Surprisingly, there are aspects of the Madoff debacle that will help your job search. Make sure you don’t get ‘madoffed’ while doing your job search.
1. Don’t get involved with potenial employers you don’t understand.
If your research and subsequent discussions with the company don’t provide you with knowledge that the company’s business model is selling something companies or people want and will pay for, think again. At this point, the less jargon the better. If you don’t understand what the company is doing, will potential customers?
2. If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
Just out of college, I went on an interview for a nebulous job that sounded like it had lots of potential. I’d get tons of responsibility, a similar amount of money and the perks were a powerful incentive. There was just no proof during the interview and afterward that the firm could ever deliver. My research didn’t pan out. I dropped it for something more down to earth.
3. Check the company’s reputation.
You know what you’ve heard. Google and know more. Go deeper and ask friends who they know who might have worked there. Make some phone calls and ask the former employees for enough time to ask several questions. Don’t ignore what they say. Do background checks on some of the executive staff.
4. Don’t be swayed by affinity groups.
A lot of people are Apple fans. This isn’t really a good reason to work for Apple. Get clear on what matters – the financial health of the company – versus being starry-eyed because the products are cool and you’ve got three. That said, your experience with the product will tell you a lot about the company – but when it comes time to make a decision whether to pursue or not pursue, don’t give it too much weight.
5. Understand the culture and people.
Look deeply into the inner workings of the target employer. What has the media said about the company over the past year. Over the past three years? Are you going to feel comfortable working next to someone who comes to work barefoot every day? Or are you a more structured type of individual? Self-knowledge and honesty will tell you whether you’ll fit in or not.
6. Don’t assume someone else will protect you.
Get to know the person you report to, but realize that you’re an adult and you’re largely on your own. Know your responsibilities, authority and be sure you’re comfortable with direct and dotted line supervision. Can you work effectively for two bosses at once? Only you know. But it’s certain that neither will mitigate their demands for the other.
Develop an effective ‘Plan B’ to cover contingencies that could occur and make sure you establish firm boundaries about when you will put it into effect – the timing, sitations, etc.
Think cause, not effect.
Getting it going is crucial – and the time is now to start your job search. No, don’t wait for Jauary. Polish up that LinkedIn site and get rolling.
A great book to read about the changes you’ll experience during a job search or any challenging period is Transitions by William Bridges. Here’s an excerpt that will describe how to avoid tripping yourself up as you begin:
“Take things step by step ad resist the sire song that tells of some other route where everything is exciting and meaningful. In making any begining, you can become so invested in the results that whatever you have to do to reach them looks very insignificant. Trudging from appointment to appointment, licking stamps, adding columns of figures, making reminder phone calls, and explaining your idea for the hundredth time – these are the trivia from which vital new ventures finally emerge. But by compraison with the goal, they seem hopelessly dull.”
Move away from a focus on the goal and get into doing the daily footsteps required of the search. Spend 80% of your time on personal contacts. Let me say it again: 80% of your search needs to be spent on outreach to people. This will include phone calls, emails and face-to-face discussions.
Remember – people hire people. Don’t forget it!
It’s EQ, not always IQ, that wins.
Landing a job offer could just come from effectively reading the people you interview with. So says Jane Genova in a post that will provide job seekers with a new view of the search process.
All things being equal, the six to ten candidates interviewing for a job are all qualified, have great credentials and wonderful recommendations. Genova argues that high performers have to be looking for an edge – and it’s all about emotion.
Her take is that we need to “clear the channel of all our own wants and needs.” Instead, look carefully at what the person you’re speaking with needs – and meet it. When you can do that, you significantly increase your ability to click with others.
Here’s the post – it’s excellent and a different way to see things that could be very helpful.
Guerilla blogger and new media journalist Jane Genova interviewed me on media jobs on the West Coast and what’s happening in the industry.
A triple threat, Jane’s backgrounds in law (see her blog Law and More), careers (see her blog Career Transitions) and writing (see her blog Jane Genova Speechwriter-Ghostwriter) give her pieces a gravitas and practicality especially needed now.
The practicality comes from her New Jersey upbringing. That put-it-on-the-table, no-excuses, we-know-how attitude has been the cornerstone of Jane’s businesses. In short, the woman has incredible guts – nothing stops her.
If job-creation legislation is ready for Barak Obama’s signature on inaguration day, it will be none too soon for many states experiencing high job loss and difficulty in paying unemployment benefits.
Indiana and Michigan have had relatively high rates of unemployment for years, so news that their funds for unemployment payments to the jobless are used up comes as little surprise. But 28 other states also have shrinking unemployment reserves.
In the words of writer Jennifer Steinhauer, “California, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and other states are inching toward insolvency…” and the states may approach the federal government for loans at some point in the future.
Read the entire piece here.
A press release and blog post by Simply Hired shows that the November data for job searches increased greatly.
As employers were hit by the economic crisis, and performed their usual year-end job cuts, searches increased by 27% when comparing the two weeks ending 11/20/2008 to the two weeks ending 11/6/2008.
It will come as no surprise given the high rate of job losses on Wall Street that the increase in New York was 104%. Silicon Valley’s Sunnyvale ranked second with a 67% increase, yet searches in San Jose decreased by -13%.
Industries with an increased search presence included entertainment (actors, athletes, musicians and dancers), and math-related jobs (actuaries, research analysts and statisticians). Construction and forestry decreased during the period studied.
Read the release here.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the slope up which we travel looking ultimately for meaning in work. Now meaning seems to take a backseat to money.
Financial Times’ columnist Lucy Kellaway has written a fine column on a change occurring in the workplace.
Meaning? Meh. Money? Yea!
Those involved in a layoff will find other opportunities for meaning as they search for jobs that will provide money. And what about the ones left behind to perform the jobs of three people? They don’t have time to search for meaning – they’re far too busy trying to get the work done and hold on to what they’ve got.
Lowered expectations seem to be the cure. Perhaps a more clear-eyed view of work without the demands for fulfillment, satisfaction, security and, yes, meaning.
Here’s the Kellaway piece – highly recommended whichever side you’re on.
This isn’t a dress rehearsal. We’re not getting ready for something. Each day is it – the real deal.
Happiness is a relative thing. Charles Dickens wrote about it with much wisdom in David Copperfield – the quote is at the end of this post.
Many of us are made happy (we think) by possessions and money. But that’s not our true source of happiness.
After my parents died, a neighbor made the comment to me that at least my brother and I now had their house. My ears went back, I wheeled around and said, “Do you think for one minute this means anything without them?” As I remember, the neighbor retreated immediately. I don’t know if they understood what I was talking about.
I love David Zinger – he gets it. He begins his post 15 Engaging Management Provocations for 2009 with the statement “Manage Fear and Find Happiness.” His point? Managers need to pay attention to how fear and anxiety show up in themselves and in the people they manage. We need to look for this in our families and friends, too.
His post has a huge number of points – I’m just focusing on the happiness aspect today. There’s even a happiness test you can take if you go to his source at www.happiness.org. I scored 3.93 – very good, with plenty of room for improvement.
Happiness is in the day-to-day, in the doing. While you’re doing your job search, remember that you’re bringing something with you in each contact you make – whether you’re sending email, calling people or doing an in-person interview.
The leave behind isn’t just a resume or your desire to snag that new job. You’re making contact with people to give as well as get. There’s immense happiness in a job search when you can view yourself as an ambassador providing contact, kindness and uplift to people you meet. As a candidate, there’s a big plus to bringing your positive attitude.
Believe me, it will be felt.
Make sure you always:
1. Do your homework.
2. Know your narrative.
3. Reward yourself for the effort, win or lose.
That Dickens quote? Here it is:
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen six, result happiness.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pound ought and six, result misery.
- Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
Focus on what you can do – not what’s been done to you.
Layoffs are a byproduct of the economy, but that doesn’t mean that you have to make them the headline for your story.
When you update your resume after you’ve been laid off, you’ll put an ending date to your current employment.
That line may look something like this: Loan Officer, 8/2006-12/2008
The person who receives your resume will get that your employment with that company is completed.
Take charge in the interview and let them know what happened and why. More than 500,000 people were laid off in November of 2008. You’re not alone and you don’t have anything to be ashamed of.
