If you want to move the needle on your career, land a bigger role, build new skills, enter a new domain, or increase your learning potential, the time is now.

No one knows how long the economy will be strong, the risk is lower in changing jobs when there’s a talent shortage.

If you’ve been at the same company or role for more than 4-5 years, it’s definitely time to think about a change.  We rarely place people who have been in the same company more than 8-10 years.  You may think you have been in many different companies under the same brand but employers and recruiters looking at your bio don’t feel that way.  Loyalty has been redefined.

The best way to limit your future is stagnation.

While there’s a number of jobs out there, posted and not, it’s a tough market.

Though we advocate against it, most hiring managers crawl through resumes and make the ‘go/no go’ off that.  One or two words that don’t align with the need, a typo, ugly formatting, flowery language—you are out of consideration.

Invest in yourself, hire a pro to write your resume and have people you know who will be honest with you review it.  Ditto with the portfolio, work products, technical challenges.

We remind ourselves all the time that every interaction needs to be a 10.  Sloppy mobile correspondence, taking calls on in the city outside, sadly it all reflects back on your brand.

And when you land the interview, you better know how to talk about yourself, how to talk about your accomplishments.  As juicy and entertaining as it may be to hear how your CEO screwed up, this isn’t TMZ.

Be confident, be humble, personality matters more than you might think.