If you are a frequent reader of my blog, you know I like to start off with a question. The process of answering the question is usually what my blog is about. Today I am varying from that format. I have a a few things that I have come across this week, that I'd like to discuss.
Appalling
The national unemployment rate is at 10.2% for the month of October 2009. According to the article in the Sacramento Bee (Business section, dated 11/07/2009) "Economists expect the jobless rate to keep climbing, perhaps to 11%, as employers produce more with fewer workers and shy away from hiring." This could be good news. I remember reading that economists said it would get worse with double digit unemployment, and then the recession would be in recovery-mode. The article goes on to mention that employers are shedding fewer jobs now, than they did at the beginning of the year. This in turn is fueling the 3.5% growth of the US economy, for three straight months of gains. "History tells us that job growth always lags behind economic growth," President Barack Obama cautioned in a statement from the Rose Garden on Friday.
The article went on to say that when discouraged workers who drop off the unemployment rolls and under-employed workers are factored in, a more broadly defined unemployment rate stands at 17.5%. WOW! Hmmm, maybe appalling wasn't strong enough. President Obama signed a new $24 billion stimulus bill on Friday. He called the October jobless report, "a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead."
Economic Challenges
You and I cannot create economic growth, wherever we live, if we don't hire other people. If you're unemployed, you just want to get yourself hired. How do you do that? The first reality to accept is that the old ways will not work with these economic challenges facing employers. You must be able to demonstrate that you will bring more value to their workplace than you will cost in salary if they hire you. Employers feel that they can't afford to make a hiring mistake these days. That is an economic challenge for you and the employer. They will often go under-staffed to avoid that mistake. Business sometimes suffers, but they know and understand that mistake. The unknown person/employee they don't know. That old expression, "better the devil you know" fits well here.
This is the shortened form of the full idiom, 'better the devil you know than the devil you don't', and means that it is often better to deal with someone or something you are familiar with and know, even if they are not ideal, than take a risk with an unknown person or thing. Employers have created work-arounds for being short staffed. It is what they know. You? Not so much. This why networking is such a valuable tool in a job-seeker's tool box.
Networking
Networking is not social hour. It is not getting something for nothing. It is not going to boring meetings or chamber of commerce meetings, necessarily. It
IS meeting people, getting to know them in a professional setting and showing them some value. Let's say you are an accountant. You go to the local accountants' professional association and meet other accountants. When people introduce themselves or you ask "where do you work?" follow up with, "How do you like working for ...?" When you find someone who enjoys working somewhere, ask "why is it so good to work there?"
When you are asked, "where do you work?" say, "I'm in transition right now. I (just left/was downsized from) XYZ Corporation and would like to work for ..." Then you specify what kind of company (size, industry, corporate culture, whatever is important to you). Then you ask if they know about any COMPANIES like that.
Don't ask about jobs during a networking event. Ask about companies or bosses or industries or corporate cultures. As you chat, ask what their greatest challenge is right now or recently or currently. If this challenge falls anywhere near your area of expertise, offer a solution or a tip or what has worked for you.
Offer value. Exchange business cards. Then in a couple of days, when you see an article that addresses their particular challenge, send it to them with a note. "I saw this article and thought of you. I really enjoyed meeting you the other night/day at the Accountants Plus meeting. Let me know if it helps." That simple and you have provided value to them and reminded them of your existence. They now connect you with many positive attributes (smart, a go-getter, a person who follows through on committments, perceptive, valuable, etc.). Priceless!
Business Cards
Yes, you need business cards. It should contain the following information:
- Your name
- Your telephone number - cell phone preferably
- Your email address
- The job title you wish to have
- 3-4 attributes or skill sets
It should be professional looking and not cluttered. A simple design that reflects your professional personality is ideal. There are online templates and distributors that you can use. Many offer a small quantity of free cards. MS Word has a built in template through "labels" or go online to download one from Microsoft Office. Buy some business card blanks from your local stationary or office supply store and you are good to go. It is simple and easy to do. Just do it!
Contact Employers
Use the index to the phone book’s Yellow Pages to identify subjects or fields of interest in the town/city where you want to work. After you’ve identified your subjects or fields of interest, you look up the organizations under those headings; then you call them up, make an appointment or just go visit them. While there you ask if they are hiring for the type of position you can do and do well. Think of this as a reverse job posting. This method will uncover the hidden or unadvertised job market. This method works about 69% of the time for job seekers.
The Internet
The Internet works 10% of the time to help people find work. If it works for you, great. But realize; only one out of ten people will find work from the Internet. So it give it just 10% of your time, just in case. Yeah, you'd think it worked better than that. Especially, if you have ever watched a Monster.com ad on TV.
You are comforted by all the tools at your disposal (internet, ads, agencies, résumés, networking) yet the most effective method of finding meaningful work depends not on the tools you have. It depends upon your Vision. Your vision of yourself and what you want to do with your life.
Vision
Do homework on yourself, taking inventory in detail of all you have to offer and what you are looking for. This revolves around three simple words: What, Where, How.
WHAT. This is all about your transferrable skills. These are usually verbs (analyzing, organizing, researching, etc.) You inventory and identify what you have and that you enjoy using. These are the skills you are usually best at doing. These skills are called ‘transferrable skills’ because you can transfer them to any field or career you choose.
WHERE. This about job environments. This is where you will do your most effective work. These are usually nouns (technology, finance, chemistry, the arts, hospitality, etc.).
HOW. This is how you do your job – your career and your job of finding a job. You need to find out five things.
- The manner in which you perform your job. (usually adverbs or adjectives – thoroughly, quickly, etc. These are also known as traits.
- The job titles of work that involves your transferrable skills in your fields.
- The names of organizations (in your desired geographical location) that have those kinds of jobs (your target companies).
- The name of the person that has the power to hire you at the target company.
- How can you best approach that person to show them how your skills and knowledge can help them with their goals and challenges.
It doesn’t sound like a job-hunt method, but it is. By doing the hard thinking this method requires, you have a 1200% better chance of finding a job than if you just send out résumés. And not just any job – a rewarding job that matches your talents. You can also more accurately define yourself and exactly what you are looking for beneath the shifting shape of job titles. You now you are a person who …, not just an accountant (or whatever). This in turn makes it easy to describe to your family, friends, network just exactly what you are looking for and in great detail.
ZEN
Last, but certainly not least, you can accurately describe to employers exactly what is unique about you and what you bring to the table, that competitors for this position don’t bring. The challenge with this method is that it involves work. The hard thinking about yourself kind of work that most job hunters try to avoid. It “takes too much time,” or “demands too much thinking.” It is not the easy way out of unemployment. It won’t take “forever.” The stakes are high. The rewards are high.Why this method works so well is one word: VISION. The more detailed the picture of your future job is, the more likely your are to reach it.
You get out of something what you put into it. Isn’t a job that is rewarding to you, that you will look forward to, and that fits who you are, worth it? You have all these tools available to you. Yet, the most effective method of finding meaningful work depends upon your Vision. Your vision of yourself, and what you want to do with your life.
Confucius said, "Choose a job you love, and you'll never work a day in your life." Isn't that a goal worth working toward?
Let me know how your job hunt is going. What are your particular challenges? Share your experiences in the comments section. Or, send me an email to eal@EALCoaching.com . I’d love to know how you are doing and what strategies you are using.
A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.
Warmly,
Elisabeth
Elisabeth Adler-Lund
Executive And Life Coaching
Telephone: 916 • 803•1494
E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com
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