1) Recognize luck when it strikes

Recognizing luck — and when to let it interfere with our plans — is a key element in building success. Take Sherri Stevens, voted one of Canada’s top 100 female entrepreneurs in 2011 by Canadian Business Magazine. Just a year into starting her own staffing agency in Ingersoll, Ontario, Stevens got a call from Toyota Canada, which was looking for temporary plant workers. Up to that point, Stevens had only placed office personnel, but she jumped at the opportunity — and delivered. That was in 1991; her company, Stevens Resource Group Inc., is now a major supplier of labour for the Canadian auto industry. Stevens not only got a break, she capitalized on it, which helped to define her company’s future success.

2) Push opportunity to the extreme

Successful business people have something else in common: when they decide to seize an opportunity they do it with a fanatical, obsessive level of discipline. These people choose their moves carefully, and then work like dogs to squeeze every bit of opportunity out of them. Take Bill Gates. You’ve heard of him, right? Collins and Morten discuss how while many people could have done what he did to become a leader in the personal computing industry, it was only Gates who put his college degree, his life – and sleep – on hold to get Microsoft’s first computer program on the market. When Gates saw an opportunity, he didn’t just seize it, he lived it.

3) Capitalize on bad luck too

Capitalizing on good luck seems like a no-brainer — it isn’t easy, but at least it’s fun. Capitalizing on bad luck is a true challenge in every sense of the word. But research suggests that those who can use unfortunate luck to their advantage are most likely to succeed over the long term. Consider Martha Stewart. Okay, so maybe her stint in jail for lying to investigators about an inside stock trade was a little more than bad luck, but Stewart’s recent comeback shows she isn’t willing to let a bad turn take over her life – or her business. On December 7, 2011, the domestic diva announced a US$38.5 million deal with J.C. Penney, which will create Martha Stewart stores within most of its locations beginning in 2013. Stewart’s new book, “Martha’s Entertaining: A Year of Celebrations,” which includes stories about her time in prison, is also selling well.  Many thought this media maven’s career was in lockdown; in reality her downfall has become the key to her renewed success.

4) Allow some “productive paranoia”

The authors of “Great by Choice” discovered that when career leaders found a successful angle, they worked it to death — even went overboard — thus creating a margin of safety for their businesses. Jennifer Blakeley, who also ranked among the top female entrepreneurs in 2011, was looking to drum up more business for her company, Alphabet Photography. Her viral YouTube video, titled Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, was viewed by more than 35 million people and more than did the trick. What was once a little-known Ontario company topped $1 million in revenue in 2010!

5) Stay in the game

If you think about it in terms of probability, one way to capitalize on luck is to stick around long enough for good luck to return. For entrepreneurs and business people, this means balancing jumping at big opportunities with making smart moves that will keep you in the game. So be persistent, and give luck a chance to favour you.

Seize your success

Next time luck comes your way, will you recognize it and seize it or just let it slide? Those who seize opportunity and throw everything they have at making the most of whatever life throws at them enjoy the greatest success…and that’s more than just luck!

Ivan Drucker and Caroline Green are the principals of IvanExpert, a Mac-focused technology consulting firm. They advise small businesses in the New York City area on how to leverage their technology to be more efficient and productive. They’re well-equipped to evaluate technological tools to help job seekers.

[See The 50 Best Careers of 2011.]

If you’re using an iPhone, Drucker and Green suggest the following as “best” applications to help when you’re looking for a job. “Because job hunters often don’t have extra cash to throw around, we’ve selected only those apps that are $2.99 or less,” Drucker says. “So even if you buy every app mentioned in this article, you’re only out $13.94.”

After reviewing dozens and dozens of job-related iPhone apps, these experts suggest the following for iPhone users (by category):

Networking. There are a variety of great, free recommended applications (also available on other mobile systems). For example, both LinkedIn and Facebook have free applications. (Don’t forget to update and complete your profiles on these sites. Another option: How to use LinkedIn to get a job (free): The most valuable chapter is the last one, “Searching and Applying for Jobs.” If you’re not a LinkedIn expert, read the other chapters, too.

[See The 50 Best Places to Work for 2012.]

Job Listings. Monster.com and CareerBuilder’s Jobs (both free) are crucial apps. Drucker and Green suggest Craigslist as a source for job listings in certain cities. “There are tons of Craigslist apps at different price points; for attractiveness and ease of use our favorite is Craigslist Mobile Pro ($1.99),” Green says. “There is a free version, but we advise buying the paid version because you can save and re-use your searches.”

Real-Time Jobs (free) is very innovative. It searches Twitter for job postings based on the job title and location you put in. Even if it doesn’t find you the perfect job, it may help you figure out whom to follow on Twitter for jobs in your field.

Resume writing. “There are lots of iPhone apps for creating a resume on your iPhone, but we don’t recommend this–your resume should be better than what you can build in five minutes on a tiny screen,” Drucker says. “However, there is one category of app that’s incredibly useful for your resume, and that’s a thesaurus. Well-chosen words are a powerful tool for impressing a potential employer, so don’t be shy about using a thesaurus app to help you craft your resume.” Green adds, “Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus ($2.99) is, in our opinion, the best of the low-cost thesaurus apps.”

The interview. Drucker and Green have several favorite applications to help you with your interview preparations: What Color Is Your Parachute? Job-Interview Tool (free) has vital tips to help you before, during, and after your interview. They suggest using it to master First Impressions and Skills, and to avoid Top Ten Mistakes. “Interview Questions and Answers ($1.99) provides smart interview advice,” Green says. “It includes 150 questions you may well be asked in an interview, ranging from the obvious to the unusual. It doesn’t tell you what you should answer for each one; instead it makes you think about what the interviewer may be looking for in your response.” Finally, they believe Monster.com Interviews (free) offers valuable tips and also manages your job search process. You can let your iPhone keep track of your interviews and also do your reconnaissance web research.

[See 8 Reasons to Continue Your Holiday Job Search.]

Body language. A category you may not have considered turning to an application to evaluate, body language can be the difference between you or somebody else scoring that job. Learn what you may be unconsciously saying to a prospective employer before you open your mouth. The experts recommend: Body Language for Dummies ($0.99), which provides “Looking Closer at Non-verbal Gestures” and “Ten Ways to Spot Deception,” and also has a mini chapter on “Interviewing, Influencing, and Playing Politics,” which is the most useful for interview prep.

The duo’s other favorites include: Body Talk ($1.99), which breaks down gestures and movements by body part and outlines if the meaning is positive or negative. “Read them all and practice using the positive techniques while avoiding the negatives,” Green says.

Last, take a look at JobCoach ($2.99), which breaks down your job-search process into small and easy-to-conquer steps, and provides you with tips and ideas (many as 2-minute audio clips) for each step along the way.

You can use all the help you can get when job hunting. Don’t forget to look for these or other applications to help you succeed in your career goals.

So how do you save and plan for retirement while also doing low-paying work that you love? Bankrate.com asked people who’ve been successful to share their secrets.

Psychologist Katie McCorkle says, “While my profession is not necessarily low-paying, it has been a constant balancing act to generate enough income to keep my bills paid – and still have enough time and energy to do all that’s been required to launch Balanced Heart Healing Center, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit integrative healing center I founded. It would have been so much easier if I could have trained my four cats to help generate income!”

While McCorkle plans to work through retirement — she says, “Pursuing my passion is my retirement” — she also knows she needs money in the bank. She accomplishes this by transferring a predetermined amount of retirement money to savings before doing anything else with her paycheck. “You begin to train your brain to think of your income as the amount you have left after taking out your retirement savings, and you adjust your lifestyle to that amount. Commitment and consistency is the key to making this work.”

[In Pictures: 10 Ways to Start Earning Extra Money Now]

“I believe it’s financially irresponsible not to get it all in by year-end and minimize your tax burden,” he says. “Rather than give that money to the government, which is remarkably inefficient with spending and has little to no accountability, we give it to our favorite charities, which spend efficiently on causes we care about.” He and his wife have donated to Robin Hood, an organization that fights poverty in New York City, Room to Read, which focuses on literacy, and DonorsChoose, which lets donors select projects at schools.

Donating to charity is just one smart year-end money move to consider. Others including tapping out health savings accounts, ramping up retirement savings to hit the maximum allowed for the year, and bringing in as much income as possible before midnight on December 31, to minimize the impact of a potential payroll tax increase.

Here are seven smart money moves to make before the ball drops:

Double down on retirement savings. Retirement expert Bill Losey suggests maxing out employer-sponsored retirement plans. Since this year’s limit is $16,500 (with a $5,500 catch-up contribution for those age 50 or older), if you’re under that limit, you still have time to reach it. If it’s too late for you, you can always get a jump-start on next year, when the limit goes up to $17,000.

Get new glasses. If you haven’t spent the money in your employer-sponsored health savings account by the end of the year, you might want to consider stocking up on eligible expenses, from new glasses to contact lens solution. In most cases, money that isn’t spent is forfeited. The deadline for 2011 expenses varies, but many companies extend the deadline to mid-March 2012. Be sure check the list of eligible expenses because some items changed this year; in February, the IRS announced that breast pumps and related nursing supplies now qualify.

Bring in as much income as possible before the clock strikes twelve on December 31. Due to Congressional gridlock, the payroll tax cut might expire in 2012, which would affect 160 million Americans. People earning $50,000 a year would pay an additional $1,000 in taxes; those earning $75,000 would pay an additional $1,500. That means anyone who has flexibility in when they earn income, such as freelancers or consultants, could benefit by bringing as much as possible into 2011 instead of leaving it for 2012, when the tax rates could be higher.

Give a cash bonus to family members at Christmas. This tip applies primarily to wealthy Americans who face a potential increase in the estate tax after 2012. According to the tax firm CCH, Congress is likely to lower to estate tax exclusion to $3.5 million from $5 million, as well as increase the top tax rate to 45 percent. That means anyone who could be affected by those changes might want to consider giving more money to family members now, before death and before those tax hikes. Donors can give up to $13,000 per person without paying taxes.

[Earn an Extra $500 for the Holidays]

Stock up on stocks. The tax experts at CCH also point out that maximum capital gains tax rate could go from 15 percent to 20 percent or higher after 2012. Investors will need to purchase stocks or other capital assets before the end of 2011 in order to qualify for long-term capital gains rate by the end of 2012.

Get a new roof. Because a handful of energy-efficient tax breaks require the purchase of materials before Jan. 1, 2012, homeowners should consider investing in those improvements before the end of the year. According to CCH, certain types of insulation as well as roofing and HVAC systems are eligible. (The 2011 credit amount is capped at $500.)

Create a college savings account. Any contributions made to 529 college savings accounts before December 31 are tax-deductible for the year. Plus, contributions make great presents, according to T.D. Ameritrade, since anyone can contribute, including grandparents and friends. As long as the money is used for higher education, it is not subject to federal income taxes and in some cases is also exempt from state income tax.

The economy has taken a nose dive in recent months, and it’s taken more than a few jobs with it.

The unemployment rate for January was pegged at 7.6 percent by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which says 3.6 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession.

And many experts feel the situation will get worse before it gets better.

If you’ve recently lost your job, it’s time to get your finances in order. Here are a few tips from the experts to help you address your financial obligations — and keep your credit score intact — while you work to get back on your feet.

1. Don’t burn bridges. It’s tempting to take out your frustration on your boss, but he is likely to be a reference for your next job — or may even have a budget to hire you for part-time contract work. “If you make an embarrassing exit, it’s not going to stay within those four walls,” says Gail Cunningham, spokesperson for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “It’s possible that others in your industry will find out — including the very people [with whom] you hope to find your new job.” Stay professional throughout the process — even if others don’t do the same.

2. Seek help from your former employer. Your company may offer a range of services to help you get back on your feet, from workshops to retooling your resume to classes on how to look for jobs.

3. Take stock. When you’ve lost your job, it’s more important than ever to have a handle on your finances. Tally up your monthly expenses and create a survival budget to get a sense of how long your savings can keep you afloat.If you’ve been a diligent saver and you’ve got investments that won’t be hard to liquidate, you may find that you have more time to find a job than you thought. “Individuals’ fears tend to be greater than reality,” says Michael Haubrich, president of the Financial Service Group. “When you look at all of your available lines of credit, the equity in your home and your cash available, you may find you have more time than you think to be strategic in your job search.”

4. Apply for government benefits. It can feel embarrassing to head to the unemployment office if you’ve been laid off or fired. But don’t delay, says Roberta Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions. “You’ve worked for it and you’ve earned it,” she says. “Apply right away, because it will take time to get processed.”

5. Cut back. This may seem obvious, but look for hidden expenses you may be able to eliminate. Consider dropping or reducing your cable, movie subscriptions and cell phone minutes. “That doesn’t mean that you can’t give yourself occasional permission to spend,” says Galia Gichon, founder of Down-To-Earth Finance, “but make sure you’re making those decisions consciously.”

6. Get buy-in from your family. Your children don’t have to understand the minutia of unemployment benefits and credit card debt to appreciate the importance of cutting back, Cunningham says.”People think they can protect their children by not discussing finances around them, but a joint effort can yield great results,” she says. “You can put it in terms they can understand — like instead of ordering out pizza three times a week, maybe you only do it once.”

7. Prioritize your bills. It’s never wise to let bills go unpaid, but if you’re in a money crunch, make sure you know which ones to pay first. “If your creditor is happy but your electricity’s been cut off, you’ve paid backwards,” Cunningham says. Creditors are persistent, but your five major priorities should be your rent or mortgage, utility bills, food, insurance and medicine.

8. Come up with a weekly cash-flow plan. It’s not difficult to come up with a monthly budget — just tally up your fixed costs like mortgage and utility bills, and make some estimates about your discretionary spending. Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget over the course of the month how you actually spend your money. Gichon says you’ll benefit by dividing your budget into weekly increments. “If you can control your budget, you can do so much more with your money,” she says. “It’s much easier to do on a weekly basis.”

9. Consider alternative health care options. COBRA is an easy — but expensive — option to retain your health care coverage after your last day of work. If you’re relatively healthy and don’t have chronic conditions, a bare-bones major medical plan may help you save money while still protecting you from catastrophic emergencies. The Web sites Insureme.com (a Bankrate company), Ehealthinsurance.com and Insurance.com offer good options.

10. Call your creditors. It may seem counterintuitive to let your creditors know you’ve lost your job, but Haubrich says you’re more likely to be able to cut a deal that way. “It helps to be proactive,” he says. “The creditor may be willing to discuss some type of minimum payment. They’re likely to be much more reasonable with you if you tell them upfront, rather than waiting for them to contact you after you’ve missed a payment.”

11. Resist the urge to overspend during your job search. It may be tempting to think that you need to have a $150 haircut and a $750 suit to make a good impression during a job interview, but Gichon recommends making your purchases sparingly. “It’s fine to give yourself permission to spend, but maybe it only needs to be a new shirt or a new necklace.” Instead of networking at business lunches, consider meeting in hotel lobbies or coffee shops, which can be just as effective and much less expensive.

12. Network wisely. Get in touch with people who may be able to offer help — but try not to burden them, Matuson says. “Ask for 10 minutes of their time — and stick to the 10 minutes,” she says. “Have a resume ready.”

13. Don’t pay off your debt. Haubrich says clients often are eager to pay off their debts and close their accounts because of the psychological weight they carry when you’re not bringing in any income. He believes it’s the wrong strategy. “Your ability to get lines of credit is compromised when you don’t have a job,” he says. “If you end up needing money, you won’t be able to get a new loan.”

14. Stay away from your 401(k). It’s almost never wise to raid your retirement accounts — not only will you pay a hefty tax and 10 percent penalty, you’ll also miss out on years of growth and compounding. And once you take that money out, you can’t put it back, unless you take it out as a loan, but then you will just be creating another monthly bill to pay.

15. Avoid quick fixes. If your back is against the wall and you have no idea how you’ll make your next rent or mortgage payment, you’ll probably need to get a job right away. However, if possible, don’t just take whatever’s immediately available, Haubrich says. “If you become desperate and grab the first job that comes along, you might find that today’s solution becomes tomorrow’s nightmare,” he says. He says that some people find that losing their job can be just the push that some people need to find a new career path that brings them greater satisfaction.

While the job market has had better days, a range of options — with good pay, flexible hours and interesting and meaningful work — are available to people 50 and older. Here, experts share some of the key areas where experienced workers can snag great jobs.

Government

Uncle Sam needs you … to take a job with the government. “Projections show that the federal government could potentially lose over a third of its workforce to retirement over the next three to five years,” says David Nathan, a spokesman for AARP. He notes that three federal agencies in particular — the IRS, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Disaster Assistance office, and the Peace Corps — have been notably receptive to workers over the age of 50. Perks like job stability, good health care benefits and consistent raises make working for the government even more appealing. A dedicated Web site, www.usajobs.gov, can help people track down the best federal jobs in their area.

Handyperson

Many people don’t want to deal with the hassle of even small fix-it projects, and competent do-it-yourselfers can earn as much as $50 an hour doing odd jobs for people. “People want someone to help them plunge the toilet, fix the light bulb, do some painting,” says Robin Ryan, a career counselor and author of “60 Seconds & You’re Hired!” He adds, “If you’re handy, you can spend a half-day just going through someone’s checklist.” Not sure which end of the hammer to use? You also may find jobs helping people run errands, organizing basements and garages or cleaning and caring for household pets.

Nonprofits

Nonprofit organizations don’t usually offer big paychecks, but they still provide big rewards, says Roberta Chinsky Matuson, president of Human Resource Solutions. “We’re finding that retirees are very interested in shifting over to the nonprofit world, where they can make a contribution after being in the corporate world,” she says. Often, the lower pay means fewer people will apply for a job, which may give you a better shot at winning the position. Average pay for those working in the nonprofit sector is just less than $22 an hour.

Health Care

Nearly every sector of the economy is being squeezed, but companies focused on health care have proven to be surprisingly resilient — and many are open to seasoned workers. Nathan notes that the AARP’s annual list of best employers for workers older than 50 includes more than a dozen with a health care focus. Four — Scripps Health, Lee Memorial Health System, Bon Secours Richmond Health System, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association — cracked the top 10.

Child care

Teenagers aren’t the only ones taking care of children while parents are away. If junior has a schedule filled with soccer practices and music lessons, many parents are more interested in hiring someone who has a bit more experience. “Families with two working adults might need someone to pick the kids up from practice,” Matuson says. “They don’t want the 17-year-old to drive their children, they’re looking for someone who’s mature.” Parents often are willing to pay $10 to $20 an hour for a responsible older sitter.

Retail

As the holidays approach, many retailers will be bulking up on staff, which is a great way for workers to see if such a job might be a good long-term fit. “A lot of retirees feel isolated, so places like Macy’s and Target give them a place to meet people,” Ryan says. With average retail wages hovering around $13 an hour, it doesn’t take long to reel in an extra $100 a week. A few companies, such as Home Depot and Starbucks, also offer health benefits for part-time workers.

Consulting

Even if you’re ready to be done with the 9-to-5 grind, your company may still be interested in retaining your expertise for some projects. Consulting arrangements, which frequently will pay $100 an hour and up, often can be arranged with former employers on an hourly or project basis. “Just remember why you wanted to leave in the first place,” Matuson warns. “If you left because you were miserable or didn’t like the way the company did business, chances are things won’t change much. If you enjoyed it, though, it could work out for everyone.”

Matuson also suggests one additional resource that may help you find your perfect retirement job: your friends. “Ask them where they’ve found opportunities and where they’ve felt comfortable,” she says. “You don’t want to end up taking a job where you’re twice as old as the next oldest employees. Your friends are always a great place to start.”

Now, exposure to at-home employment opportunities has exploded, and a wide range of job ads are just a mouse click away. But so are the scams.

Two years ago, when The Rat Race Rebellion began tracking at-home jobs, there were 30 scams for every legitimate opportunity. Now, with 4,500 to 5,000 work-at-home job ads screened weekly, the Web site finds 57 phonies for every one that’s for real, says Christine Durst, CEO of The Rat Race Rebellion.

Nevertheless, there’s no shortage of people who dream of beating the odds and earning a living from home.

Durst, who is also CEO of Connecticut-based Staffcentrix, which develops home-based and virtual career training programs, says people interested in work-at-home jobs primarily are:

• Parents who say they want to spend more time with their children.
• Trailing military spouses who, according to Durst, by virtue of their spouse’s career need to pick up and move every few years.
• Retirees needing supplemental income.
• People with disabilities.

It’s difficult to be a good parent and simultaneously work well at home, says Durst, because most jobs require blocks of uninterrupted time to accomplish tasks, and children’s schedules are less than predictable. For those who do choose to walk the tightrope between paid work and parenting, consider deadline-oriented work. Durst says it’s generally better for those with younger children than schedule-oriented hourly work.

Steven Rothberg, president and founder of CollegeRecruiter.com, says “an increasing minority” of entry-level workers, are attracted to these gigs. He says he believes social introverts make good candidates. “They like working with people (but) they like interacting by e-mail and by being on the phone. They dislike working in person with a lot of others,” he says, due to meetings and other “time-sucking problems” at an office.

Self-motivation, discipline, job skills and independence are key characteristics for at-home workers, says Stephanie Foster of Poway, Calif., a former medical transcriptionist who runs the Web site Homewiththekids.com.

A growing number of employers appear to believe telecommuting is a good deal for them as well. It reduces overhead expenses, allows access to talented workers who may not be available locally, provides off-hours support and helps retain employees, says Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.com, a Web site that aggregates hand-screened telecommuting/work-at-home jobs. “We’ve seen a real broadening of the audience of both employers and job seekers.”

Consider these 10 jobs — some rather traditional and others unexpected — for interesting at-home work and good (if competitive) prospects.

Virtual assistant

This is a field with much potential, in part because the title description covers many things. “You can fit your offerings to what you know how to do,” says Foster. One can own a virtual assistant business or work from home for a company that makes you available to other employees or clients. Homewiththekids.com, for example, currently features a dozen such companies. Small businesses hire virtual assistants to help when they can’t justify a permanent employee. The International Virtual Assistants Association, which Durst co-founded in the 1990s, began with 28 members and has grown to more than 600, who charge from $15 per hour to more than $100 per hour.

The vast expanses of utilitarian cubicle farms are best left to those whose personalities jibe more with logical and structural tasks as opposed to those who lean toward the visual and intuitive, says Judith Gerberg, a New York City-based career development expert and head of Gerberg & Co.

You’re likely a good fit for an offbeat type of job if you’re more driven by self-expression, can work independently and are more holistic by nature, she says.

Offbeat jobs can range from relatively benign pursuits, such as acting and software engineering, to hazardous occupations, such as commercial fishing and aerospace operations.

Gerberg recommends that you thoroughly assess your skills and the demand for them before setting out to pursue an off-the-beaten-path career because competition for some of these jobs is intense.

“I think that to pursue an odd or risky way of earning a living, you do have to have something that you are passionate about, something that you’ll do no matter what and something that is needed and wanted,” she says.

Cell biologist

Mike Kiledjian, who has a doctorate in molecular biology, is one of many scientists pushing the edge of the genetic envelope to find cures for human diseases.

He says his interest in research started in high school and evolved into an interest in gene expression — the process by which genes are switched on and off.

Today, the professor of cell biology and neuroscience at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., leads a team of investigators searching for a drug treatment for a disease known as spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA. It is a leading cause of hereditary infant death in the United States, occurring once in every 6,000 births, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s an extremely challenging job, and you’re answering questions that really have no answers until you address them, so that’s pretty exciting and rewarding if you can answer them,” Kiledjian says.

But for every breakthrough there are hundreds of frustrating dead ends. “You can’t be easily discouraged because there are many failed experiments, and you have to learn from them and improve on them to get an experiment to work, and hopefully (it will) give you a reliable result,” he says.

You have to be patient enough to hang in there until your “eureka moment” arrives, says Kiledjian.

His team identified a scavenger enzyme in 2002 known as DcpS that suppresses a beneficial protein known as SMN. The compound his team is working with inhibits the action of DcpS and may provide some relief to those who suffer from SMA.

What they do: Study the physiology, components and the life/death cycle of cells as they relate to their environment.

Pros: Work can lead to breakthroughs in finding cures for human diseases.

Cons: Requires patience and persistence to deal with setbacks, which are common.

Education required: Bachelor’s degree for basic research positions up to Ph.D. for lead researchers and university-level teaching.

Salary range: According to Salary.com, the average is $45,859 for a junior level biologist to $103,030 for a Ph.D. level, depending on experience and regional markets.

A job that’s good for: People who enjoy working in a laboratory setting, are adept at solving puzzle-like problems and are very tolerant of failure.

Whether you luck into your dream job through family or friends or claw your way to the top via blood, sweat and tears, it’s all the same at the end. But there may be a couple of common themes — for instance, networking.

For the people who land cool, lucrative jobs, it’s not what they know, but who.

We talked to five people who have cool jobs that pay well and asked them how they managed to land the gigs.

Once the realm of people who preferred part-time, flexible work schedules or newbies needing a foot in the door, agency-placed temporary jobs are a growing haven for laid-off professionals and those in skilled trades. And with companies cutting millions of full-time jobs this year, staffing industry experts say they’re fielding more and more applications from seasoned workers.

“Staffing firms have been flooded with candidates,” says Steve Berchem, vice president of the American Staffing Association, a staffing industry group based in Alexandria, Va. After a slump in 2008, hiring has stabilized this year, with professional and managerial posts making up about 50 percent of temporary jobs.

The weekly paycheck may not be as fat as at your previous job, but it definitely pays to work at temporary jobs. The average worker in the temporary sector earned $14.77 per hour in March, reports the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Depending on your abilities and background, the rate can range from minimum wage for day laborers to more than $120 per hour for doctors and senior executives.

“And money isn’t the only factor,” says Jon Osborne, director of research for Staffing Industry Analysts in Los Altos, Calif. Aside from networking opportunities, training and fringe benefits, “a lot of (the) time, it’s sort of a lifestyle decision. People decide they don’t want the same 40-hour-a-week job forever.”

Whatever your reason, if you’re thinking of entering the temporary work force, here are eight tips for finding and keeping the best temporary job.

1. Target the right agencies. Investigate the Web sites and marketing materials of staffing firms to make sure they target your area of expertise.

Thousands of international, local and niche firms operate some 20,000 branch offices in the U.S. Some are listed in this story. For others, run a Google search of the name of your nearest large city and the words “temporary agencies,” and you’ll likely pull up an agency directory and, often, a grass-roots message board or Web site where veteran “temps” trade advice.

Peruse the job listings on a variety of staffing sites to get a feel for what matches your skills and goals. And don’t overlook word of mouth.

“Talk to people who have used the agency,” says Janet Sloan, president of Seville Staffing in Chicago. “Find out who has treated them well.”

2. Tweak your resume. Because temporary jobs tend to be goal-oriented and time-specific, staffing agencies and their clients aren’t necessarily interested in reading a resume with a blow-by-blow chronology of your career. Rather, they want to know of specific skill sets, the details on projects you’ve run or other major accomplishments.

“Show us any cost-saving measures you’ve been involved in, or whether you successfully set up a new department or helped develop a new product,” says James Mack, business unit leader of Kelly Financial Resources at Troy, Mich.-based Kelly Services Inc.

3. Be honest about salary expectations. Temporary job wages range dramatically based on market factors, geography, job seekers’ experience and other factors.

Whatever you do, don’t imply that you’ll take anything and then snub an assignment based on the pay. Decide upfront what you can survive on and tell the temp recruiter how much it is. Then the agency can assign jobs to you that fit your requirements.

“If you really want to turn off a recruiter, accept a job and then call us two days later to say, ‘I really can’t live on this,’” says Sloan.

Typically, temporary agencies charge the client company directly at a higher hourly rate than you’ll be paid, but you’ll still earn a competitive rate. “Staffing firms have to pay to attract talent (and) the client knows that,” Berchem says.

Your agency will bill the client and pay you — usually weekly. Normally, it also handles withholding for income taxes, Social Security and Medicare. They would also manage deductions for 401(k) savings, health insurance and other fringe benefits, if those are available.

The markup that agencies charge employers on top of your pay rate, which covers their administrative services, overhead and profits, varies according to their clients’ contracts. But generally, they range from 35 percent to 55 percent, says Osborne. After overhead costs are paid, the industry’s average profit margin is 4 percent to 5 percent, he says.