The Keys to Unlocking Your Most Successful Career

Five Simple But Crucial Lessons Culled From Many
Years of Offering Advice to Workers, Bosses and Job Seekers

Finding a job, flourishing on the job and moving into a better job
demand plenty of work–especially during a jobless recovery.

That's why
I am offering my five best lessons for managing your career, gleaned
since I launched this column in July 1993. They include the importance
of out-of-the box networking, sweating the small stuff and knowing
yourself well enough that you're always ready for reinvention.

The lessons' common theme? No one can
manage You Inc. better than you. And here's how to do it:

1. .
Network effectively rather than aimlessly.

Focus on forging "strategic
relationships" at 10 prospective employers, suggests Paul Anderson, a
career coach in Redmond, Wash. That means avoiding an "elevator pitch"
in which you buttonhole people and give them your career pitch on the
fly.

"Relationships can't be built
in 60 seconds,'' Mr. Anderson insists. "People hire people they like
and trust." So, work on building better ties with your contacts by being
a reliable resource for them and offering frequent updates about your
career.

You can land strong
introductions through your closest contacts, social networking sites and
good "connectors," who may have nothing to do with your line of work.
These professionals, such as hairstylists, dentists, ministers and
accountants, amass connections that cut across industries.

Connectors "make introductions because
they like to," notes Diane Darling, a networking consultant in Boston.
She expanded her connections and consulting gigs by creating a personal
board of advisers.

For the same
reason, attend industry conferences that attract targeted businesses.
Scrutinize the guest list, pinpoint executives you wish to meet and
schedule encounters there.

When
Tayari Howard was an aspiring radio personality in the '90s, he attended
about 10 public events hosted by a San Diego station before meeting a
department head and pitching his candidacy for a job. "Persistence paid
off!" says Mr. Howard, who was hired by the radio station in June 1995,
and still hosts a nightly show there.

2. Sweat the small stuff.

Tiny missteps may derail your career. You
appear unpolished when you talk like an adolescent, curse at colleagues
or proffer a sweaty palm.

Outdated
clothes, frayed cuffs, messy hair, scuffed shoes or excess cleavage
also signal poor judgment. "Looking your best at any age is what you
should aspire to," advises Patricia Cook, an executive recruiter in
Bronxville, N.Y.

Even bathroom
habits count. High-tech recruiter Dora Vell once worked for a major
search firm where the receptionist alerted partners if candidates using
the guest toilet near her desk failed to wash their hands. (She could
hear the faucet.)

This lesson also
applies to cover letters. Inspirica, a New York high school and college
tutoring concern, found mistakes in 93% of 220 letters from tutor
applicants over the past year. Many flawed letters came from experienced
writing tutors.

"Pay attention to
everything you write in cover letters," warns Lisa Jacobson,
Inspirica's CEO. "Otherwise, you will get weed whacked right out." Her
firm hired just 15 tutors in the fiscal year ended in June.

3. Make your résumé and
business card work overtime for you.

Too often, résumés chronicle your past
rather than promote marketable skills that would benefit potential
employers. An additional "pre-résumé" may make more sense, says Rick
Gillis, an author of two job-hunting books who devised the concept. The
one-page document contains a brief objective statement that describes
precise ways you will improve a particular company, he adds.

A pre-résumé also includes highlights of
four career accomplishments–plus a string of key words (such as
"multi-task professional") that get detected by resume-tracking
software.

An online résumé offers another approach.
You can show work samples, references' video testimonials and any data
that may demonstrate successes in your career, such as surpassing sales
targets.

It's equally important
that your business card convey a memorable first impression. List your
strongest skills or highest degree right under your name. But omit your
physical address to appear flexible about relocation. Don't overlook the
reverse side of your card. Rather than leave it blank, you can display
the name of a prominent prior employer.

4. Pay it forward.

Whether
you're on the job or seeking one, you should help others propel their
careers without expecting return favors.

New
Directions, an upscale executive-transition-planning firm in Boston,
encourages jobless managerial clients to aid welfare mothers, homeless
veterans and others hunting for work. Banker Mike Lenihan served as an
unpaid mentor all three times he was a New Directions client since 2003.

He says his latest stint, involving
coaching unemployed administrative assistants about the tough job
market, impressed a U.S. Bancorp hiring official. He joined a unit in
January as a senior vice president.

So
many people assisted Mary Steele throughout her career that "I wished
to pay it forward," the head of executive compensation for Delta Air
Lines Inc. says.

During a 2006 job
hunt, Ms. Steele began compiling a list of high-paid human resources
vacancies she didn't pursue. She now emails similar job-lead updates 300
times a year to more than 500 people, mostly seasoned HR managers.

5. Know thyself—and be ready
for reinvention.

You
should constantly take stock of your dreams, values and transferrable
skills. Scrupulous self-assessments can ease jitters about changing your
occupation, industry, locale or pay.

After losing his job as a hourly
manufacturing worker in 2006, Christopher Pearsall became a product
manager for a business-software developer the following year. When the
part-time paramedic got laid off again in 2008, he decided to pursue
what he really loved: health care.

Mr.
Pearsall will soon finish nursing school. "I have re-reinvented
myself," he says.

To succeed at
your current workplace, you must be equally flexible about accepting
lateral moves. Businesses like such switch hitters—as I can attest.

Today marks the last print version of a
column that sought to provide uncommon solutions to common career
dilemmas for 17 years. Soon, in my new monthly advice column on WSJ.com,
I'll tackle a new challenge: helping senior executives make the most of
their careers.

—Write to Joann Lublin at
joann.lublin@wsj.com