Career Corner

How Long Will My Job Search Take?

As a career consultant I am often asked by my clients “How long will it take me to find a new job?” Or, “What’s the job market like?”

And the answer is----it depends.

First, it depends on how hard you are willing to work. And then on whether you have the knowledge and discipline to work on the right things at the right time?

A study conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals that the average unemployed person spends less than 5 hours a week on job search. These same people probably worked 20, 30, 40 or even 50 hours a week in their prior jobs. Why, we ask, has their productivity been so dramatically reduced?

Here is what our company’s research finds are the reasons;

• Lack of job search expertise
• Lack of organization and structure
• Fear of rejection
• Emotional barriers (anxiety, depression, anger, etc.)
• Lack of a plan

And low productivity means a longer job search.

Orville Pierson has written an outstanding guide to improving one’s job search effectiveness. His book, “The Unwritten Rule of the Highly Effective Job Search” (McGraw-Hill 2006), is a must-read in the field. So, if you want to conduct a better search get this book and follow his proven approach.

Accomplishments in Job Search – Part 2

I’ve talked before about the importance of identifying your prior accomplishments when in a job search. It is one of the hardest parts of the process; but one of the most important.

Recently two job seekers who are struggling in the efforts admitted that in their haste to get a new job they jumped over the work of identifying their achievements. They were so anxious to get their resumes done and get going that they overlooked this important step.

Their mistake, while unfortunate, is not unusual. I see it all the time.

One hint--if your resume is a list of job duties, as many are, then congratulations you’ve created a job description! And, there is no more boring document than a job description. I know because I’ve had to write and read many over the years.

So, if you want to add impact to your resume think about adding accomplishments. Use the SOAR technique (see the article “Accomplishments in Job Search” below) and these guidelines to include the right information.

Accomplishments are:

• Objectives met

• Goals exceeded

• Something you’re proud of

• Recognized by an award or other recognition

• Measurable (metrics are very important)

• Provide a benefit to the employer (such as increased revenue, decreased cost, etc.)

It takes some thought and some work but the effort will definitely pay dividends.

Building A Portfolio Career

In today’s fiercely competitive job market, more professionals than ever have traded in a single job with one corporation for freelance projects with several companies.  These “portfolio” careers can take many forms, including consulting in an area of expertise, teaching for one or more local universities or even writing business articles for industry magazines.

While developing a portfolio career offers a great deal of personal freedom and the ability to continue to develop professionally during tough market years, executives who choose this path will need to rethink the ways that they have conducted business in the past.  With that in mind, we offer the following tips for would-be portfolio professionals:

• Know your strengths: Bring who you are to each project, focus on your skills and enjoy the process.
• Think of yourself like a corporation: Focus on the best ways to invest your skills and experience. Be a calculated risk-taker.
• Constantly reinvent yourself: Expect change and avoid getting caught in a niche. When at your peak, break the mold.
• Build your network relationship by relationship: Understand the power of networking and build your portable team with strategic alliances.
• Use the “step system” to build your portfolio: Focus on the easiest step—perhaps beginning as a consultant or teacher, and determine how many real sources of income you can achieve using your unique talents.
• Commit to life-long education and learning: Your ability to learn and upgrade your knowledge will keep you competitive in changing times.
• Stay mobile and flexible: Adaptability is another key skill. Be prepared to adapt to and thrive on change because your portfolio will continuously evolve.
• Practice body and mind fitness: Successful people include exercise, proper diet and relaxation in their business plan. If you’re not at your best, you can't offer your very best to each project.

Late Career Job Searches

I often hear concerns from my “senior” clients about finding a new job. They talk about age discrimination and I’ve written about that issue in a previous article—see “Age Discrimination or Energy & Performance” below.

However a recent session with older job seekers and experts from Silver Fox Associates revealed something very interesting. Silver Fox is a local staffing agency serving mature adults. (http://www.silverfoxassociates.com/)  Alan Warne, their VP of Operations asked the group what concerns they had about their job search.

Their concerns centered around things like the lack of response from companies, the impersonal nature of applying on the internet, difficulties finding company hiring authorities and the challenge of working with HR folks.

Now here’s the interesting part! We’ve heard all of these before and they’re not unique to older workers!

These are the same issues that hound all job seekers. So, older workers may not be any different than anyone else; in fact, they probably need to use the very same methods that any successful job seeker uses to find appropriate new employment.

And, you guessed it—the pros from Silver Fox stressed the importance of networking to overcome the challenges of finding that new job. Networking strikes again!!

Do Your Homework!

Doing your homework is a good way to increase your productivity during a job search. It’s very important to know what’s going on in our local economy.

And, your job just got easier.

A new website has just been introduced to help keep you informed. The Mid-American Regional Council has developed http://kceconomy.com to give you the lowdown on what’s happening in our local job market.

Today’s Kansas City Business Journal has quoted Jeff Pinkerton, a MARC senior researcher saying "We're trying to distill economic data into what it means for Kansas City”. In sampling the site I was able to find information about unemployment trends, job market outlook and even a link to a new KC economy blog.

Check it out and stay informed!

Accomplishments in Job Search

As I’ve mentioned before finding, remembering and documenting accomplishments/achievements is usually a serious challenge for most job seekers. If you’re like most of us you go to work every day, work hard and usually accomplish good things. Sometimes by yourself but, more often as a part of a team.

Then, once that project is over or the goal is attained you dust off your hands and start on the new work. We soon forget about the old work because we’re buried in the new stuff.

Now along comes the job search and someone in an interview asks---“Tell me about a time when--------.” Or, “Describe a situation when------.” And we go blank. We’ve all had it happen. Trying to remember all those good achievements in the middle of an interview is very difficult.

But having those real-life examples can make all the difference when the prospective employer makes its hiring decisions. It’s been estimated that over 70% of today’s employers use “behavioral-event” interviews to screen potential employees. To ace these kinds of interviews requires the ability to tell good stories.

My company teaches our job search clients to use a special technique to help you remember and tell good interview stories. This technique is called SOAR. That stands for;

Situation- what was the overall situation or problem you faced?

Obstacle – what unique circumstance made the problem difficult to solve?

Actions– what specific action or actions did you or your team take?

Result(s) - how did your employer benefit from your actions? More revenue? Less cost?

So, the next time you are preparing for an interview use the SOAR technique to develop compelling stories to highlight your strengths and make you the preferred candidate for the job.

Are you really networking??

As a professional (I know, that’s subjective on my part!) career advisor I see many clients who struggle with two parts of the job search process. One is remembering their professional accomplishments---more about that later.

The other stumbling block is networking. Some say they understand the concept but in fact they simply go around asking everyone they know for a job. That is not networking---that’s driving friends, relative and former co-workers away.

A friend who is a very successful sales person says that he gets “commission breath” toward the end of a month when his sales are low. He panics and stops trying to help people. He just starts selling them. Commission breath just drives people away.

The same happens when unemployed people panic. They get what I call “job breath”. They ask people to find them work. That creates "job breath" and job breath drives people away.

Instead, I tell my clients to use another, totally different approach. Rather than ask for a job, I say stop looking for a job. I tell them to start looking for information. The first step is to develop a list of targeted companies. Then start showing that list to everyone and ask everyone what they know about those companies.

Contacts may not know about job openings but they probably do know something about the companies on the list. In fact they may know someone who works at the company. And, even better they may be able to make an introduction to a person working at the company.

And making contacts inside target companies can lead directly to un-advertised job openings. So, if you’re starting to panic stop looking for a job and start looking for information and for contacts inside your target companies.

Age Discrimination or Energy & Performance?

With the number of Americans age 40 and over on the rise in coming decades as the baby boom generation continues to age, one of today’s most widely debated issues for older Americans is age discrimination in the workplace. Still, my experience suggests, and experts on workplace trends say, energy and performance may be the real issues behind the ongoing age discrimination debate.

The issue isn’t that an employee turns 40 and suddenly the employer lets him go—that just doesn't happen.  It’s usually not a person’s age, but his or her energy level or performance. I’ve worked with job search candidates who were 65-years-old and secured positions with companies who were thrilled to have them.

Of course, there are a lot of people in their 50s and 60s who remain an integral part of the job market and continue to perform. But, these older, experienced employees often demand higher salaries than individuals just entering the workforce or with less years of experience. These people cost more, and therefore, they sometimes can’t compete with those salaries.

For older employers who want to remain marketable you must demonstrate that you want to work and that you have the energy it takes. Many older Americans are using their experience in fields such as consulting, executive search, fundraising, teaching, etc.  If you want to work you must work hard as well as smart. Also, you should be open to doing other things based on your experience.

Networking Outside Your Immediate Circle

Your current circle of contacts, good people though they may be, are usually not enough to help you find appropriate new employment. If they were you wouldn’t be reading this message, you’d be working at your new job.

In his book “Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers”, Stanford professor Mark Granovetter reveals data from a fascinating study about the impact of personal contacts on job search. The study concludes that to be an effective job seeker you must contact people outside of your immediate circle of friends, relatives and associates. His study supports the career transition maxim that those closest to you are rarely the source of new job opportunities.

Specifically Granovetter’s study found that of the people who discovered their new job through personal contacts - 16.7% found their new job through a contact that they saw less than twice a week, 55.6% through a person that they saw less than once a year and 28.3% from a distant contact that they hadn’t seen in many years. These distant contacts can include former school mates, long lost friends, distant relatives and early career co-workers.

In over 80% of the cases in Granovetter’s study people found their new jobs through distant contacts. The implication is that you have to expand your networking activities to include people well outside your immediate circle of associates.

The trick is to start with people that you know and, by getting referrals to others, expand your network to include people you don’t know or folks with whom you’ve lost contact.

Measuring Job Search Productivity

When we’re employed there a many ways that our productivity is measured. We track sales results, cost reduction numbers, and production output statistics to name a few. When we lose our jobs we may forget about the importance of keeping track of our progress in finding new work.

The results of an 8 year study of thousands of successful job seekers conducted by the international career consulting firm Lee Hecht Harrison concluded that there are several important factors that lead directly to a productive job search. The most important are:

• Talking to 2 hiring managers a week
• Having 30 other search-related conversations a week

Hiring will not happen until you get in front of the person who has the authority to hire you. Having at least two weekly meetings with hiring authorities will produce the fastest results. These conversations can include formal interviews or informal networking meetings.

The way to increase your number of discussions with hiring managers is to increase your number of other search-related conversations. Networking, or simply talking to other people, has been proven to be the most effective way to find appropriate new employment.

Other search-related conversations include any discussions that you have where you mention that you are in the job search mode. These sometimes casual conversations can be more effective if you show the other person your list of target organizations and get their advice on how to contact insiders.

So start counting your number of meetings per week and keep track of your progress. Focus on having the best meetings that you can and the job will take care of itself.