Years ago it was fairly easy to find a new position. Search firms would call you with a position opening and you could take your time selecting between job offerings. Or, friends contacted you with tips that a company down the road was hiring and needed people with your skills. All that you needed to do was to update your resume from time to time and everything fell into place.

Today we have a different situation: the marketplace is crawling with competition for those jobs. The time to sit back and think that a company will find you is no...