Take command of your career and dont rely on others to manage it for you.

The Internet has made it very easy for job searchers to rely on other people to manage their careers, usually with limited results.

Here are some suggestions to ensure you take command of your career:

1. Dont rely on other people to run your job search for you.

A recruiter doesnt work for you, they work for any client company that pays them to find staff. A recruiter isnt paid to get you a job, they are paid to find someone to take a job that their client has available.

Similarly, while its good to get advice from trusted friends and family regarding your career, its your career not theirs so the ultimate responsibility lies with you.

2. Dont rely on resume-blasting services.

You may have heard of companies that you can hire to mass email thousands of hiring managers and recruiters with your resume.

I wouldn't expect great results from this sort of service. If your resume is getting emailed along with hundreds of other resumes, it's likely to get lost in the shuffle or blocked by a spam filter.

I remember signing up (as a recruiter) to receive resumes from one of these services just to try it out. I did not find this service useful and usually deleted the emails without looking at them.

Protect your resume and treat it like something that has value. Its hard to take command of your career when you put it in the hands of thousands of people you havent met who dont know you either.

Manage your resume's distribution and using this sort of service likely isnt something that is worth your time.

Take command of your career, don't put it in the hands of strangers.

3. Dont apply for jobs you arent qualified for.

Some people think they should apply for jobs they are over qualified or under qualified for, hoping that it will lead to another more suitable job in the company being presented to them.

Applying for jobs you arent qualified for is a waste of your time and the hiring managers and chances are they will just think of you as someone who is desperate and who cant follow instructions.

You may end up being blackballed from a company and ruining your chances at a future job with them that you are qualified for.

Take command of your career by understanding what positions you should and shouldn't apply for.

4. Dont start looking to find your dream career until you know what you are looking for.

Dont choose your career goals based on what other people tell you is hot or what they think youd be good at.

You also shouldnt choose your career path based on what you think will make you the most money. At the end of the day, you know yourself better than anyone else and you know what will make you happy.

Take command of your career by first understanding what you are looking for.