-published books. This can be either downloaded using free software programs (such as Adobe Reader) or purchased in its compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD) form before downloading it to your personal computer unit or laptop computer. Aside from PC units and laptops, E-books are also accessible through specialized E-book readers, electronic organizers, or palm pilots. It is just like you are actually handling the book because it features the capability of “flipping the pages over” as one would do with a regular printed book.

E-books are not only made for children stories. There are also real or fictional stories for adults as well as important news documentaries that are published through E-books. Not all E-books are free; in fact, bestselling E-books containing contemporary popular novels and non-fiction works are widely available for purchase on various online-based companies and even in online auctions.

There are also instances wherein E-books are written not just for personal consumption but written specifically for the Internet as well. These E-books may contain useful features such as subject or word searches, hyperlinks directed to relevant sites, or other sections of the book. As a matter of fact, many authors are considering E-book as the excellent way of self-publishing. They just hire services of a third party, such as publishers and agents, and offer their stories for their non-fiction stories and novels for several dollars to interested readers.

Thus, it is not surprising to learn that E-books are now widely used on starting a home-based Internet marketing business. The use of E-books for Internet marketing purposes provides clues and hints on how you will start your business within a firm foundation. These E-books may contain a collection of articles that can be downloaded for free from various websites over the Internet.

Several Internet marketing E-books require you to use special software programs such as the Adobe Reader if the file is on the common PDF format. In most cases, you need to download the E-book since you will not be saving the information provided to the book by just simply viewing it. Aside from E-books on its PDF format, some offer E-books on Microsoft Word or other applications that are simple to use. In downloading E-books, make sure that you check its file format and determine whether it needs special software programs or not.

Once you have downloaded the E-book completely to the hard drive of your PC unit or laptop, all associated files that come with it will be stored permanently. You can update the information provided by these E-books with just few clicks of your mouse.

What can you expect from an Internet marketing E-book? You will be able to encounter success stories as well as compilations of instructions of how you will succeed on Internet marketing business. It may also contain extensive content about managing the contents of your website, optimizing its pages, and several strategies on how you will be able to get targeted traffic to your site. In addition, it may also provide you tips on how to maximize your earnings using other Internet marketing opportunities such as online advertising and affiliate marketing programs.

Since most of these E-books are written by experienced Internet marketing gurus, you will be able to get the grip of your Internet marketing business by applying what they have written on these E-books. Most of the things included in Internet marketing E-books are “do-it-yourself guide”. You will save substantial amounts of money from hiring the services of marketing consultants on the Internet.

These Internet marketing E-books can be accessed on various E-book directories over the Web. You can also find dozens to hundreds of listings of free E-books. Using this modern tool will help you in a great way of accumulating useful information on how to start your Internet marketing business without spending much of your fortune.

If your kids love E-books, for sure you will love E-books more!

Recruiters talk about how to effectively network and get noticed. Best advice and quality production specifically designed for both undergraduate and MBA students. A collaboration of Olin’s faculty, alumni, business network, corporate recruiters, and career center team, OlinProDev’s intensive, interactive approach to career readiness builds the relationship, communication, resume and interviewing competencies that help students stand out in today’s competitive career market.

Resume is the only way to get the job for some job seekers and the employer gets so many resumes that he gets a maximum time of 30 seconds to view one resume. So, your resume must be very strong and eye-catching that it can attract the recruiter.

Resumes of all the people related to a business come under the category of business resume whether he is an owner, manager or finance officer. There are different types of business resumes like business analyst resume, business executive resume, business owner resume, etc. To get a job in this field you have to make a resume as it is the first step through which you can tell your skills to the employer. With a well written resume you can make the employer believe that you are the suitable person for the job.

In a business job your work may be to manage the operational resources like staff, budgets and financial goals, analyzing the business problems, planning to improve the department efficiency and so many other duties. To complete this work the job seeker must have leadership qualities, good communication skills, managerial qualities, decision making ability and so many other qualities. So an employer search for all these qualities in business resume of a job seeker. You your resume must show all of these qualities of yours with an example of your previous work.

In the starting of your business resume, you must write your name and contact information including phone numbers and email address in bold letters. Then specify your aim in brief with which you can tell the employer that why you are the right person for the job and how you can help him in taking his business to the new hikes.

After this, include your academic qualifications with the related certifications you have. The employer does not care for how much you know but through resume he looks your qualifications needed for the job. So also include the projects you have done and you can also give the title of thesis you wrote. This will make your resume interesting and will be able to impress the employer. If the interviewer is interested about the topic of your thesis then he will ask you about it in interview. So, by preparing all the questions related to your project or thesis you can increase your chances of getting the job.

Give brief summary of your previous work experience in the related field. Also include the appreciation that you have got from the previous employer. At the end include your personal information like your birth date, marital status, nationality, etc.

Your resume must not exceed two pages and to make it strong you can use short sentences, bullets and numberings. To make it more impressive you can include client’s comments and appreciation that you got while working with the other company.

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“The Fastest Way To An Entry Level Business Job … And A Six Figure Income”

By Nick Moreno – Sales Trainer & Head Sales Coach

The National Sales Center

I went to college to learn about the world. I wasn’t focused on any particular skills or expertise and I assume that’s why they call the degree I received “Liberal Arts”. Please know, I would not trade my education for anything and if I could do it all over again, I’d do it the same way. Although it was a great experience to learn about the world but there was one problem… I didn’t learn to earn! That sad reality hit me just before graduating. How was I going to make a living?

I met with my Guidance Counselor and asked how my degree in History could lead to a job. I was told I could be a Historian or a History teacher but neither of those appealed to me. But then, just as the meeting was about to end, the Counselor came up with one more suggestion… a career in professional sales. His career suggestion changed my life forever and served me well throughout my professional career. I now encourage others looking for an entry-level position in the business world to consider a career in professional sales. If you, or someone you know, are looking for an entry-level career opportunity, a career in sales should be on your radar. While I traditionally work with experienced salespeople interested in improving their selling skills, I also enjoy introducing people to a new career in sales.

Professional Sales Career

Upon graduating from college with a degree in History, I was ready to take on the world. Armed with a brand new suit and a trim haircut, I lined up my first job interview with a reputable company.

I was prepared to work hard by giving it my all, but most of all, I was prepared to make lots of money. After all, I had the energy, youth and optimism of a new graduate, so as far as I was concerned, the world was my oyster. But, I forgot one very important thing. I didn’t know anything about selling. In my naiveté, I thought all I had to do was get people to like me, and once they saw what a great guy I was, they wouldn’t be able to resist what I was selling. Obviously, I didn’t have a clue about professional selling, which takes into account every aspect of a prospective sale such as knowing what’s in your buyer’s mind, getting the results you want, preparing for a sales presentation and seeing it from the customer’s point of view. As I said, I knew absolutely nothing about sales.

Sales Skills

So, there I was at my first sales interview with an electronic cash register manufacturing company. Keep in mind that this interview was quite some time ago, so electronic cash registers were just becoming very popular. And even though the interview was many years ago, I can still remember it as if it were yesterday. I remember it, because it literally changed my life. While talking to the Sales Manager, who was conducting the interview, he looked me squarely in the eye and said: “So, you think you can sell?” He then handed me a ceramic turtle that was sitting on his desk and he said, “Sell this to me.” Once again in my innocence and lack of knowledge, I went on and on about how beautiful the turtle was and how the turtle was something he should buy. It was painfully clear that I knew nothing about the art of selling nor did I know anything about the sales process. I didn’t even know there was such a thing called sales training. Not surprisingly, I didn’t get the job, but I learned something very beneficial. I learned that there is something called salesmanship and if I was to become a good salesperson, I needed to master it. Because I genuinely wanted to be trained correctly, it was at that moment that I decided to become a true student of the sales process.

Studying the Sales Process

From that day forward, I started reading every book I could get my hands on about sales training. Initially, I made a lot of mistakes and often got very discouraged. However, I kept reading books, studying the sales process and observing successful salespeople. Thirty-five years later, I’m proud to say that I’ve accomplished a great deal in my sales career, as my own success has allowed me to work with and train thousands of salespeople from some of the largest companies in the nation. But, I actually attribute my success to that day I met a ceramic turtle and a wise sales manager. Instead of getting a job, I uncovered what I needed most: to develop a great sales career. I learned that I needed to become an expert in the sales process, which in my professional opinion is the difference between sales success and sales failure.

An Entry Level Position In Sales

In today’s competitive job market, it is difficult to get your foot in the door of a major corporation. It seems there is always someone with just a little more experience that gets the job. However, if you search the popular Internet job sites, you’ll discover the numerous openings for entry-level positions in sales. These companies are looking for bright individuals to represent their products or services. The sales department is a great place to launch a career that could, and should, lead to a six-figure income. Sales representatives also receive many additional benefits not offered to those in other departments.

Professional Selling

Professional salespeople are very important key employees because nothing happens until something is sold. Since salespeople are meeting with clients and prospects every day, salespeople know more about the markets a company serves than employees in other departments. For that reason, professional salespeople receive extraordinary benefits such as a car allowance, paid expenses and the freedom to set their own schedules for customer appointments. In addition, professional salespeople receive commissions and those commissions allow salespeople to achieve a six-figure income. If you are looking for career advancement, know that most Chief Executive Officers started their careers by becoming sales representatives.

What Constitutes a Good Salesperson?

In the process of my own sales career, I discovered that most people believe that selling has to do with having charisma or just an outgoing personality. But selling has nothing to do with either of those two characteristics. To be a good salesperson you must first become aware of and use sales skills. So, if you are interested in a career position in sales, here is the strategy you can use to avoid the mistakes I made the day I met that ceramic turtle.

Strategy For The Sales Interview

Interviewing for a sales position is different than interviewing for any other corporate position. Sales Managers receive a great amount of interview training so they are experts at uncovering strengths and weaknesses. During the interview, sales managers are busy determining if they would buy something from you. Sales managers want to know if you can sell yourself because if you can’t, you probably can’t sell a product. Also, the sales manager expects you to ask for the job to demonstrate you are capable of asking for an order.

Due to the factors just mentioned, I urge you to prepare for your interview by getting some strong training on how to interview for a position in sales. Training of that kind is available at many places including The National Sales Center.

Sales Training

Avoid making the mistakes I made the day I met that ceramic turtle. Besides some interview training, get some sales training. No one experts you to be a sales expert when you apply for an entry level sales position but some knowledge of the sales process will improve your chances of getting hired. An understanding of the sales process will also help you to sell yourself to the sales manager and it will also help you with the all important post interview follow up contact. Your follow up effort after the interview demonstrates you will follow up after a sales appointment.

Keys To Your First Sales Job

I urge you get some interview training and some sales training prior to your first sales interview. This type of preparation will greatly enhance your chances of getting hired. A career in sales is rewarding and exciting so the effort you put in to being prepared is well worth it. In fact, that preparation is the difference between success and failure. Also, your knowledge of the sales process will get you off and running the very first day of your new professional career.

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I remember the excitement that my MBA classmates shared with me while recruiters fawned over them making job offers that could lead to fast-track business careers. Naturally, everyone wanted either to eventually own a business or become the CEO of a business. The best that most new MBAs could hope for immediately, however, was to gain a place in a training program that would lead to an executive position or to become a consultant to senior management in a business.

It was a big commitment to earn a Harvard MBA to become a businessman. You had to live in the Boston area, work long hours every week, not earn much money for two years, and pay lots of tuition fees and expenses. Many classmates graduated with large loans that took many years to repay. Most people figured that they would finally be ahead of the game financially within five to ten years . . . or so they hoped.

Gaining the choice to make that big time and financial commitment was hard, too. Many more applicants were rejected than accepted in those days (it’s even more difficult to gain a place at Harvard now).

If you were over a certain age, you probably wouldn’t even consider taking this route. Why? The companies hiring from Harvard then were looking for relatively young talent with no more than five years of experience.

If you weren’t a person with an undergraduate degree from a prestigious university or someone who had excelled in the military, you probably didn’t even apply for admission into Harvard Business School. The odds against your acceptance were staggering.

To many people it seemed like the fast track to business success was a very narrow lane that was closed to them.

Fortunately, optimists abound among those who want to have good business careers. Many feel that if they can get a chance to prove themselves, they will stand out.

Experience supports this confidence: If we look at the leaders of many of the most successful companies, these people didn’t go through any hard-to-acquire educational experiences. These leaders proved themselves to be capable of getting things done on the job . . . not in the classroom.

Today, the fast track to a successful business career, a passing lane that puts you ahead of other people, is still an MBA . . . but increasingly that MBA is gained from an online school and is earned by someone who has at least twenty years of work experience and is holding down a full-time job. That combination of work and study used to be called “working your way through school” but now it has become the best way to get a practical education: You are able to use what you learn in school during your day job. This means faster advancement in a current job while gaining lots of experience in applying new learning to your work.

What are some of the benefits of this approach?

1. You gain credibility: Not everyone has an MBA degree.

2. You are considered for higher level jobs because you have a good education and lots of experience.

3. You arrive in your next job ready to do the work, rather than needing a lot more training.

4. Doing a good job in your first post-MBA position qualifies you for quick advancement into more senior positions.

5. You are likely to gain an earlier opportunity to build a substantial equity stake in your new employer.

Let’s look at Mr. Ralph R. Richey, a 2006 MBA graduate of Rushmore University (an online school) as an example of what can be done to help your business career. While in high school, Mr. Richey was accepted into a two-year apprentice program to become an electronic technician. After that, his curiosity about business led him to take courses in bookkeeping and management.

In the late 1970s and the 1980s, Mr. Richey decided to try a different life style and founded a music studio and a martial arts studio. He also fronted for a rock band, earned a music teacher’s certificate, and taught both music and martial arts. Having burned the proverbial candle at both ends while single, he decided to go back into a more conventional career after marrying.

During the 1980s, Mr. Richey owned or managed several companies offering fire and security alarms. He also developed an interest in Computer-Aided Design and took courses to become qualified to work in that emerging technology activity.

In the 1990s, he shifted to finance and helped raise millions of dollars for a high-tech marine manufacturing company. In the 2000s, he switched his expertise into raising money for real estate development and had the misfortune to attract a fraudulent lending company which didn’t meet its commitments. That misfire set him back, and he refocused his attention again.

Mr. Richey decided to go into technology management, looking for a senior level position. People didn’t take him seriously because he lacked a business degree.

Spurred by that realization, he enrolled at Rushmore in early 2005 and graduated less than two years later while holding down a demanding full-time job. He picked Rushmore because he would get credit for 30 years of work experience, would study under experienced executives as his professors, and would have a chance to apply his learning to his job.

At the time he enrolled, Mr. Richey hoped to use his MBA studies to either start a successful technology consulting business or to be hired as a senior executive in an established technology company with a six-figure salary.

How did he do after graduation?

His first job was a four-week temporary assignment to be the controller for a division of a construction company consortium that paid within his target salary range. Within 18 months, he advanced to become the full-time CFO of the entire consortium. Candidly, he feels that he wouldn’t have even landed an interview for his current job without his MBA degree form Rushmore.

Mr. Richey reports that “I have a new sense of personal satisfaction from earning my degree, which in turn has provided a new sense of financial security.”

Imagine where Mr. Richey’s career might be today if he had earned that MBA degree twenty years earlier.

What’s the lesson? The passing lane that can speed you into a highly successful career is available through earning a low-cost, online MBA degree while you keep your current job. You gain a lot of upside potential at little cost in time and effort.

Are you ready to accelerate your career progress?

No doubt that if you are on the job market, you have thought about a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative. Despite the tough economy, pharmaceutical sales jobs continue to be one of the most stable and lucrative careers and the industry looks to remain strong in the future. Even with talk of some kind of government run healthcare, pharmaceutical companies will still need sales representatives to educate doctors on their products and to drive bottom line revenues. Here are my top three reasons why you should take a serious look at this nearly recession-proof industry:

1. The industry is growing. In 1993, the average American received seven prescriptions in a year. In 2004, that number nearly doubled to twelve prescriptions per person in the US. The total number of annual prescriptions in the US now stands at over 3 billion. The global pharmaceutical market grew to 2 billion in 2007 at an annual growth rate of 10% between 1999 and 2007. This strong and consistent growth is largely the result of sales for new and innovative products and emerging international markets. Currently, the top five international pharmaceutical companies are, by revenue in 2007, Johnson & Johnson (.1 B), Pfizer (48.4 B), Glaxo SmithKline (.4 B), Novartis (.8 B) and Sanofi-Aventis (.5 B). In addition, four of the top 10 products in 2007 are forecast to consistently increase sales over the next five years. And the pipeline of new drugs is continuing to grow with many companies reinvesting up to 50% of their sales back into research and development.

2. The job is exciting. Often described as competitive, lucrative, and rewarding, companies rely on pharmaceutical sales reps to work closely with doctors, hospitals and pharmacies to educate them on the use of the products and to better understand patient needs. It is through these professional relationships that sales reps can encourage doctors to prescribe their company’s drugs. Drug companies are also moving towards more innovative and dynamic ways to get their sales message across to doctors, such as Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter. These smarter and more efficient ways of marketing give the sales reps opportunities to network with busy doctors who may not be able to see them in the office. Most pharmaceutical sales reps also find their job challenging and enjoy calling on such an educated customer. The job also involves intense studying of product knowledge, clinical studies, drug indications, side effects, and how to sell against competitive medicines. Pharmaceutical sales reps are among the most knowledgeable and well trained sales reps in any industry.

3. The job is lucrative. Currently, the average pharmaceutical sales rep makes a base salary of ,000, plus bonuses, benefits, and a company car. Sales reps are paid either through commissions or bonuses to meet and exceed sales quotas. Add in incentives for top performers such as cash, stock, and trips, and you can see why most pharmaceutical sales reps make over 0,000 year. There are also plenty of opportunities for advancement within most pharmaceutical companies. Most sales reps start out as a Primary Care rep which calls on family practice doctors and internal medicine doctors. From there a rep can move into a Specialty Care position, such as calling on Cardiologists, Urologists, etc. Reaching the position of Hospital Rep is considered to be the ultimate promotion for many professionals in pharmaceutical sales jobs where the reps interface with the doctors and pharmacists in the Hospital setting. To boot, major companies such as Johnson & Johnson have several different divisions which allows for plenty of upward mobility for top performers.

So what do hiring managers and recruiters look for? Well, certainly the competition for pharmaceutical sales jobs can be high. You will typically need a bachelor’s degree but there are entry-level pharmaceutical sales job positions available and some companies will even help employees get their degree. Most also require one to two years of strong performance and proven success in outside sales, such as copiers, business to business services, or consumer products. But I have personally also helped other professionals such as teachers and nurses land jobs in this industry.

To stand out from your competition, you must first have a winning resume written for the industry. Once you get the interview, companies are looking for you to have a positive attitude and a strong drive to succeed. You will also need to show your great communication skills, creativity, and the ability to generate new business.

Jobs in pharmaceutical sales have not been immune to the effects of the current economic downturn; however, our population is continuing to age and people will always need medical attention and care. And many companies are continuing to experience strong growth. For example, Novartis Pharmaceuticals is expected to increase one sector of its employee base by 20 percent each year until at least 2013 and the bulk of the new positions will be pharmaceutical sales jobs.

I personally continue to see major pharmaceutical companies hiring as evidenced by the sheer number of job postings on many of the job search websites. All in all, employment forecasters are predicting that a pharmaceutical sales job will continue to be one of the more stable careers to enter in the future. If you would like to learn more about how to land your dream job in pharmaceutical sales, visit my website at www.PharmRepConnect.com where you can sign up for my free report on how to avoid the most common job search mistakes.

©2009 Nikki K. Kerzic, Find Your Dream Job Now, Inc.

“No matter the market conditions, there are always companies looking to hire talented professionals, and those people who are prepared will be best positioned to take advantage of new career opportunities as they are uncovered,” says David Sanford, executive vice president of business development at Winter, Wyman. Sanford says that people should always be looking for a new job (hey, you never know what’s out there unless you’re looking) and that the New Year is a great time to go out and make it happen.

If you want to know how to get yourself noticed and find your dream job during the New Year, follow these 10 tips for 2010.

Be ready to move.
As with all of life’s opportunities, you have to be ready to strike when the iron is hot — and sometimes even when it’s heating up.  No matter if your plan includes pounding the pavement for a new job or sitting back and waiting for one to come your way, make sure you have all the groundwork  in place for a successful job search.  Update your résumé, prepare a compelling story to tell about why you would consider a new opportunity and know whom you would use for references.  Start becoming mentally and emotionally ready for a change so you are better prepared for when it happens.

Don’t ignore the elephant in the room.
In soft economies, many people think it’s safer to stay with their current employer than to risk taking a position with a new company — and often it is.  But don’t ignore the elephant in the room and  hope that everything will be OK.  Even in the best of times, companies routinely are merged, acquired, imploded and overtaken, sometimes leaving hundreds and thousands of people looking for new jobs.  Be prudent and always be aware of your business’s conditions; keep your nose in the wind and your eyes and ears open for when it is the best time to move on to a new job.

Know thyself.
As people age and lives and goals change, so do their career objectives.  Spend the time necessary to know what really makes you happy.  Is it being an authority at work?  Having a schedule flexible enough to see your kids play soccer on a midweek afternoon?  Knowing the drug you are researching will someday eradicate a life-threatening disease?  Have a heart-to-heart with yourself about what you want from your career and what steps would be necessary to achieve this goal.  Have realistic expectations, but know that most career dreams are within our reach.

Step out of your comfort zone.
As human beings, we don’t like to admit that we don’t have all the answers, and it’s uncomfortable for most people to ask for help, especially from those outside their inner circle.  Asking for assistance and advice is the heart of networking and the single most important thing a person looking for a new job should do.

Your next opportunity could come via a tip or chance encounter with a former boss, colleague, neighbor, recruiter, barber, golf buddy — but you will never hear about it if they don’t know you are looking (even passively).  You need to be courageous enough to talk to people you meet about what you ultimately want instead of regretting that you didn’t mention it sooner.

Devote time to job searching.
Take a hint from the world’s greatest athletes. Succeeding at anything takes practice and hard work. If you are trying to further your career, you need to devote the energy needed to make that change, and that takes time.  Find a way to carve out the hours necessary, whether it’s giving up an hour of gym time on Tuesday nights to attend networking meetings, or getting up early on Sunday mornings to search for leads and contacts online, establish some goals and set aside the time it will take to accomplish them.

Focus your résumé.
Most résumés are vanilla — overview, titles, tasks, accomplishments and education.  But companies want to see the sizzle and the steak.  They want to see progression in experience, skills and responsibility and how you have contributed directly to your employer’s, or former employer’s, success.  Make sure your document includes enough substance to explain the strategies and tactics you were responsible for, but also the intangibles where you made a difference.  It doesn’t have to be overly long or detailed, but back up any success claims with real facts and examples.

Join in and get connected.
There isn’t a profession or industry on Earth that doesn’t have a trade association, user group, online discussion board or fan club.  Find one relevant to you and join it.  Whether you are employed or not, opportunities flow from being around like-minded people, and professional associations and communities are where you need to be.  They are a great way for uncovering hidden jobs, to further your knowledge and to make new relationships.  Investigate which are appropriate for you and join in.

Sell yourself.
Unless you are a pompous, arrogant bore, you are probably not used to — and are uncomfortable with — talking immodestly about yourself, your attributes and shining moments.  Get over it.  Advancing in your career or finding a new job requires you to balance humility with bravado.  Your résumé or a relationship may open a door, but you have to be prepared to march through it with a lot of confidence and a bit of swagger.

Find a way to get over any discomfort when talking about yourself and how wonderful you are.  The best job candidate is one who truly believes he has something unique to offer and can articulate his message with words, body language and confidence.  A hiring manager wants to fall in love with you; give her reason to.

Narrow your thinking.
Don’t try to be all things to all people, especially when looking for a job.  You are not going to be good at everything you do, so don’t fool yourself into thinking you are.  Figure out what you want to do and where you want to do it, and narrow your search to opportunities that fit into your realm.  Don’t have interviews or networking meetings where you hope the other person can help you figure out what you want to do.  The responsibility is yours; be targeted and specific about the jobs you want, skills you have and the companies for which you want to work.

Get started.
Self-assessment is important but can be paralyzing.  Take the time necessary to be introspective and then craft your plan, but don’t let those activities stall you from taking action.  Talk is cheap – get out there and take the steps to change or improve your career.  Being proactive in your career will open up opportunities you never dreamed of and will start 2010 off right.

The frustrating reality isn’t nearly as simple.  Getting an interview alone is an exercise in persistence and patience.

Here are 10 reasons for why you’re not landing that interview and what you can do to reverse the trend.

Your résumé and cover letter are as articulate as Courtney Love’s Web blog. If your application materials contain typos, grammatical errors and irrelevant or inconsistent information, employers will take notice — in a bad way.  Once you’ve looked over your résumé and cover letter to the point of dementia, take this advice from Joyce Gioia of the Herman Group: have three people, for whom English is a first language, review your résumé and cover letter before you send it.

Your cover letter is generic. Make it personal by tailoring it to the particular job and addressing it to a person, not “To Whom It May Concern.”  And include a sentence or two about how you are the right fit for that particular job.  If no contact is listed, take the initiative to find out who the hiring manager is by searching the company’s Web site or calling the reference desk.

Your letter is a CliffsNotes version of your résumé. Instead of simply restating what’s on your résumé, include new information like how you found out about the job, why you want to work there and what you can do for them.  Finally, close with something that will encourage a response, such as a request for an interview.

Your letter exudes self-consciousness, not self-confidence. If you don’t feel qualified for a job, why are you applying for it?  Don’t call attention to your shortcomings in a letter; emphasize your strengths by focusing on your skills, experience and ability.

You cross the line from sounding confident to sounding cocky. Don’t mistake selling yourself with bragging.  Putting “I would be an asset to your company” in your cover letter catches the eye; writing “You would be crazy not to hire me” turns the stomach.

Your MySpace page lists “binge-drinking” as a favorite pastime. Don’t post anything on a publicly accessible Web site that you wouldn’t want a potential employer to see.  Not all hiring managers run searches on job candidates, but some do, and it’s better to err on the side of caution.  Google yourself to see what comes up, because recruiters will see the same results.

You assume e-mail is enough. Hitting the send button on an online application is only the first step in landing an interview.  For one thing, not every e-mail is received or read.  Try following up your application by sending a paper résumé and cover letter via snail mail (indicating you’ve already applied online).  After that, call the hiring manager to see that they’ve received your application and check on the status of the job in question.

You assume the Internet is enough. The majority of all employment opportunities aren’t advertised, so be proactive: Contact human resources managers at companies you want to work for inquiring about positions available; register with a job recruitment agency; attend industry events to stay on top of news; and devote energy to meeting like-minded professionals who will be the keys to discovering more opportunities.

You misrepresent yourself. It may sound like a no-brainer, but misrepresenting yourself on a résumé is bound to catch up with you.  Upon performing a reference check, Denise Moorehead, communications director of a non-profit service agency in Boston, once discovered a job candidate had left her previous job a year earlier than she’d admitted. It turned out that the candidate had gotten burned out and decided to take a year to temp and regroup, but thought the obvious employment gap would be held against her, so she simply lied about it.  “I figured if she’d lie about something this easy to explain, she might lie about the deadline-driven work she would have to do with me,” Moorehead says.

You give up. Remember that looking for a job is a full-time job.  If you’re not hearing back from employers, considering changing your strategy.  Experiment with different cover letters, revise your résumé on a regular basis and look for opportunities to add to your experience even when you’re not working (i.e. taking classes, participating in workshops, volunteering).