Lost At Sea? Career Search Strategies and Tips for Today’s Job Market

Can you believe it is already August? Before you know it, you’ll blink and it’ll be Labor Day, and the summer will really be over.

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of good news in the employment sector. Rough waters continue to prevail, and many may be feeling lost at sea in a turbulent economy. Careerbuilder.com summarized the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which released its monthly summary of job data for July 2008:

• Unemployment rose from 5.5% in June to 5.7% in July.
• There were 51,000 fewer jobs in July. Total job loss for 2008 so far is 463,000. That is an average of 66,000 jobs lost per month.
• The most notable losses were in construction, manufacturing and employment services. The drop for employment services indicates far fewer companies are using temporary help.
• The report also mentioned that teenagers and young adults who usually take on part-time jobs during the summer have had challenges in finding a job this year.

What does all of this mean to you?

It depends. If you work in one of the harder-hit sectors, it could very well mean that your job is in jeopardy, and you need to start thinking about what you will do if you are out of work.

I’ve written a lot about job seeking in a recession. Some links that might be useful:

• Ideas for how to recession proof your career.
• Suggestions of the best careers for today’s economy.
• Information about what to do next if you’ve lost your job.
• Rules for job hunting in a recession.
• Tips if your search is going on and on.

You are still feeling lost in a tailspin of negative jobs data? You can’t focus on what to do next? Here is some advice from my friend and colleague, Walter Akana, Certified Personal Branding Strategist at Threshold Consulting:

Stop everything! Evaluate where you have been, what you most want to do and think about where you can do it. Walter suggests answering the following questions from the book Zen and the Art of Making a Living:

• What work best reflects who I am?
• Whom do I want to serve/work with?
• What will I most enjoy doing?
• To what will I be willing to devote myself?

To help evaluate alternatives and focus, Walter recommends creating a personal career alternatives matrix. List your ideal job criteria, interests and capabilities in the first column, and then three or four alternatives in successive columns. This exercise is designed to help you focus on getting on a track that suits you, which might be a very different track from the one you’ve been on most recently!

Take the plunge and look for a job! Still need a great resume? Some help to write the perfect cover letter? I’m here to help! Write to me.

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Photo by Irish Sheep

Get Paid To Interview?

And you thought that e-mail inviting you to be paid to interview for jobs was spam, didn’t you? 

In what could be the ultimate acknowledgement that it is easier to find a job when you have a job, a startup called notchup.com arranges for “passive” job seekers (employed workers who are not seeking opportunities) to be paid for interviews.  Job seekers (who aren’t really passive if they sign up, are they?) register, set a price for an interview (the site calculates a suggested fee) and wait for an invitation.  Payment relies upon the employer agreeing that the interviewee was active and engaged in the process.

If you are happy at your current job, good at what you do and NOT looking for a new job, you are notchup.com’s target audience.

How can companies afford to pay for interviews?  Founders Jim Ambras and Rob Ellis explain on their site that a candidate who would earn $100,000 annually could cost $20,000 to hire using a recruiter.  If that same organization selected a hire from a pool of 10 people paid $500 each to interview, the company can save $15,000.

The AP reports that founder Ambras, former vice president of engineering at the search engine AltaVista said,

”In every job I’ve had, I’ve had to, under time pressure, build a team of engineers. I learned years ago that the best people you want to hire are the people who aren’t in the job market.”

The over 10,000 registrants and potential notchup.com candidates may be interested in reading about potential privacy issues they may encounter using the site.  Others may prefer to dive in with wild abandon!

Keppie Careers helps active and passive job seekers!  Your resume should always be up-to-date and ready to use at a moment’s notice.  We also offer mock intervews.  Prepare for the job  hunt:  www.keppiecareers.com

Lost Your Job? What to Do Next

I’ve written about jobs predicted to have a rosy future in 2008 and offered suggestions of what to do if you think that your job is in jeopardy.  But, what approach should you take if you have lost your job and you (and many, many others) are now seeking work in a flat economy?

The first thing to do is stop and get a handle on your job search materials.  Do you have a resume that represents you and all you have to offer?  Have you brushed up your job seeking skills (networking, cover letter writing, interviewing)? It’s not like riding a bike – you CAN forget how to look for a job.  Worse, you may never have really known how to job search in the first place.  Keppie Careers offers an array of services to help get you prepared.

Sarah Needleman addresses the topic of job searching in a recession in the Wall Street Journal Online.   Gary Rich, president of Rich Leadership, an executive advisory firm in Pound Ridge, NY, believes that selling and servicing jobs are more resilient, as they impact the bottom line.  He says:

Less durable jobs are those in human resources, public relations, finance, strategic planning and other non-vital business functions.

Needleman’s article also suggests that if you don’t work in a promising sector, focus on your transferable skills  and consider switching industries.  Plan your transition.  Network and research organizations and industries and learn how you can best use your skills to benefit them.  Consider volunteering with organizations on special projects to demonstrate your added value.

Keppie Careers can help tailor a transition resume to highlight what you have to offer.  We recommend focusing on your skills and accomplishments rather than “what” you have done in your jobs to help potential employers envision you working for them.

Don’t forget that, even in a recessionary economy, some jobs and skills are still invaluable and sought out.  So, just because you may work in an industry that is experiencing a lull, if you have prepared and positioned yourself to have the skills and training needed to fill management gaps, you’re in good shape!
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We advise, encourage and enlighten job seekers.  We offer resume writing, mock interviews, coaching and more to position you for your future.

Recession Proof Your Career

Clearly, the U.S. economy has seen better days.  Justin Lahart wrote in The Wall Street Journal Online that a combination of debt, high food and energy prices and a weakening job market points to a troubled economy. 

I have written about these concerns…Numbers show that unemployment is at a 2-year high.  In December, the economy only added 18,000 jobs instead of the 70,000 predicted.  These are the worst numbers reported since August 2003.  U.S. News & World Report’s Best Careers for 2008 lists jobs with a positive growth outlook, but job losses will cut across many industries – from banking to Yahoo!

What can you do now if you think you may lose your job? 

Anita Bruzzese, columnist and author of 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy,  offered several tips for those concerned about their jobs in her blog, Protecting Your Job in Tough Times.  She suggests:

• Getting connected by increasing face time in the office (including telecommuters).
• Keeping in touch with contacts in other departments to get the pulse of your company’s situation.  If things look bad, you can start getting resumes out.
• Network like crazy.
• Stay on the cutting edge of your field and be ready to lead, as leaders and innovators will find opportunities.

Penelope Trunk, a columnist whose book and blog is Brazen Careerist, offers this advice to prepare for a bad job market:

• Be a specialist, not a generalist, as a tight job market will allow employers to seek an exact match to their qualifications.
• If you can’t list a few strong accomplishments for your current job, make something big happen now so you’ll have good fodder for your resume.
• Consider graduate school.
• Focus on the quality of your work and securing strong mentors.

All of these suggestions remind us that it’s not a good idea to wait for a crisis to plot our career path.  Networking, specializing, leading, finding mentors — none of these are things that can be done overnight.  We are so busy DOING our jobs, we don’t take the time to drive our own career bus, so to speak.

We should all consider this a wake-up call.  Plan ahead.  Network all of the time, not only when you are looking for a job.  Cultivate mentorships, both in and outside of your company.  Focus on how you can stay ahead of the pack in your field and be a leader.  Always have an up-to-date resume that you can confidently use at the drop of a hat should an opportunity arise.

Hopefully, if the next pink slip is yours, you will be able to see past the scary part of losing a job to the potential prospects.  Maybe, with hard work and effort, you will be able to find something that may be a better opportunity for you.  Much has been said on the power of positive thinking…Maybe now is a good time for that.

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Note:  Keppie Careers provides a toolbox of practical tips, useful advice, support and encouragement for job seekers.  Please let us know if we can help as you prepare for what look to be tough times for all of us.

www.keppiecareers.com

We advise, encourage and enlighten job seekers!