Archive for the ‘Finding Work’ Category

For job aspirants, searching and getting into a new job is a grueling rigmarole that has to be endured till success is achieved. Finally, it is certain that the job aspirant will get a job of his or her liking and gets good rewards. This is what generally happens in normal job conditions. But job search in recession will get complicated as only a fewer number of jobs will be available and the competition will be very high.

In recession, companies and organizations will try to cut their losses and the axe falls on employment. Companies lay off workers in recession and the job openings dwindle across industries, organizations, and companies. Sometimes, they may freeze the recruitment. All this will add up to frustrating situation for job seekers, particularly for those who are not having any employment.

Job Search in Recession – Some Tips

With bad news surrounding you from all sides, it is really s tough proposition to maintain your focus and patience. So, in order to find a solution for job search in a recession, you have to follow certain strategies to survive in job market.

1. Stay positive and focused
   Your approach should be optimistic particularly in times of recession. If you look desperate and depressed, nothing will come your way. The employers will be very choosy and drive hard bargains in times of recession, and the minimum that you should do is to present yourself cheerful and competent. Your positive outlook will create favorable impression and your chances become bright. Keep your job search more targeted and focused with very apt job titles and categories. Once you have identified the right niches, widen your search with combinations of related sub-titles that are associated with the main title. So, be specific about what type and at what level that you are trying to get job. Once you arrive at a specific purpose in job search, things will become easier for you. Your confidence level will be enhanced with the tacit knowledge that you have gained.
2. Use your networking
   It is just enough you post your resume at some job portal and expect a call from a prospective employer in these days of recession. Your job search in recession demands your active and effective utilization of social and professional networking sites. These sites are veritable job information hubs. Such sites help you gain knowledge about what others are doing to beat the effect of recession. You will come to know of new ideas and activities. You can get yourself updated everyday of possible job openings in your area of expertise.
3. Lower your monetary expectation
   Obviously, the recession took away the luxury of your demanding and getting the type of monetary compensation that you have always got or wanted. So, there is no point in standing on prestige and deny yourself gainful employment in recessionary times. It will be wise to downsize one’s monetary expectation and tailor it to the demands of recession and stiff competition. Remember, others are ready to snatch all the jobs that are on offer online and offline. The idea is to get some job in your area of expertise and get some money, instead of wasting away time waiting for your coveted job. You have to realize that employers try and get workers at the minimum cost possible in times of recession. However, it does not mean that you should be prepared to work even for a base wage. You have to adjust yourself to the job situation and try and get a reasonably paying job.
4. Enhance your knowledge
   Job search in recession times throws up an opportunity to and the necessity of enhancing your knowledge base. The intervening time in getting into a job or in getting a new job can be utilized in acquiring additional qualification to enhance your suitability in your area of expertise. It is also absolutely necessary to equip yourself with higher qualification to get ahead in competition. It is the only way to beat the blues of recession. Update your resume with the enhanced qualification and do focused job search with more confidence.
5. Go for part-time jobs
   Working for only a few hours in a week is not such a bad idea for a jobseeker. It will help you to evaluate the new job and will help in enhancing your skills. You will get into the working of the management and it will help in the long term. The part-time job may become a full-time one in future. The contact with the management will definitely help you. You will have a chance to develop your own job network. You will have the option to choose several part-time jobs to get decent money.
6. Temporary jobs are not bad
   If your efforts are not fetching you any worthwhile jobs, then there will be nothing amiss in taking up temporary employment when an opening comes up. Is it not better to be employed even for a short time than sitting idle without doing anything? At least, the temporary job will occupy your mind and keeps it busy on something for sometime. It will also keep up your morale and confidence, which is important. The work may be of different nature, and in a different field. Such jobs may not enhance one’s job experience, but they keep jobseekers occupied for sometime.
7. Go freelancing
   It is the best possible option in recessionary conditions. If you have skills useful to the market, then it is better to look for freelancing jobs than wait for regular jobs. Companies sometimes will look for skilled people to do their work on contract basis. This method will save them the overhead expenditure. So, they often resort to offering job work. It will also be convenient for you to bid and get such work without having to regularly attend office. You will have your free time and leisure and you will be independent. It is a better short-time solution in recession.

To sum it up, job search in recession will be a daunting task and one must have patience and determination to overcome adverse conditions. It is also time to re-assess yourself and enhance your skills.

For job aspirants, searching and getting into a new job is a grueling rigmarole that has to be endured till success is achieved. Finally, it is certain that the job aspirant will get a job of his or her liking and gets good rewards. This is what generally happens in normal job conditions. But job search in recession will get complicated as only a fewer number of jobs will be available and the competition will be very high.

Synopsis: The recession makes your job search much tougher – here’s how to compete today.

Today’s economic news may be doom and gloom but it needn’t derail your job hunt. You can still win a great job, even in a lousy economy. You WILL have to get smarter in your job search strategy, though.

Here are five tips to incorporate into your job search during the recession:

1. Research Your Options

Does your industry or line of work offer little promise of employment in the coming months? If so, now is a good time to step back to identify the projected top performing industries and jobs. The best place to find this info is on the Web through Google, Yahoo or Bing. Start with “best industries work recession” or “recession jobs 2009″ to uncover articles describing some of the more “recession-proof” sectors to target.

2. Change Your Focus

Start asking yourself the question, “What’s in it for them?” as opposed to, “What’s in it for me?” Especially in an economic downturn, you’ll want to stay focused on what you can accomplish for your next employer. Show them that you understand the “bigger picture” of the role you play in moving the company forward.

3. Sell Results , Not Skills

Leave behind that old mindset that your job-related skills or length of service are selling factors. The new mindset is to think of yourself as a mini profit-and-loss center rather than just an employee. Employers today buy results and are less impressed with candidates who promote a long laundry list of skills. You’ll want to define the many ways your past and present job performance are assets to your next employer.

4. Start Talking Money

The recession has made the private sector economy even more bottom-line oriented than ever. Hiring managers categorize employees into one of two distinct groups:

a.) those who help make money

b.) those who help save money

Which one are you?

For example, Barry worked as the human resources manager of a mid-sized company. While much of his work focused on compliance issues, he noticed that the company was paying many thousands of dollars to locate and hire good employees. As a result, Barry developed and implemented an in-house employee referral program that netted three quality hires in a six-month period. This saved the company almost $70,000, money the company would have paid for recruiters and advertising costs.

Barry saves money for his company and this is an accomplishment future employers will want to hear about.

Rethink your current or past jobs to understand your position in the bigger corporate P&L picture. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

· How did my work improve the performance of my department or company?

· How many roles did I perform that saved the company the expense of added employees or contractors?

· How has my work made the work of others (employees and managers) easier, faster and more effective?

Collect specific examples of the benefits that your company gained from the work you’ve already performed. Clarify the benefits your company received by making money or saving money, and write them down.

5. Add Achievements to Your Resume

Employers don’t hire employees, they hire problem-solvers. Your new resume should be a hard-hitting sales tool designed to accomplish one goal: get the interview. To demonstrate this, add a specific achievements list to your resume. Take the list that you developed in the previous section and hone it down to your biggest and most notable accomplishments. Now, describe the benefit that your employer gained from each example. This will put you several steps ahead of your job-seeking competitors. Plus, you’ll now have some talking points ready for that next phone interview.

Summary

Don’t let all of the hype about the recession spook you into a state of panic. By revising your tactics to include a more solution-selling approach to employers, you stand a better chance of getting hired in today’s faltering economy.

(CareerBuilder.com) — In any economic climate, job hunting is nobody’s idea of fun. And with the growing number of folks hitting the bricks these days, it seems the task is getting even harder.

But that’s not precisely true, because the actual job-hunting strategies and techniques remain the same in any climate. What is bothersome, however, is that the process is likely to take longer. This leads to increased stress: financial stress, physical stress, emotional stress and family stress.

Most people do not perform at their best in stressful situations. They get tired more quickly, they get frustrated and run out of patience, and they make mistakes. Here are six job-hunting mistakes frequently made during a recession.

Mistake No. 1: Feeling entitled

In the new economy, your stellar background, great track record, prestigious degree and glowing references guarantee you nothing. The new employment paradigm is, “What have you done for me lately?” You must be constantly developing your skills and talents, broadening your interests and driving your career development. If you don’t, you may well be left behind.

Mistake No. 2: Focusing on yourself, not the employer

Spend your time finding out which of a potential employer’s needs are unmet instead of touting your brilliance. Saying, “I need a job” is irrelevant and depressing; that’s your problem and has nothing to do with why this organization is hiring. Uncovering an employer’s problem areas demonstrates your bona-fide interest, and offering your solutions demonstrates your critical thinking, creativity and approach to problem solving. This is how to get hired.

Mistake No. 3: Taking rejection personally

Face it; there are a lot of jobs you are not going to land. Use rejection as an opportunity to assess and build your job-hunting skills. Evaluate what you could have done better in your research or interview or with your follow-up.

If you aren’t getting rejected regularly, then you either aren’t working hard enough to get your foot in the door or you’re applying for jobs beneath your capabilities. No employer makes a decision not to hire you; they make a decision to hire someone else who did a better job of selling himself or herself into the position.

Mistake No. 4: Focusing on your age

It is human nature to focus more on one’s perceived weaknesses as opposed to one’s strengths. This is especially true for people in the job hunt. Younger folks worry about not having enough experience; older folks worry about looking overqualified.

If you don’t want a potential employer to focus on your age, make sure you focus on what strengths you bring to the party: energy, track record, endurance, patience, technology skills, people skills, creativity and work ethic. Sell yourself based on what you have.

Mistake No. 5: Looking for a silver bullet

Some job hunters swear by recruiters; others by online job postings. The latest buzz is that social networking sites are making all other job-hunting techniques obsolete. There is no one best way to job hunt.

If you want to increase the effectiveness of your job search, you must spend more time on it and use every technique in the book. This means answering print ads, responding to online job postings, contacting recruiters, cold-contacting potential employers, networking your brains out and using social networking sites to pursue all of these strategies. Sorry, there are no silver bullets or genies in a bottle.

Mistake No. 6: Absorbing too much news

Yes, there’s a recession. Yes, a lot of folks are out of work. And, yes, finding a job is a hard job in and of itself. But, no, the sky is not falling. And yes, if you work hard and long enough at it, you will land a good job.

A regular diet of bad news will convince you that no one is hiring (untrue), that you should avoid employers that have had layoffs (bad strategy) or that maybe you should just move to China (bad idea unless you speak Mandarin). Get out, have some fun, work at keeping your energy and spirits up, and network with optimistic people.

Eventually this recession — like all recessions — will really be over and you’ll be better prepared for (gulp) the next one.

Top 10 cities in the U.S. to find a job: Monster

Washington, D.C., is top city for job openings, Monster.com says

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Friday’s jobs numbers showed a labor market that’s still struggling, but prospects are brighter for job seekers in some areas, according to new data from jobs site Monster.com.

Washington, San Francisco and Baltimore are among the top 10 areas with the most online job ads per labor-force participant, which includes both the employed and the unemployed, according to Monster.

Among the top 10 markets, which may include the city plus surrounding areas, the average rate of jobs posted per participant is about double the national rate.

“These markets are attractive because there is a robust demand for talent,” said Matthew Henson, a spokesman at Monster. “These major metro markets tend be really attractive for job seekers. We are seeing the trend escalate.”

Although the economy remains millions of jobs below pre-recession levels, recent months have seen increases.

“What we’re seeing over the course of the last year is measured growth in the job market,” Henson said. “No one has the expectation that we are going to restore all of the lost jobs overnight, but the fact that we are seeing companies continue to hire…this is encouraging.”

In May, 54,000 jobs were created, and the number of unemployed Americans rose to 13.9 million.

To compile the list of hot cities for jobs, Monster recently collected data about the number of openings posted online by firms and government agencies, as well as career sites such as Monster.

A recent gauge of employment trends from the Society for Human Resource Management indicated that more human-resources professionals have been having problems “landing candidates for key jobs” in both manufacturing and the service sector.

 “Considering that millions of people are actively seeking work and still cannot obtain employment in their industries, the rise in recruiting difficulty may be attributed to new or enhanced skill requirements for newly created high-level jobs,” according to SHRM.

Job market still tough

While there are greater opportunities in certain areas and for certain occupations, the national employment environment remains tough, economists said.

“The labor market still has a lot of long-term unemployed people and a lot of discouraged workers,” said Larry Katz, an economist at Harvard University. “I’m still quite worried about the state of the labor market.”

And employees remain wary, as can be seen by the persistently low frequency of quitting. In March, the quits rate — which measures the number of quits during a month as a percentage of employment — was at 1.5%, compared with 1.4% the year earlier, according to the Labor Department.

“They are competing with so many unemployed people, that the market is still very much tilted in favor of employers,” Katz said.

And competition isn’t just from the unemployed.

“These markets are becoming really competitive,” Monster’s Henson said. “We are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of employed individuals who have ridden out the recession and want a new opportunity.”

Here’s Monster’s list of top 10 hottest areas for jobs:

1. Washington
2. San Francisco
3. Baltimore
4. Minneapolis
5. Cleveland
6. Boston
7. Seattle
8. Orlando
9. Pittsburgh
10. Kansas City

Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.

“Washington, D.C., makes sense. It’s one of the few cities that isn’t in a recession,” said Susan Houseman, senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich.

Depends on the type of job

Job demand for different sorts of workers is not the same, Henson said. Certain jobs and industries are more heavily weighted in some markets than others. Meanwhile, with all of the cuts to state and local governments, public-sector openings are lagging private-sector openings.

“In San Francisco, we have seen robust private-sector hiring, with IT certainly being huge,” Henson said. “When you look at markets like Pittsburgh and Seattle, there’s a healthy mixture of blue-collar and white-collar jobs. Kansas City is seeing large demand for creative and marketing.”

However, workers should think twice before moving just because a certain city has a relatively larger number of openings. Given the emotional, logistical and financial costs associated with moving, both the unemployed and employees looking for a better gig need to plan carefully and think about long-term goals before picking up and moving.

Henson added that there is a talent gap in fields such as health care and IT — with demand for skilled workers outstripping supply.

 “We have seen really strong demand for these positions,” Henson said. “If you are a medical technician, a registered nurse, if you have these skills there is a job out there for you. We are finding there are more jobs than talent.”