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.

How Is a Layoff Like a Graduation?

1.  A layoff is VERY educational.

Some of the things I learned when I was laid off in 1994 coincide with what other layoff graduates have told me they learned from their layoffs:

• Logic in who remains and who leaves is usually missing. Being in the wrong place (department, pay grade, job title, function, etc.) at the wrong time (headcount reduction time) determines who is laid off and who is not.
• Large employers tend to view employees as “resources” to be added or subtracted from the headcount as dictated by the stock market.
• Large, even VERY large, companies are not “safe havens” from economic realities.
• Some things are beyond my control (e.g. the economy, skill of my employer’s senior executives, etc.).
• Some things are NOT beyond my control (e.g. who I work for, the job I have, the industry/profession I work in, etc.)
• Waiting for the proverbial “ax to fall” is high stress.
• Still working for an employer after layoffs have begun means more work for fewer people with important things going undone. And morale is in the toilet.
• It’s kind of a relief to know that the “the worst” has happened.  No need to worry about it any more.

2. You don’t have to explain in detail why you left.

Like graduating students leave school, laid off employees leave the employer.

All you need to do is say you’ve been laid off as the result of a down-sizing by your employer that reduced, or eliminated, your department or sub-group.  Particularly with very public layoffs (Lehman Brothers, for example), it’s clear why you’re in the job market.

3.  A layoff is the start of a new phase of your life.

This could be the time figure out what your dream job is and pursue it.  People who were laid off from the same high-tech employer I was became:

• A potter (as in maker of pottery) – new field
• A competitive intelligence professional – new field
• A supply chain project manager – same field
• A corporate trainer – new field
• A freelance writer – new field
• An author – new field
• A career coach – related field (was in HR)
• An attorney – new field
• Several entrepreneurs – all new

My Most Important Lesson: A Career Is a Journey, Not a Destination

Just like a graduation or a layoff is a beginning, as well as an ending.

No one employer or job is “your career.”  They are part of the process, way stations in the journey that is your career.  I think I know where the journey is taking me, but it has made a few unexpected turns in the past, and there are probably a few left in the future.

Bottom Line

From the beginning, I considered myself to be a layoff “graduate.” I often got funny looks from fellow “alumni” but I think it helped me see the experience in a more positive light.

In the long run, that layoff was a gift to me.  Of course, it didn’t feel that way at the time. That first “payday” with no paycheck to deposit was terrifying.  But, the layoff freed me to do this, to  run Job-Hunt.org.  Which I love.

And, I’m not done learning, yet, I hope!  I may not have a new degree or certification, but I am still learning new things

What can you learn from your layoff?  What do you really want to do next?

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

• 10 Tips for an Effective Executive Online Profile – article by Beverly Harvey, Job-Hunt’s Executive Job Search Expert.
• Beating Job Interview Fears – article by Wendy Gelberg, Job-Hunt’s Job Search for Introverts Expert.
• Be a Layoff Graduate – article by Susan P. Joyce, Job-Hunt’s Online Job Search Expert..

Career of the Week: System Software Engineer – $70,000 average annual income, expected 10-year job growth is 38%. More about other Careers…

Three great new articles were added to Job-Hunt this week: Susan Guarneri’s first article on Career Assessments, Diane Hudson Burns, Job-Hunt’s Veterans’ Job Search Experts, and Erin Kennedy, CPRW, Job-Hunt’s Marketing & Sales Expert:

• Choosing a Career Assessment – article by Susan Guarneri, Job-Hunt’s Careers Assessments Expert.
• Military vs. Civilian Cultures – article by Diane Hudson Burns, Job-Hunt’s Veterans’ Job Search Expert.
• Preparing for a Sales Interview – article by Erin Kennedy, CPRW, Job-Hunt’s Marketing & Sales Job Search Expert.

Career of the Week: Health Services Manager – $73,000 median annual income, expected job growth rate is 16%. More about other Careers…

• Transition to a Values-Based Career – article by Sean Harvey, Job-Hunt’sValues-Based Careers Expert.
• Niche Networking for Finance Professionals – article by Barbara Safani, Job-Hunt’s Finance Industry Job Search Expert.
• Your Job Search Marketability Plan – article by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Job-Hunt’s Job Search Marketability Expert.

More articles on Job-Hunt every week, in addition to the posts here on Job-Hunt’s Job Search News Blog.

Conducting a more effective job search will shorten the time it takes you to find a job, so these time savers will be short cuts for you.

Biggest Job Search Time Savers:

1.  Know what you want so that people can help you.

If you can’t tell people the job you want and where you want to work, it’s almost impossible for them to help.  So, making it easier for people to help you will save time.

Bad:

“Oh, I’m thinking about looking for something in finance or accounting or maybe, management in administration, or, maybe even management consulting, as long as it’s with a good company that pays well, is solid financially for the long term (particularly in this economy), and offers plenty of opportunity for advancement.  I’ve got a lot of great experience with start-ups and also established companies, an MBA from a good school, and I’m open to anything well-paying.  I’d even consider a non-profit or a government job if the right one came along.”

Eh?  SO, what is it that you REALLY want?  If I know you from many PTA (or whatever) meetings, just learned that you are unemployed, and want to help, what  – if anything – do I remember about your answer?  How do I know who might help you?  What is my “takeaway” from that loose, rambling, unfocused answer?  Probably not much.

Remember, my credibility is on the line too when I refer you to someone else.  How comfortable am I turning over a valuable  network contact to you when it’s not clear what you’re are interested in doing and what kind of impression you will make?  Unless I know you well and know how good you are, the answer is that I probably won’t rush to help you make that contact.

So, time and opportunities lost.

Best:

“I’m looking for a position in accounts receivable and credit with a wholesaler or distributor like Company X, Company Y, Company Z, or a similar medium-sized organization with $10m and up in annual sales in MetroWest or Central Massachusetts.”

OK!  Very specific.  Short.  Sweet.  MEMORABLE!

You’ve done your homework to figure out which organizations meet your criteria, and you have a job target, too.  YEA!  Big help!

NOW, I know what you want, and I can figure out who I might know in that function and/or one of those organizations, an organization like those, or who might have good connections with that job function and/or those organizations.

More useful for both of us, and certainly enables me to be more helpful to you.

2.  Ask people for help (but help them, too).

Put your network to work.  Yes, you do have one!  Former co-workers, former bosses, former clients, current and former neighbors, current and former classmates, etc.

Read Liz Ryan’s Job Hunt article, “What Network? I Don’t Have a Network!” for help finding YOUR network.  Check out Job-Hunt’s “Corporate Alumni Group Directory” and the “Association Directory” to find contacts and opportunities to connect with them face-to-face.

You’ve read so much about networking everywhere that you may be sick of it.  But the reason so many articles are written about networking is because THIS IS WHAT WORKS to connect people to jobs – 70% to 80% of the time!

And, networking is not selfishly using people.  You help them, and they help you.  You work together to help each other succeed.

3.  Pay attention.

Recruiters and employers get the impression that job seekers are lazy, not very interested in getting a job, and not very smart.  Why? Many reasons:

• Because applicants don’t seem to read the job posting past the job title.
  It may ask specific questions that are never answered.  It may indicate that resumes should not be attachments to an email, and attached resumes are emailed anyway.  The list is a mile long.
• Because of the large number of applications for the wrong job.
  The job requirements specify 5 years of experience doing X.  You have 2 years doing Z (which is related, but…), and you apply anyway.  Either you can’t read well, don’t understand what the job is, or you don’t know the difference between X and Z.
• Because the resume and cover letter are filled with misspellings, bad grammar, or obviously the result of poorly executed copy-and-paste efforts (Dear fill-in-the-blank:).
• Because job seekers come to interviews completely uninformed.
  They may not have even visited the employer’s Website to see what’s there and what the employer says about what it does.  And they ask few questions beyond the self-serving how much does it pay and how much vacation do I get.

Who would want to hire dumb and/or lazy people?  So, show them that YOU are different by paying attention all the way through the process from the initial connection to the acceptance.

4.  Use the Internet as a tool, not a solution.

To a certain degree, the “old” process from 1995 to  ~2007 is getting flipped over.  Recruiters and employers increasingly prefer to find appropriate job candidates rather than posting jobs and sifting out the most qualified applicants from the flood of job seekers.

SO:

• Google yourself to see what’s out there about you, and do damage-control if you must.
  A registered sex-offender has the same name you do? Be sure to use your middle initial or full middle name (assuming it’s not the same as the offender) on your resume and all your public visibility (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Google, etc.) so mistaken identity is minimized and the people looking for you can find the real you.
• Be sure your LinkedIn Profile (you DO have one, right?) is up-to-date and spiffy.
• Twitter intelligently (don’t share your need to get high or your latest bout of over-indulging in beer), and create a solid online name for yourself.
• Watch your Facebook Friends and privacy.
• Set up a Google Profile for yourself (at www.google.com/profiles) and capture your name as your Google URL, if possible.
• Carefully and thoughtfully (using your real name), review some appropriate products and books on Amazon.

Read the articles by Job-Hunt’s Personal Branding Expert, Meg Guiseppi, and check out Dan Schawbel’s PersonalBrandingBlog for more ideas about establishing a good, accurate online identity that will help your job search.

Bottom Line

You can save yourself an enormous amount of time by using these 4 “short cuts.”  Or, you can ignore them and have a much longer job search.

Tell me, what do you think?

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About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter at @jobhuntorg.

Candidate “Sourcing”

Monday, I took “social media sourcing” class.  ”Sourcing” is a phrase that’s been using in the online recruiting world for a few years. Basically, it means searching for good job candidates using many different tactics, rather than posting jobs.  Sourcing as a recruiting speciality developed for 2 simple reasons:

(1) The deluge of unqualified applicants in responce to online job postings, and

(2) A widely-held belief in the employment world that “passive” (i.e. employed) candidates are much better hires than “active” (i.e. unemployed or employed but job hunting) candidates. 

Best Job Posting Solution: LinkedIn Groups

What was most remarkable about the class was the bottom-line recommendation that the BEST place to post a job is NOW through LinkedIn Groups.  It’s free for employers and recruiters, and it’s very effective (which probably means it won’t be free for long).

This doesn’t mean that the job boards are dead.  It just means that you really can’t stop your job search with the job boards, and that wasn’t a smart strategy in the past, either.  But, now, only using the job boards is a recipe for failure.

Post your privacy-protected resume on the usual suspects: Monster, CareerBuilder, HotJobs, and appropriate niche boards.  Recruiters, employers, and (BEWARE!) scammers will find your resume and contact you.  Just be sure to protect your privacy so you protect your identity, family, and job (if you are employed). 

Joining a LinkedIn Group

Go to your LinkedIn account (if you don’t have one, start it NOW!). 

Near the top of the navigation on the left, below the “Home” link and above the “Profile” link, you should see a “Group” link.  Click on that link and you’ll come to the Groups homepage where you can search for individual Groups to join.  Pick the ones which would have the most interesting people and information in them, and ask to join.

LinkedIn will allow you to join up to 50 Groups. 

Most Group owners will want to review your request before approving it, so you may have to wait a few days before you’ll have access to all the Groups you want.  Recommendation: don’t apply for any that you don’t qualify for – it just annoys people and probably builds bad karma.

Finding the Jobs

Once you’ve successfully joined a Group, go to the Group page where you will find many useful sections:

• Jobs -
  Click on the “Jobs” tab to find job postings, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see any there.
• More Jobs -
  Click on the “Discussions” tab on the Group page to see what people are saying.  Often, jobs will be posted in this section, usually as a Discussion.
• Who’s Who -
  To the far right on the Group’s page, on the same line as the tabs, you’ll find a link to “Group Profile.” Clicking on this will reveal how many people belong to the group (remember that biggest isn’t always best), who owns it, and also your  1st, 2nd, (etc.) Connections within the Group.

For More Information

For more information on leveraging LinkedIn, visit Job-Hunt’s Social Media and Job Search section.

Good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org  All rights reserved.

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter @JobHuntOrg. 

For each employer, you will find: a link to the AARP Profile, a count of the number of jobs posted, a link to the jobs posted, and the employer’s primary location.

Two of the selected employers are placement agencies, with a combined total of 4,600 openings. According to their AARP Profiles, they actively recruiter candidates over 50 for their clients which is why they are included.  One employer had no jobs posted that we could find, but they probably still have jobs open.

The distribution by industry:

• 14 – hospitals and health care
•   7 - insurance
•   6 - education, 5 colleges or universities and one public school district
•   5 - financial services

The distribution by state:

• 5 – Massachusetts
• 4 – California
• 4 – Illinois
• 4 – Virginia

Here they are:

If you are familiar with or work for any of these employers, please add your comment below, particularly how you were hired by the employer (job posting, friend, walked in and applied, etc.).

AARP will be putting out a new list shortly, and we’ll add it to Job-Hunt, of course. So don’t forget to come back.

Good luck with your job search!

(c) Copyright 2009.  Job-Hunt.org  All rights reserved.

About the author…

Online job search expert Susan P. Joyce has been observing the online job search world and teaching online job search skills since 1995. Susan is a two-time layoff “graduate” who has worked in human resources at Harvard University and in a compensation consulting firm. In 1998, her company, NETability, Inc. purchased Job-Hunt.org, and Susan has been editor and publisher of Job-Hunt since then. Follow Susan on Twitter @JobHuntOrg.

A recent study from Fortune Magazine found the most admired companies to work for. That list covered 64 industries and was global in nature. An article from NewJerseyNewsroom went one step further by finding the companies that are actually hiring and are best placed to survive the next recession.

The top six companies, located in a vast selection of industries, are as follows:

• General Mills – This company has a long list of products, including Chex, Bisquick and Green Giant. They have a clear and easy-to-use career page with links to job search, campus, experienced, careers and more, as well as sections for campus events, career fairs and why work at general Mills. The company currently has about 42 job openings posted.
• Toyota Industries – The auto company, which has operations in America, has a career site that’s simple and features a search engine. The company currently around has 23 job openings posted.
• Lowe’s – The home improvement company’s careers page features options for stores, distribution or corporate headquarters, as well as sections for job search, hot jobs and college recruiting. You also can subscribe to the page via RSS feed. There are currently about 94 job openings posted.
• AT&T – The telecommunication’s company’s careers page has a number of links including career possibilities, student relations and getting started. There also is a “Job Search & Apply” section that leads you to a search engine. There are currently more than 100 job openings posted.
• Accenture – This is a management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. The career site has sections for working here, career options and search jobs, as well as a number of other tools. You also can explore the “Find where you fit” section. There are currently around 381 job openings posted.
• Samsung Electronics – The electronics company’s careers page has a brief overview and a search jobs link. There are currently about 82 job openings posted.

With fewer people able to afford buying new homes and foreclosure rates up, the market has become saturated with properties. This has severely decreased the need for new projects, which has had an adverse affect on construction jobs.

One hope for the federally appointed stimulus funds was that they would increase hiring in the construction industry. So far this has not been the case. According to a recent press release put out by the Associated General Contractors of America, the stimulus plan has yet to have any real significant influence on the industry’s job market.

One of the reasons that stimulus funds have not created a large number of jobs in the construction industry is the fact that this money has yet to make its way outside of the transportation sector, according to the AGCA.

“While the construction portion of the stimulus is having an impact, it is far from delivering its full promise and potential,” Stephen E. Sandherr, AGCA chief executive officer said in the release. “With construction unemployment at almost double the national rate, it is disappointing to see so many stimulus programs getting off to such a slow start.”

According to Sandherr, there has been roughly $135 billion spent on construction projects in the five months since the start of the federal stimulus program. Despite this, he says that there has not been a notable change in the hiring and purchasing patterns of companies doing stimulus-funded work and those that aren’t handling such projects.

To illustrate this, Sandherr pointed to the fact that 36 percent of construction companies that have stimulus-funded work reported that they expected to hire more workers. This figure is almost the same as those who aren’t in the process of working on projects with this funding.

In addition to this, Sandherr noted that 36 percent of construction companies handling stimulus related projects are planning to purchase new equipment and supplies. This figure is somewhat lower than the 43 percent of companies not working on these projects that reported plans to buy such materials and equipment during the same time frame.

According to Sandherr, some of the areas of the construction industry that have lost jobs and need the most help are not related to transportation. At this time, he believes that while the money is not creating new jobs, it is helping companies to save already existing positions. To support this, he said that 60 percent of construction firms working on stimulus related projects have reported that they have been able to save jobs or retain workers as a result of the federal money.

According the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 9.5 percent of the nation’s population was unemployed in June. This figure is now 3.9 percent higher than it was during the same month in 2008.

But hope may be on the way, at least for upper level management jobs. According to a recent press release, the CareerCast.com and JobSerf Employment Index, which measures online recruitment activity for managerial positions across the country, experienced yet another increase.

The number of available job listings for C-level, VP, Director and managerial positions rose for the third month in a row during July. During the month the Index saw the largest increase it’s had since January of 2008.

According to the release, the number of listed jobs online for these positions increased by 17.8 points. This rise follows June’s increase of 3.8 points and May’s gain of 15.2 points. In July, the number of executive and management-level jobs had an index value of 78.2. This shows drastic improvement from April’s Index value of 41.4 points.

Despite the rising unemployment, the release went on to say that white-collar job seekers are seeing “more opportunities than since the beginning of the downturn last fall.”

Of those jobs monitored by the Index, positions for all levels of management increased by 20 points. Jobs for VP-level candidates saw a rise of 14 points, while C-level management positions grew by 7 points.

The area found to have the largest number of jobs posted online for this level of employment was Washington, D.C. The nation’s capital had one-and-a-half times as many jobs available as the second place metro area, Boston. The remainder of the top five areas for managerial jobs were Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco.

When the results were broken down by region, the West was found to have the strongest gain in management positions, going from 55.9 points to 75 points. Despite this 19.1 point gain, it is still behind the Northeast, which climbed to 18.9 points to stand at 87.5 points, an the Southeast, where there was a 15.9 point gain. Currently, the Southeast stands at 80.3 points. The Midwestern region continues to struggle, regardless of gaining 11.5 points, with an Index value of 72.4 points.

“While all regions saw a rise in hiring, cities with the lowest hiring levels are concentrated in the Midwest, Southwest and Florida,” JobSerf’s Chairman Jay Martin said in the recent press release. “Although the Index is still 22 points lower than it was a year ago, the gap is slowly closing. We are encouraged at both the direction and magnitude of July’s gain. It shows the positive recovery, which started in the late spring, is still continuing.”