You can hire someone to tweak your resume. You can get the best suit money can buy but when it comes to the all-important time to make the decision to accept a position, make sure your head is in the right place! Don’t let fear creep into the process and sabotage your best efforts!

For many, change can be scary and stressful. It’s important to know, understand and remember the reasons that brought you to search for a new position in the first place. Share that information with the recruiter. During the interview process you’ll want to obtain all the information you can about the company, the culture and the job itself. Make sure it is in line with your original motivators and goals. When you have that information and compare it to the criteria you have set you will feel more confident and less fearful. You will be able to make a great decision – one that will be a great outcome for yourself and your potential employer.

Recruiters often are thought of in a negative way by a lot of jobseekers. The misconception is that we are in it for the money. The truth is, at the end of the day, good recruiters want to be successful and make a difference in a positive way for our candidates. When I can help someone make a change that is going to improve my candidate’s career, home life and increase the success of a client, money is just the cherry on top!

In making your decision, you’ll want to make a list of compelling reasons that got you started on your job search and have a few goals you want to accomplish by making a career move. The most popular reason I get is the salary increase. For some that is an easy switch especially in the consulting world. It gets more complicated in the full time world. There is the desire to switch expertise focus, growth opportunities, work life balance, location and company culture. Compensation and benefits are high on the list as well. It’s important to know what motivated you to start the search and your goals that you want to accomplish in your next position. Knowledge is power and you will need that to seal the deal.