...and the winners are...

I'm thrilled to finally announce with winners of the Career Makeover Series, Q4-2007!  Having received and reviewed hundreds of entries over the past few weeks, I can assure you that every application was given careful consideration before I arrived at my final selections.

My goal was to choose two candidates with distinctly different backgrounds, goals, circumstances and job search challenges. And the winners are...Scott Martin of Mobile, Alabama and Robert Cameron of Weston, Florida!

Congratulations Scott and Robert! I will be working with both Scott and Robert one-on-one over the next 6 weeks to help them put together a comprehensive strategy for landing a new job. You can track our progress each week right here at www.operationsrecruiter.com.

Here is a little background on our winners:

Scott Martin: After graduating with a BS in Information Systems from the University of Alabama in 1992, Scott has worked in a variety of technical support and development roles; most recently serving as the Director of Technical Services with a company that develops clinical information systems. Scott's job search challenges are:

• Scott hasn't had to conduct a job search in over 6 years (which, BTW, is a lifetime in the technology industry!), so he's a little rusty on the most effective ways to market himself to potential employers.
• With a population of around 400,000, Scott's hometown of Mobile, AL probably would not be included in a top 10 list of "technology hubs" in the U.S. To give you an example, a job search on Monster.com returned a grand TOTAL of 11 jobs under the category of "Information Technology.
• Scott feels that since he was part of a management-downsizing initiative with his last employer, it may put him at a disadvantage when meeting with potentially new employers.

Robert Cameron: Robert has been in multi-channel marketing for the last 20 years--with his primary area of expertise being direct-mail marketing (catalogs). Since 2003, he has been working for himself as an independent marketing consultant and has made the decision to get back into the corporate world. Robert's job search challenges are:

• After spending 10+ years with one employer from 1987-1997, Robert has switched jobs 5 times since then, averaging less than 18 months on each position.
• Robert suspects that many hiring managers might view his age (early 50's) as a negative factor when weighing his candidacy for a new position.
• Robert is open to the idea of relocation, however, he would prefer to find a position and employer that would be willing to pay for his moving expenses (a rariety these days).

As I mentioned, you can keep up with our progress as well as learn valuable job search tips and tricks over the next 6 weeks. The job search strategies we'll be using during the Career Makeover Series can be found in my latest book, The Executive Rules: A Complete Guide to Landing an Executive Job.