IF YOU ARE LOOKING for a no-nonsense guide for your job search, you will not be disappointed by Monster Careers - How to Land the Job of Your Life. This user-friendly career guide avoids the waffle and focuses on the practical steps you need to take to find the right job. Monster Careers is persuasive because the author, Jeff Taylor, and co-writer, Doug Hardy, speak from experience. As the founders of Monster.com, Taylor and Hardy avoid theories or lectures and simply share their own experiences of what works and what does not. They also build on the expertise of leading career specialists and a range of practising CEOs, human resource managers and decision makers. The book begins with a look at the realities of the employment market. Taylor illustrates how constant change is a fundamental part of business. This means sometimes employers will be courting you, at other times it will seem impossible to get a job. It also means job security, in the sense of having a job for life, has gone. As a result, we have to create our own security. Taylor argues that we should always expect change and keep our eyes open for the next trend, job or opportunity for growth. Regardless of what is going on in the job market, the people who succeed are those who not only have good job-searching skills, but also are proactive in their own career development. To help the reader understand the fundamentals of career success, the book introduces the concept of the 'FAME Attitude'. Firstly, you must act like a 'Free' agent; understanding that every job is temporary and the responsibility for your future lies entirely in your own hands. Then you must train like an 'Athlete'; setting clear goals, practising, learning from mistakes and staying focused. You must prepare like a 'Marketeer', creating a personal brand that is tailored to your target employer. Finally, you must work like an 'Entrepreneur', creating opportunities, innovating, taking risks and never quitting. The 'FAME Attitude' works best when you are passionate about your work. The book offers some help in finding this sense of direction. However, unlike some other career books, Monster Careers does not make career planning the be all and end all of job searching. If you choose, you can simply turn the page and focus on job hunting. However, while many of us begin looking for a job feeling excited and energised, after just a few weeks, and perhaps a few rejections, we often lose heart and give up. Monster Careers helps to manage expectations and plan action over the long term so you stay focused and motivated for as long as it takes to find the job you want. Within this planning period, Taylor encourages the reader to develop a personal brand and ask: 'What is it about me that will make an employer hire me rather than another candidate?' Creating this foundation of 'Who am I?' will help build consistency throughout every stage of the job search. In the chapter, 'Behind the Scenes at the Recruiter', Taylor encourages you to think about potential employers as if they were customers: understanding their motivations, problems and aspirations. For example, when you realise that recruiters can spend less than 90 seconds reviewing your resume, you might make their job easier by highlighting your best and most relevant qualities. When it comes to preparing sales material, Taylor focuses not only on traditional resumes and cover letters, but also asks the reader to create a job search portfolio. The portfolio includes key messages, employment history, achievement stories, skills, a personal story, sales pitch, references and certificates. Taylor argues that, with these in place, your resume, cover letters and even your approach to interview will emerge naturally and easily. The book includes a detailed section on how to apply for advertised jobs, including guidelines for analysing job advertisements, tailoring applications to meet the job specifications and creating winning cover letters. However, Taylor also guides you to think like an entrepreneur, to search out and create opportunities rather than wait for the ideal job to be advertised. This requires a direct approach: targeting the companies you want to work for, researching their needs and the ways you can add value, and then calling or writing to them to outline what you can do. While this might seem rude or obtrusive, it is important to realise that employers usually try to source staff from an internal database of applicants, or their personal network, before advertising. Therefore, it makes sense for you to bring your expertise to the attention of the people you want to work for before the need for recruitment arises. To help you achieve this goal, the book provides a range of sample letters and phone scripts that have worked for other successful job seekers. Finally, Taylor shows you how to land the job of your dreams through the interview. Once again, the emphasis is on taking control instead of sitting back and letting the interview happen to you. 'Don't think of the interview as an interrogation. It is up to you to make the interview a two-way conversation. You have to take the lead and sell your vision,' he says. If you have already followed the guidelines in the book, you are more than half way to success at interviews. The key is to research the job and to create a detailed outline of what is required, and then plan how you will get the right message across. It is important to analyse your achievement stories and plan which ones most effectively illustrate your ability to do the job. Then learn to listen carefully and relate the questions back to your key messages. A positive attitude is the key to success Act like a free agent Understand that every job is temporary and that the responsibility for your future lies entirely in your own hands. Focus on your goals and the next steps towards them. Turn every job into an opportunity to learn new skills. Train like an athlete Set clear career and job-search goals. Learn from mistakes and stay focused. Prepare like a marketeer. Develop key job search skills. Research jobs and organisations in detail. Define your brand - your unique combination of skills and experiences. Work like an entrepreneur Identify hidden opportunities. Take risks; put yourself in front of potential employers - regardless of whether they are advertising a job. Sell a vision of yourself. Know who your customers are. Never quit in your quest for self-improvement and new knowledge. Title: Monster Careers - How to Land the Job of Your Life Author: Jeff Taylor, with Doug Hardy Publisher: Penguin, 2004