Serious times call for serious action, especially when it comes to job hunting. Whether it’s a first job, fifth, or fifteenth, there are ways to prepare, actions to take, and activities to perform that move the process forward. For some, who are searching due to downsizing or layoffs, it can be embarrassing to part with a job and career that was a source of pride, comfort and income, as one 45-year-old professional mentioned. If you really love your job, your company, and your coworkers, being separated from them is bewildering and painful.
During the recession of 1982, I co-designed the San Francisco Examiner’s weekly Career Series, one of the first locally produced Career Columns in the United States. The only difference between then and now is the Internet. We provided three years of columns to help people with their career and job changes and searches, as well as managing the career they had.
People were experiencing layoffs, downsizing, reengineering, mergers, and difficult situations with bosses, mentors, and coworkers. “Networking” was pretty new. Oh, it’s been around for centuries, but no formal name was applied to that reciprocal process of common sense and common courtesy. Now networking was just a noun and now it’s a verb — an action word!
When I experienced the dismissal of a teacher from the career that my mother said that “you could always appeal” (so much for that myth), I was stunned, upset and I felt betrayed. What I learned:
- It’s okay to be angry. But give yourself some time to be angry. 10-14 days
- It’s okay to cry, as job loss is a loss of more than income. 10-14 days
- After the time periods for #1 and #2 are over (and hopefully they will occur simultaneously), it’s time to act. My mantra in all my books including Face to face: how to recover the personal touch in a digital world, is that good things do not come to those who wait. “Good things come to those who start.”
- Go to a fundraiserC
- Visit MeetUp.com to find a local group in your area.
- Join a BNI group
- Visit 40+ or the Job Search Group at your local EDD office.
- Attend a Pink Slip Party
- Talk to people in lines, next to you at sporting events, in the laundry room, etc.
The issue is that the more visible we are, the more viable we are. The first step is to “work”, to the best of your ability, at every meeting, event, party MEETING people and having conversations that build connections. The second is networking like it’s 1989. That doesn’t just mean “find friends” and “link up,” it also means constantly following up one-on-one with people you know or just met.
We have more options than ever to keep track: we can text, email, DJ, write on a wall and — how’s this for retro thinking — PICK UP THE PHONE! Have a conversation where you can HEAR the tone, rhythm, inflection, and share a laugh. Too many people are avoiding the phone and losing phone skills. The main problem is that some employers are so inundated with resumes that they conduct phone job interviews first.
We all know that just looking at search ads is NOT enough, whether they appear in your local newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, on a professional website, or on Craigslist. Don’t get me wrong, we need to explore all avenues and that includes search ads, job boards, and websites. People post and advertise jobs in the hope that the dream employee will read the ad and respond.
Since the beginning of the 1980s, what was then called “THE HIDDEN LABOR MARKET” had been known. It’s not that it was hidden but it was by word of mouth… from the mouths of people we knew who knew of vacancies in their company or in their profession.
The answer to the dilemma, “How to FIND the hidden jobs” is the same now as it was 30 years ago: Be Visible. Be Workable. GRID! By the way, this is how people have learned about job openings for decades, even before the term was appropriated to describe those activities that connect us with others.
When I ask my audience how many of them have found out about at least one of their jobs from someone else, around 80% of the group raise their hands. It’s the way the world of work has always worked. You learn that your company needs another mechanic, tailor, administrative assistant, sheet metal worker, legal counsel, and you tell a friend who knows someone who fits the description. Sometimes those jobs are filled through the process of informal word-of-mouth networking before they are even published.
Now that the 9 to 5 play has been revived, we are aware that the workday used to be just that: 9 to 5. Even as it has expanded and spilled over into our personal lives due to technology and the confusion of boundary lines, I would recommend using our 5-9 hours to build that professional job search network.
Point: People recommend jobs to people they know or meet through a close source who can vouch for that person. Many people (despite sites that are based on 6 degrees of separation) are not going to risk the reputation of someone they don’t know. I won’t do it
Therefore, it makes sense to be visible in professional and alumni associations, community organizations, and local groups. Also, we have the option to go to meetings and tweet! The mother’s warning: “Go out, you will never find anyone sitting at home” is no longer true. We can meet lots of people online and even become tech friends, a term described in Friendship by Joseph Epstein. In this down economy, we need to connect in as many ways as possible. With a drink… well, that’s a good start!
