CMS Career Blog

Remember the game your mom used to make you play on long road trips to keep you from whacking your little sister in the head the whole time? It went something like, “I’m going on a trip, and I’m taking with me …” Then everyone would take a turn telling what you would bring along. You had to pick something that used the next letter of the alphabet, but first you had to remember what everyone ahead of you said for their letter.

Hey, I know, let’s try it using only things you need for your job search.

I’ll go first. “I’m going out to look for a job and I’m taking…(continue reading)

Are you stressed out enough yet? Losing a job is one of the top life stressors we can go through in life. Holmes & Rahe have designed a stress test to help you see how “close to the edge” we are.  When we go through a job shift many of the other factors are also present, so stress climbs!  What is your stress level?

Now that you know your stress level is through the roof, how will you cope with it? That’s right, I said COPE with it. (continue reading at: http://careeradvice4u.com/deal-stress-searching-job/)

When you are out of work (or going through a significant life change) little things can make you feel frustrated, overwhelmed, angry and/or irritable. Today’s post is intended to help you move past those feelings and live in the reality that is today.

Today I will point you in the direction of some great resources that will help you put this job search time into a positive light. (continue reading at: http://careeradvice4u.com/larque-125/)

[Editor’s note: Guest blogger, Larque Goodson, has been unemployed for 7 months and has become a Careers 2.0 client within the last couple of weeks. She says that the resources in the Premium Membership are some of the most valuable tools she has found in her entire job search. She lives in Portland, Oregon and is searching for a communications job that utilizes her excellent skills in writing, presenting, photography, marketing and sales. If you would like to share your story, please send an email to: info@orcms.com.]

It has been seven months since I was laid off. My credit cards are maxed and my husband and I juggle bills like circus performers on a tight rope. Yet, this journey is helping me examine my own self-awareness and work on my personal ideology. I have gained some invaluable insights, like the following (read more at: www.CareerAdvice4U.com/blog)

There are no tricks to finding your perfect career, but going about it in the wrong way can distract from your job search and making it take longer to find your next position. For instance, many job seekers spend much of their day on the Internet searching the job boards.  Unfortunately, only about 6-10% of all jobs are ever posted on these job boards.  Smart job seekers understand that the key to finding the perfect career fit requires them to conduct a career marketing campaign. (continued at: http://careeradvice4u.com/real-cost-unemployment/)

The results are in!

This week we conducted a non-scientific poll via Twitter regarding how job seekers are changing their vacation plans.  Those who took the poll were overwhelmingly unemployed (75%).  More than 80% of respondents said that the economy has changed their vacation plans.  Examples they give run the gamut, including:

• Camping instead of renting hotel rooms
• Visiting family instead of going someplace requiring hotel
• No plans versus dive vacations in past
• Usually take a cruise or international travel
• This year I have taken one vacation - last year I took 4 (4 includes weekends away)
• Not taking any vacation at all which is a big change

Many people are vacationing around the house (taking a “stay-cation”) or trying to find a few days to get away.

The results were about even between those who think taking a vacation while unemployed is a good thing, vs. those who think it will take away from their job search.  Some of the reasons they gave for their answer include:

• I get a lot of support from the family and time to relax.
• Leaving the area will use extra gas and have to use money. On vacation we end up spending more on food. We don’t have any extra dollars.
• Get some perspective, talk to new people and get ideas, recharge so can approach search with new motivation    Take advantage of the slow summer to network and meet new people who can help in finding me a job.
• Give me some time to separate from the email checking, Twitter, etc., and re-focus on a strategy that aligns me with an organization admire or role that interests me.
• I spend several hours a day searching. I will not do so when on vacation. Therefore, it will be a pause where I won’t be applying for jobs.
• Time away means missing opportunities.

Thank you for taking the poll.  We will be writing another blog post on what we think is the best approach!  Stay tuned. . .

When you have a job you know when to get up, when to catch the bus, when to arrive at work, when to eat lunch, when to take breaks, when to go home and forget the work, and when to take a day off.  When you leave your job, your formal schedule goes out the window.  For awhile this can be a good thing.  MANY unemployed people just need to take some time to grieve, decompress, and rest.

However, sitting on your couch playing X-Box or updating your facebook every 10 minutes can get old fast!  These activities will NOT get you the next gig, so at some point you will need to get into a new routine.  That can be tough, especially if its something you have little experience with . . . like looking for work.

Never fear!  We have been through this ourselves, AND we work with dozens of job seekers every week.  Here are some things to consider when you go to make a schedule for your job search:

• Set weekly goals that you can measure.  Nothing is more frustrating than getting to the end of the week and not being able to say, “I accomplished something this week.”  EVERY Sunday evening sit down and decide what you need to achieve over the next week.  Then, on Friday, review your goals to see how you have done.  It will make the job search much more bearable!
• Network, network, network.  How many networking groups do you attend each week?  How many 1-on-1 meetings or informational interviews do you conduct?  Your goal should be somewhere in the 8-10 range PER WEEK.  If you aren’t out talking to people, your chances of finding a job are slim!  More than 80% of people find their job through networking, so get out and do it!
• Don’t answer email or touch the computer during daylight hours.  (That’s when you should be networking!)
• Practice your “elevator pitch.”  Nothing is worse than being in a group and listening to a bunch of people drone on about where they worked before the company went and laid them off.  Have something interesting to say and say it with ENERGY!  People will listen if you give them something to listen to.  But you better be well rehearsed, or they will tune you out!
• Plan for some “you time” in your schedule.  Stephen Covey calls it “sharpening the saw.”  You can’t cut wood with a dull saw.  If you don’t take care of yourself, you will be dull and ineffective in your job search.
• Let it go.  When you have completed your day’s work, leave the job search behind.  Let it go.  Disconnect.  Go enjoy time with your family and friends.  One of the reason’s you need to set clear goals, is so you can look back and say, “I’m finished for now.”  Then disconnect.  The job search will be there tomorrow.

When you leave your job, your regularly scheduled routine evaporates.  As a job seeker, you will need to set goals and create your own schedule.  A schedule helps you track your progress along the job search, and it allows you to take time for yourself, your friends, and your family.

I’ve been at this for nearly 3 years now and here are some of the things I’ve learned about what it takes to find a job.  These “hints” are important in ANY economy, but perhaps MORE important in this deep recession.

1. No postings does NOT equal no job — people are always being hired, even in a deep recession.  Why? Because other people move, get sick, quit, retire, die. . . Just because there is not a posting, doesn’t mean there isn’t a job there to be done … stop thinking of yourself as a “employee” and start thinking of yourself as an “independent contractor” — ee’s get hired and fired.  Independent Contractors are always on temporary assignment (who isn’t these days) and are able to pick up a “new gig” as the need arises.
2. Don’t wait until you are looking for a job to update your resume — or your network.  If you are currently employed you are probably aware of how temporary that could be.  We have had client with 25 years of experience in the same company come into work to find they no longer had a job.  NOW is the time to think about your next job . . . even if you aren’t thinking about your next job.
3. It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you now.  Somewhere 45-80% of all job seekers find their job through networking.  Networking is about WHO you know — not so much for what you can get from them, but what you can OFFER TO THEM.
4. Don’t work all the time.  You have heard that finding a job is a full time job.  Finding a job is also (for most of us) a series of learning and applying new skills — most of the time these are DIFFERENT skills than you will use in your regular job.  The process of learning new skills is exhausting.  You need to take some time off.  I recommend you spend 30-35 hours a week on the job search.  Plan into your day some time for networking, a small amount of time on answering ads and submitting resumes, AND time for physical exercise.  It’s really important.  Set goals.  Measure your success towards the achieving of those goals and not “did I get a job.”  You will be able to take some time off at the end of the week knowing that you have accomplished something.
5. You WILL land.  Eventually you will find work.  Hopefully it will be your perfect career.  Hopefully it will fit your life goals.  Hopefully it will be sooner than later.  But have faith, you WILL land.
6. You WILL go through this again.  Learn the process of finding a job now so you can use it the next time you need it.

These are some of the things I’ve learned about the job search.  What have YOU learned?

The blog post from yesterday on the Tom Peters’ website got me thinking — are we REALLY partially responsible for this recession?  Can we REALLY effect its outcome?

Then there is this post about a man who turned his job loss into a new life. Very inspiring, and I must admit a bit scarry for most of us!

The two posts raise a deeper question about the recession and massive loss of jobs that we are experiencing as a nation and throughout the world.  Every economic shift creates change in the way we live and work, but I believe this one is going to fundamentally shift the work-life balance in America.  What we are seeing is no less than a shift of the tektonic plates deep within the core of the fabric of our work lives.  I don’t know what will come of this shift — no one does.  It will, however, behoove us all to think about what permanent changes may take place because of what we are currently experiencing.  Here are some of my predictions:

• The impending retirement of millions of Baby Boomers will become an accelerated reality.  With it comes a whole list of concerns - knowledge transfer, loss of experienced labor, succession planning (and lack thereof), and additional burden on the Social Security system.  Companies have been thinking about this for awhile, but this economy is going to make it happen NOW.  I am seeing clients in their 50s who have been laid off this go around make the decision to begin early retirement.  I was watching the interviews about Captain Sully (the pilot who safely landed the plane on the Hudson River last month) and thinking, “wow, what would have happened if someone with les experience had tried that stunt?”  Well, I hate to point it out, but many companies today are laying off their “Captain Sullys” in this economy.  Chances are that many of these people will opt for retirement. What happens then?
• Many are going to opt for lower paying jobs with fewer responsibilities.  Not everyone will leave their corporate job for a $10/hr job at Starbucks, but some will. And when they do they will find that they enjoy their life better because they have more time for things that are REALLY important to them — like family, friends, spirituality, and travel.  I’m not naive enough to think that the mountains of corporate greediness will disappear, but I AM hopeful that more people will choose to focus on life goals that are not completely driven by the desire to increase their own personal wealth.
• “Green” and “sustainability” will become mainstream.  It has to!  This is where the federal government (incidentally the ONLY sector growing in this economy!) will be dumping loads of money. How are you (and your company) preparing to take advantage of this opportunity?
• Recruiting and HR practices will change.  I’m not sure in what way, but I do believe that the current focus of many Human Resource departments of being the watchdog for company lawyers will have to change (i.e. “we can’t do that, or we’ll get sued . . . ” “We can’t allow our managers to ‘be human’ by getting ‘too close’ to their workers. . . “).  This generation puts a ton of emphasis on relationships and will not tolerate working for a company where they are a faceless, nameless commodity.  Our recruiting practices are already seeing a shift in this direction.  HR practices will soon follow.  Companies that don’t focus on the personal side of their employees will find it difficult to attract and retain good talent.  We all know that the number 1 asset of ANY company is the people who work there!
• Free-Agency will become the normative approach for job seekers. This phenomenon has been on the the horizon for awhile. I believe that this current economic crisis is going to change the way people define themselves in relation to their work.  My father held the same position for 40 years.  His father worked for the state until the day he died.  My father’s grandfather, however, did whatever he needed to in order to put food on the family table. He was a farmer, a logger, built roads, ran a store. . . he was a free agent.  With people changing careers in 3-5 year cycles, I believe that my children will live more like my great-grandfather than my dad.  They will do whatever is necessary to make a living, and won’t define themselves by their company affiliation.  To me, that’s a good thing!

The temblors of this recession are bringing about some major changes in the way we (and our children) will approach work in the coming years. As with any major change, there are both opportunities and dangers involved.  What are YOU doing to prepare to capitalize on the opportunities and mitigate the dangers of our current times?

The economy has been shrinking for over a year now. We are officially in a recession. Unemployment is highest in the nation it has been in nearly 2 decades. Is there a bright spot in this economy? Well, yes. Actually, there are several bright spots in this economy! We are seeing opportunities in a several areas, but it may require you to think differently about who you are and what you do. Today I want to share some of those with you, gentle reader, with the hope that you will be able to capitalize on these opportunities to enhance your career.

1. Healthcare, Education, and Government.  The unemployment figures from December 2008 show that nearly every sector was effected.  However, as pointed out in an AP news article last Friday, the three sectors that held steady were Healthcare, Education and Government.  They most certainly will feel the crunch in the months to come, especially government with lower tax revenues, but for now, there appears to be opportunity there.
2. Construction (infrastructure) and Alternative Energy.  My hunch is that the new administration is going to do everything possible to pour large sums of government subsidies into these areas in order to jump-start the economy.  It may take some time, but that’s good news if you don’t already have experience in these areas.  NOW may be the perfect time to get some additional training so you can position yourself for the wave that is most certainly coming.
3. Contractors and Consultants.  Last week I met one-on-one with more than 40 people who have been laid off within the last 3 months.  10 of them told me that they are getting phone calls from their former employer asking if they would be willing to provide consulting services for some of the projects they were working on before they left.  One man told me that he is going to be hired as a temporary contractor to manage a project he bid on 6 months ago.  Since he knew exactly what the contract was going to pay, negotiating salary was a breeze.  It appears that some companies cut there workforce out of a sense of fear, and without considering their longer term obligations.  This is certainly NOT an option for everyone.  But perhaps a few of you may find it could work for you.
4. Temp-to-hire.  We are also noticing that companies are a bit fearful about bringing on additional staff — even when they have positions that need to be filled.  Some of them are hiring temporary staff (at ALL levels - including Managers, Directors and even VPs) to fill the positions temporarily.  Sometimes there is a promise (or at least a hint) that the temp person will have first shot at the job when the economy picks up.  The good news for job seekers is that you can test drive a position, earn a paycheck, and you don’t typically have the major stress of a full time employee.  Companies like this arrangement because they can often pull the funds from an account other than employee expense and they aren’t as locked in to long term employment commitments should things not work out.  [note - this "hired gun" strategy may actually become a more standard means of employment in the future, as both sides come to appreciate the flexibility it offers. But that's another post.]
5. Niche markets.  The jobs may have gone away, but the needs being filled by their products and services are still there.  Maybe NOW is the time for you to consider starting your own company to address those needs.  Small business is the backbone of our economy and the government may have start up funding to assist you.
6. Go back to school.  A down economy is often a good time to go to grad school or complete your degree.  A colleague says that she often suggests to clients that “hide out at grad school” during a recession.  If you have been thinking about enhancing your educational credentials, this is the time to take that opportunity seriously.
7. Small companies.  Small companies are typically more agile than large companies.  They are oftentimes more ready to jump into an opportunity when they see it than the larger employers who need time to ramp up.  If you’ve always worked for a larger company, now may be the time to think small.

There are ALWAYS opportunities, even in difficult economic times.  If you want to respond to those opportunities you might have to think differently about who you are and what you do, but that’s not a bad thing either.  Keeping your eyes open and knowing what value YOU bring to the marketplace will help you take advantage of the opportunities presenting themself in this difficult economy.