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A lot of people have been out on the job hunt for months and can’t articulate their skills effectively. Or they articulate them in a bland, uninspiring way, like this:

I’m a hard worker.

OR

I’m a great communicator.

OR

I’m an effective leader.

These things may be true, but they do nothing to distinguish you from everyone else who wants the job you’re after. In fact, saying you are a hard worker doesn’t even distinguish you from people who want jobs that don’t interest you or that you’re not qualified for: baseball player, auto mechanic, and lion tamer.

Distinguishing yourself from the competition is the name of the game in marketing—and that’s what you’re trying to do in a job search. So how do you distinguish yourself?

Let’s take “effective leader.” Remember that as leaders go, Adolph Hitler was very effective—at war and mass murder. Bobby Knight, the basketball coach, is effective, but he screams at people and throws chairs around. Obviously, you are very different from them. How so? The key here is precision in your vocabulary.

After some reflection, one manager said:

I create an atmosphere of trust and cooperation that develops top talent.
Another said:

I find and mold good people into highly-motivated and effective teams.

Two others said:

I can come in at the last minute, take charge of failing projects, and make them successful.
And…

I overcome language and cultural barriers to make virtual teams effective on complex technical projects.

Precise language separates you from the pack and gives you an edge on the competition.

“We’re not going to need you here anymore. I’m sorry.” Some people who get this devastating message feel there was no warning. Often, however, there were signs well ahead of time.

Lack of motivation for the job
Susan was a star performer until they hired a new supervisor who changed everything. He took away her favorite projects and transferred her away from the people she loved working with. All her enthusiasm for the job evaporated. For months, she was angry and just went through the motions at work. She now says she was foolish to think she could hide her feelings. She’s no actress, and her true feelings and resentment were being read loud and clear. Many people hate their jobs, but wrongly believe their supervisor and coworkers don’t know.

Lack of promotions or demotions
Tim enjoyed a great relationship with the CEO. His responsibilities and influence extended far beyond his department. Then, a newly-hired manager started to move into his turf. She reversed several of Tim’s decisions and took over some of Tim’s responsibilities. Although he kept the same title, Tim had been demoted. Tim gamely cooperated, believing he would be redeemed, but soon, he was out of a job. If the company shows little interest in your performance, they may be looking for your replacement.

Being left out of projects and decisions
Tim was told someone “forgot” to invite him to two important project meetings. Meetings with the CEO became difficult to arrange. He felt isolated and” out of the loop.

Conflict disappearing
Ben and his boss didn’t see eye to eye on much, and there was a thinly-veiled hostility between them. Twice, it escalated into an open argument. This in itself was alarming. Then, suddenly the tension disappeared. The boss was almost pleasant. Ben misinterpreted this change and felt relieved–until he got the ax. Once the boss knows you’re on the way out, there’s little reason to fight.

Beware if you find yourself making up explanations for the way you’re treated. Whether the treatment is good or bad, consider the odd behavior against the test question, “If the person who is acting strangely knew you were going to be fired, would the behavior makes sense?”

If any of this sounds familiar, be in an action–pronto! What to do?

One strategy is to knowledge the situation and negotiate a way out. Susan might have said, “Obviously, this isn’t working. I’d like to discuss phasing out.” She might have negotiated severance and/or time to look for a new job.

Another strategy is to set up projects and outside the office schedules that will give you the freedom and flexibility to go on interviews and crank up the job campaign.

Don’t just wait for the pink slip.

The late-night phone callWho would you ask if you needed a big favor–fast? Harvey McKay’s book, “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” tells of a man who received a phone call at 2 a.m. The caller was someone he hadn’t talked to in over 10 years, and he was nearly hysterical. His company was broke and he desperately needed a $20,000 loan to avoid going to jail. The man chose to loan the caller a small amount, although he could easily have loaned the entire $20,000. After all, the caller had not been in touch.

Keeping a vital network is especially important in your career. Don’t wait until you’re in a pinch to contact people in your network–and expand it.

Everyone knows networking is critical when job hunting. As soon as people lose their jobs, they start networking like crazy. Unfortunately, desperation networking is much less effective than consistent, intelligent networking.

Learn from Marty’s mistake
Marty found this out the hard way. He started networking after his last company collapsed. Within two weeks, a friend set him up for an interview with his boss. It didn’t feel right: it wasn’t what he wanted to do, he didn’t like the boss, and it was quite a commute. Still, he needed to eat, so he took it.

Once he started the job, he put his nose to the grindstone and worked hard. He half convinced himself that he liked what he was doing.

Of course, there was no time to continue networking. Well, that was only partly true. Being busy was a great excuse. Let’s face it. Most of us find it very uncomfortable to talk to strangers. We can live in a fantasy world to avoid it.

Marty got a hard dose of reality when the boss decided to replace him. He didn’t even get a thank you for all his hard work, and didn’t get any severance. Then, it was back to desperation networking.

Learn from others’ successful networking
Remember, part of networking is giving to other people. It’s not just passing out your resume, but it involves building relationships over time. Many people never learn the importance of giving before receiving.

Here’s how a couple people took action to keep their networks vital and growing.

Sharon took the initiative to get involved in interdepartmental projects. It meant more work, but now she is well known outside her department, and has strong relationships with three department heads, besides her own.

When Dwight joined his professional association, he found that many members came to meetings, but few volunteered to help out. Dwight volunteered to serve as an officer, and soon got to know dozens of people in his field.

Don’t wait until you’re “thirsty.” Start building your network today.

More education can be a step backwards
Everyone’s praising education these days. We do too–up to a point. But don’t confuse the connection between education and career. Education isn’t necessarily a sure-fire way to jumpstart stalled careers. Going back to school can actually be a step backward.

How?

Remember, school is a means to an end, not the end itself. Enrolling in school without clear goals can be an expensive waste of time and money. You may get a warm safe feeling. You may feel, “I need to really know my stuff first.” You may also be fooling yourself.

Certainly, you need extended education in fields such as law, medicine, or the ministry. But many people are better off skipping further education and just getting to work. Many schools would love to take your money, but before you enroll, learn from the experience of these people.

Debbie’s expensive MBA
Debbie’s career was going nowhere fast, so she enrolled in an MBA program. After many months of study and thousands of dollars in tuition, she has her degree, but still doesn’t know what she wants. Her career is still stuck because she had no goals, didn’t know what she wanted to learn or what she wanted to offer employers. Worse, many employers now see her as overqualified. We often see people whose advanced degrees didn’t get them the job they wanted.

Chuck’s disillusionment
Others do get their “dream job,” but soon find it isn’t what they’d expected. Like many law students, Chuck envisioned glamorous litigation, but instead, is stuck endlessly poring over minute details of dreadfully dull corporate contracts.

Frank skips school
In some professions, on the job training is superior to school. Frank was going to fork over tuition for cooking school to become a chef. We advised him to interview several successful working chef’s first. They all said he didn’t need school, but advised him to get a job and learn from a skilled chef. He got paid to learn rather than paying someone to teach him.

Lisa Does it right
If you do need more education, develop a good plan. Lisa decided to pursue a second career in health care administration. Before enrolling in school, she interviewed a number of people in the field, and confirmed that this career choice and the MBA program were right for her. She also got good advice on the right school, courses, and instructors, and developed a (revisable) five-year plan. She also found an employer willing to pay her tuition, saving herself a pile of cash.

Do your homework first!
It might sound backwards, but do your homework before going to school. Decide what you want to do with the rest of your life first, then talk to people successfully doing it in the real world. The answers they give you are the best–and often the only–higher education you’ll ever need.