Job Search News

What you don’t know about your employer (or a potential employer) can hurt you badly!  Being uninformed today is a dangerous habit.  Companies go out of business or have layoffs.

If you are employed, stay informed about what is being published on the web about your employer.  Use that information for career management and for financial self defense.  If your employer seems to be having a tough time, start thinking about moving on to another employer.  Read Job-Hunt’s Layoff Self-Defense ebook for suggestions about how to prepare to move on.

If you are unemployed, stay informed about potential employers so you can avoid pursuing employment with an employer who may stop hiring or may offer short-term employment.

Below, find 50 search queries in 5 categories of information that can be strong indicators of pending layoffs.

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Sometimes change we don’t want, change we may even fear and dread, can be very good for us in the long run.

Disasters

I was reminded of this yesterday.  Because of a broken sprinkler head in the office next door in October (!), my office was flooded, and, after 12 weeks of everything-in-boxes, the new floor and carpeting were finally installed Friday.  While we sat out in the hall, surrounded by boxes and office furniture – without the computers or Internet (EEK!) connected -  we decided to  reorganize the layout of the office.

By mid-afternoon, we were back (still in boxes), but with a wonderful new layout in the office!  I’m now SO HAPPY that sprinkler head broke in October.  If it hadn’t, we’d still have the old, inefficient layout (unchanged in 12 years).  Of course, now we must unpack, but we’ll be going through the stuff in the boxes, and (I’ve been informed) throwing out old useless stuff and shredding old documents.  Gee, that does sound like fun…

But we’ll be happier, more efficient, and have much more room when we’re done. (more…)

According to the dictionary, to “graduate” is “to advance to a new level of skill, achievement, or activity.”  SO… Be a layoff GRADUATE, rather than a layoff survivor.

The dictionary says that to “survive” is “to remain alive or in existence.” Surviving is certainly MUCH better than the alternative.

However, think back to the last time you graduated from something.  For most of us, a graduation is the beginning of a new phase of life.  We take what we have learned in the recent past, and apply that knowledge to move in a new direction.

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How times have changed!  In a recent NY Times blog post, Claire Cain Miller reported that companies are trying to get ahead of misleading information (a.k.a. gossip) by annoucing the layoffs in the employer’s blog.  The examples were in Silicon Valley where technology addiction is particularly high, but the tactics will no doubt spread to less techie regions.

So, if your employer has a blog, check on it occasionally to see what is posted.  If the company is large enough to have an independent blog covering it, check that too – looking for the layoff info.

This is being viewed as a more “personal” way to make the announcements and, obviously, an attempt to try to control the message spin.  Other interpretations will happen, none-the-less, but at least employers are trying to be more communicative.

Overall, I think this is a good thing.  We’ll see how it develops.

Many people are losing their jobs right now, through mass layoffs, corporate restructuring, and other events outside of their control.  If possible, finding the new job before the old one evaporates is the best strategy.

4 Layoff Facts:

1. Layoffs should NOT be taken personally, except by the CEO. For everyone else, a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time – not bad performance!

2. A job seeker is more interesting to another employer when still employed (a.k.a. “passive” job seeker). Unemployed (a.k.a. “active” ) job seekers are less desirable.

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