CBS Jane Clayson reports.

(CBS) The Early Show's Get A Job series seeks to help those who've lost a job or who fear theirs could be in jeopardy. On Feb. 20, Kate Wendleton, president of The Five O'Clock Club, demonstrated how to assess your skills and become more marketable to employers.

Wendleton has worked as a career coach since 1978, when she founded The Five O'Clock Club. Through her job-search methods, she has helped career changers attain higher level positions.

She invites you to try her Seven Stories exercise. (Download the PDF file.) Reflect on your past and present achievements and identify 25 accomplishments. This way you'll identify your life's most satisfying experiences and uncover the skills you want to use in the future.

For this exercise, it doesn't matter whether you were paid for those accomplishments, according to Wendleton. Just think of concrete examples, situations and tasks, not generalized talents.

Then narrow down the list to seven favorites and rank them. The list should include those achievements you enjoyed the most and attained a sense of accomplishment about. You will probably want to build on these in your new job.

The exercise will not tell you exactly what job you should have, but it will assist you in identifying what to look for in a satifying position, Wendleton says.

If you already know the type of job you want, the exercise will point out prior accomplishments so you can present them to a prospective employer.

The next step is Analyzing Your Stories. (Download another PDF file.) Look for common threads on your list, things that brought enjoyment. If some tasks are work related, feature them prominently on your resume.

To write your way to a successful job search, click on the following journal links:

GET A JOB DAILY JOURNAL
BRAND NEW DAY	TAKE CHARGE

To go back to Get A Job series Click here.