What they don't show on reality TV shows are years of toil and hard work people like Donald Trump or Richard Branson invested to get to where they are. They don't show it on TV, but Trump still gets up at 5 in morning and gets only about 4 hours of sleep each day. You'll probably never see a reality TV show where someone works hard for years -- coming in to office early and leaving late -- perhaps going for long periods without getting recognition from their peers. Remember, even in Trump's case, he was written off in early 90s and considered a business failure when his bankers abruptly stopped backing his business ventures. Most successful people are somehow able to keep performing at a high level - putting in a lot of hours and making smart decisions - even when they're not in limelight.

There's a temptation in our society to leave things to chance or to look for an easy way out. But if you really want to be successful in United States, you've got to realize that it's not about chance and make a decision to take control of your future. The real reality is that career success usually isn't glamarous and it would never be shown on a TV show. It's about putting in that extra effort and pushing yourself to higher levels of achievement.

If you're sending out resumes but not hearing back from anyone, you could try a different tactic. Temporarily change your objective from getting an interview to getting a meeting. The goal of meeting is to sit down with a manager in your field and ask them to give you some advice about next steps in your career. Most people are flattered when you ask for their advice. If you approach a hiring manager asking for advice instead of to ask if they have job openings, they'll put you in a different category and there's a good chance they'll set aside 15-20 minutes for a meeting with you.

The easiest way to arrange a meeting like this is through networking with people you know. If that's not possible, you can cold call into companies you respect and ask to speak with appropriate department manager. I know cold calling isn't easy but this may be most effective solution for getting feedback about your career direction and how your background is presented in your resume.