As the year winds down, many of us feel like we ought to be doing something– and we wonder if we can hire someone to speed the path to success. What’s the likelihood that an investment will pay off?

Well, before you cut off a slice of cake…er, coaching, read on.

1. Past Experience . How have you made changes in the past? Did you consult a counselor or are you a firm do-it-yourselfer? Do you benefit expertise or do you genuinely believe, “All I ever needed I learned from my cat?” If you’ve always been a pie person, are you ready for cake now?

2. Choice. A craving for chocolate won’t be satisfied by a big slice of carrot cake. And if you’re starting a business, a need for sharp analysis won’t be satisfied by a motivational coach.

3. Space. If you’re supposed to be on a diet, how will you feel after you’ve eaten three slices with extra icing? And if you know you need to move but keep getting distracted…same outcome When you freely, joyously invest time and money in your next move, you’ll probably experience few regrets.

4. Formula. For a special occasion, you place a special order. For your own career, don’t accept one-size-fits-all canned programs

5. Try a bite! Until you’ve tasted, you won’t know if you want a second helping. And once you realize you like cinnamon better than chocolate, you’ll know what to ask for.

My own offerings are here.

With the economy in turmoil, many mid-career executives face tough challeges: career change, relocation, shifting job descriptions or self-employment.

Most of them will view the waning months of 2009 as dead time. So they’ll put career transition on the back burner until January.

That can be a huge mistake. I encourage my clients to begin planning now so they can hit the ground running in 2009.

Many executives and professionals have been distracted by election news and economic forecasts.
It’s more fun to think about politics. But Barack Obama has job security for four years. If you don’t, you have to focus on yourself.

Presidents begin their transitions months before they move to the White House. Executives should do the same. Like Obama, you need a plan, a set of goals and a high-power transition team.

Your transition team does not include recruiters. They work for the employer – not you. You need your own financial, personal and career advisors.

Not everybody’s team should include a career coach. Thousands of people make successful career moves on their own.

You will benefit most from hiring a career expert if

• you haven’t been on the job market for awhile,
• you aren’t sure what steps to take, and/or
• you want a break from corporate life.

Change takes time. And many career-changes under-estimate what’s involved.

Most opportunities are time-sensitive. If you get that big meeting on January 15, you can’t start planning January 14 or even January 1. You need to be working with your team long before.”

Holidays are perfect for career planning. You can justify being away from the office. You have a few days off to do some research. Some career consultants (including me) offer specials on their services.

And occasionally a client will say it’s an excuse to skip another boring party.

Check this out: The Evil HR Lady. She really needs to move to a WordPress or TypePad platform, but she’s got some good info there.

Being an outsider can be an advantage — if you know how to make it work for you.

Did you know:

• The man who made Goldman Sachs into a powerhouse firm was the ultimate outsider
• The founder of Kinko’s graduated at the bottom of his high school class
• A survey of small business owners revealed that 35% are dyslexic (as is Charles Schwab, founder of the brokerage house that bears his name)

Read the full story at The Outsider Advantage

One Career Consultant suggests recruiters look for focus, transferrable skills and accomplishments. I would agree, although I’m hearing that statements of “objectives” are no longer used. If you do include a statement of objectives, make sure it fits your targeted position. You may need to fine-tune each resume for a separate job. Read the article here.

For a long time I’ve been talking about the role of serendipity in careers. Read my article here.

And now I just ran across another story. Roberta Rosenberg writes about becoming an accidental marketer. While studying to be a broadcast journalist, she took a day job as a copywriter. She realized she loved it and that’s what she wanted to do with her life. Read the story here.

I admire Roberta’s self-awareness. It would have been easy to say, “Hey, I’ve committed to this broadcast journalism goal. Copywriting? OK, it’s fun, but I’m meant to be a journalist.”

How big does a mistake have to be to kill your career?

I read a story about a flight attendant who was fired for posting photos of herself striking suggestive poses. She was photographed wearing her official uniform on an empty airliner, clearly identifying her employer. I’ve also read about a hotshot cosultant who sent an email message describing his last date in graphic detail, using his employer’s email account.

Most of us manage to hide the live editions our worst case scenarios. But as a disaster planning exercise, here are my candidates for the Top 10 Dumbest Mistakes Made by the Smartest People.

1. Posting a photo of yourself on the Internet in a pose or costume that might raise eyebrows (not to mention red flags) at the office. Would you post this photo on your desk? Add a framed version to your office wall? Show it to your mother? Once you’ve posted to the Internet, you might as well.

2. Wearing a company uniform (or carrying an emblem of the company or standing outside company HQ) while performing Dumb Mistake #1. It’s like being the black sheep family member.

3. Writing a blog about your company “for therapy” and insisting it’s for you and your friends. Therapy should be private. Blogs are written to be shared with the world.

4. Using the company email to send a personal message. I get dozens of queries every year: “Hi Cathy. I hate my job. Can you help?” All written on their employer’s message system, legally available to their bosses and colleagues.

5. Thinking your boss, the HR department or the recruiter is your friend. Whoever pays their salary is their new best friend. Talk to your recruiter as you would talk to an employer or client. Talk to HR as little as possible.

If you’re looking for a gift for a mid-life changer (maybe yourself), I recommend Ahead of the Curve, a new book by Philip Delves Broughton. Broughton left a successful career and what many would consider a dream job - Paris bureau chief for the London Daily Telegraph - to attend Harvard Business School. He performed well at the school while remaining detached and cynical about the process and about business. Yet he was unable to reach his goal: finding a job in financial management.

As a career consultant, I shuddered as I followed the author’s job hunt. He wasn’t seriously interested and he clearly wasn’t a viable candidate for the corporate jobs he applied for. I can’t help wondering why Harvard doesn’t offer better career coaching, especially for their 0ver-30 students.

But I’m even more amazed (and appalled) to learn that Harvard requires students to take the notoriously unscientific Myer-Briggs test. I’ve written about the flaws of testing in general, and this test in particular, in an article you can read here.

Apparently Harvard also puts students through an exercise familiar (in various guises) to career and life coaches: “My Best Self.” It’s not the worst exercise in the world. But if you undertake a process like that, you need to de-brief with an experienced professional.

So why do I recommend the book? 3 reasons. First, it’s extremely well-written so you can have the pleasure of a good read while feeling virtuous about reading a business book. Second, even if you’re not going to Harvard, you’ll get a sense of the kind of subjects people study in MBA programs. And finally you’ll get ample food for thought about mid-career challenges and the importance of planning and self-awareness during any career change.

My own Special Report on returning to school for a mid-life mid-career challenge can be found here.

Roland approaches retirement with what a healthy nest egg: three houses, a seven-figure retirement account, and a pension that covers most monthly expenses.

Rosabelle just sold her retail business, after two years of coming to realize that, “This is not where I want to be.” A combination of increased competition and her own disinterest lowered the sale price and she faces bankruptcy. She owns nothing except a used car, a few clothes and some odd bits of books and furniture.

Roland rarely talks about his future. He talks about saving fifty dollars a year on his car insurance by spending 8 hours listening to a “safe driving over 60” class. He spends hours negotiating with a real estate agent to save a few hundred dollars when he sells a house he inherited. He wonders if he will run out of money in his lifetime.

Rosabelle reminds everyone she will be free to do whatever she wants once the business is gone. She might get a scholarship to study in a natural healing program or take a few months to explore her options. She wouldn’t mind a job in just the right place. She knows she will bounce back.

Rosabelle smiles when she talks about her relationship with her current significant other. She doesn’t know where it’s going but she’s enjoying the ride. Roland’s friends have begun to avoid him: they don’t want another dose of financial doom-and-gloom.

Most of us fall somewhere between Rosabelle and Roland. We’re not ready to be as free as Rosabelle and we tell ourselves we wouldn’t fret if we had Roland’s money. We can all be owned by fear, no matter how much money we have. And there’s no way to buy the gift of waking up with a feeling of anticipation: “Another day to do what I want!”

When I went to my first career workshop, the leader said, “Call strangers. Ask questions. They’re bored and they’d love to help you.”

This strategy was fine until a few million people read the Parachute book. Now executives were fending off eager callers.

With the economy doing a tap dance, it’s time to take a look at some contemporary strategies.

(1) Go virtual.

Link up on Facebook and LinkedIn. But be responsible. Never share anything online that you wouldn’t share with your grandmother, pastor, boss, and most back-stabbing colleague.

When you “friend” someone, make sure you have a legitimate connection. If you don’t have a direct connection, go through an introduction. Recently I was asked to introduce two people on LinkedIn, and it was my pleasure.

(2) Introduce yourself by positioning yourself as a problem-solver.

Some time ago a professional looking woman told me she worked for Company X. “I’m just a creative director,” she said.

Just a creative director? I for one was pretty impressed. Erase the word “just” from your introduction vocabulary.

I would stay away from those stylized elevator speeches. But you can present yourself as a successful professional, even if you’re underemployed, unemployed or feeling you’re not moving fast enough.

(3) Be prepared with a low-key success story.

Example: You say, “I am a project director.”

Your listener says, “What does that mean?”

You say, “Well here’s an example. I just organized a project where I had to coordinate ten team members from 4 departments. I had to find suppliers, maintain the timeline and come in on time and under budget. We saved the company $50,000 with our system redesign.”

For more job search ideas, check out my irreverent job search guide.