Jobless Recovery - An Oxymoron - the Depth of Unemployment in Perspective

The widely-used buzzword, "jobless recovery", is the ultimate oxymoron. There is no recovery without the creation of new jobs. Seventy-percent of the US economy is consumer driven and if unemployment remains high, consumers will hold back on purchases. Consumers stick to the staples if they are marginally employed, unemployed, or in fear for the stability of their own jobs.

We get so jaded by enormous numbers tossed around the media these days from bank bailouts, stimulus packages, the national debt, etc. - seeing trillions, billions, or millions of something or another that we totally lose perspective of the size and scope of things. Let's put "real numbers" to the human side of unemployment. Each week just about one-half million people file for FIRST TIME unemployment benefits. To put that in the proper frame of mind, this is roughly the population of cities the size of Boston or Denver proper. It is difficult to fathom the numbers and human misery as a result of job loss. But think of every man, woman, senior citizen, and child in Boston - that number of people - losing their job each week. Now think of two very populous US states, Illinois and Ohio, about 25 million people combined. That is roughly the number of people on the unemployment rolls and those men and women who have expended their unemployment benefits and given up on finding jobs in this tough job market. The best estimates put this number at 17% of the total US workforce, not the 10% or so published by the Dept. of Labor, which is only the number currently receiving unemployment benefits. Again, contemplate the entire populations of these two populous states, not just the working age folks, but the entire populations -- out of work! This is mind-boggling! And these people are not buying new cars, flying to Florida for Spring break, or remodeling their spare bathrooms.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) has created some new jobs, but at a high price of $800 billion (yes, that's billion with a B) - and future generations will (unfortunately) be picking up the tab. The number of jobs saved and created has not met the Obama administration's projections, so Congress has proposed another stimulus package - throwing more good money (which we have to borrow from other countries) after a marginally successful program. Now our government, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to count the jobs created differently. "The White House says it will no longer keep a cumulative tally of jobs created and saved by the stimulus. Instead, it will post only a count of jobs for each quarter. And instead of counting only created and saved jobs, it will count any person who works on a project funded with stimulus money-even if that person was never in danger of losing his or her job." On this last point, one of the stimulus programs funded required the purchase of 3000 vehicles from Chrysler. The workers who build these vehicles along with tens-of-thousands of others will be counted as new jobs, even though they were employed before this order and will remain employed after. And some of the stimulus money was used to give pay raises (unbelievable how that can be justified). Then there is the $247,000 spent on road signs in Colorado, stating particular projects were funded by ARRA. I would have rather seen that money spent on hiring 5 full-time workers!

So here we sit in a recovery-less, jobless recovery, wondering what the future will bring.

Richard S. Pearson is the Author of 5 Necessary Skills to Keep Your Career on Track. He has held vice-president positions with four multibillion dollar travel industry companies and three Internet early stage companies. He has a BA degree from Regis University in Organizational Development. His experience has given him a unique perspective on how to navigate the organizational structures of both large and small companies. He has hired and trained hundreds of employees from frontline salespeople to vice presidents, and coached many through their careers. He is currently working on facilitating the large increase of travel between the US and China, which is taking place. http://www.5necessaryskills.com

Bad Advice for Jobseekers - So Called Career Experts Out to Make a Buck Off Unemployed

Career advice experts are popping up all over social and traditional media with varying claims of expertise. Many lack "real" experience in career counseling or employer/employee relations and are merely opportunistic. I do not believe there is ill intent with most, but I find bad advice or incomplete advice to be worse than no advice at all. I also have a real problem with those out to exploit unemployed people - many desperate - who are down to the last of their savings or unemployment benefits.

The only thing recession-proof in today's job market recovery is the career advice field, with seminars, publishers churning out career books, and personal coaching businesses springing up in every nook and cranny of the Internet. A story in a large metropolitan newspaper on one of these self-proclaimed experts goes something like this: Susan Smith (name changed) was a free-lance writer in the entertainment industry when her career hit the skids. She needed a career makeover and decided she was a career expert and used her writing skills to get a career advice book published and launched her own blog. Poof! Now she's a full blown career coach. And many of these self-proclaimed experts are commanding fees of $500 to $1500 a month per client - not bad for a brand new profession!

An example of an ill-conceived, half-baked article recently appeared on a top Internet jobs site. It goes through eight steps to "gift yourself employment." What a powerful concept - I wish I would have thought of just gifting new jobs - it would save a great deal of effort.

Her first point, finding a job takes time and available space to conduct the search - she even suggests a local restaurant. The latter proposition is horrible advice. Restaurants are noisy, by definition you're not going to be organized well, and the restaurant and other patrons will love having you there (not). Set up a home office or a private room of a library where you can use the phone. And finding a job will take time - a simply brilliant assumption - but gives no clue about average times to find a job! Which, by the way, is roughly one month for each $10,000 of annual income you have earned e.g. eight months to replace an $80,000 job.

Second, you're going to face competition in today's tough job market - another stroke of genius. But she does offer some good advice about the possible use of your background skills and talent in a different field - thinking outside the box.

Third, put updating your resume on the "to do" list. Terrible advice. Until you update your resume and figure out your complete set of skills you can't even contemplate her advice of finding a related out of the box field to conduct your search. You can't post your resume (since it's outdated), send it to anyone, nor interview with it. This is job search 101 and the very first thing you must do. Get your resume up-to-date focusing on your skills and accomplishments and always keep it updated.

Fourth, "use social networks to, well, network." Social networking sites are strictly mediums to find names of other people, hopefully in related fields or who can connect you to potential new jobs. She says nothing about how to effectively network, which is building relationships with the people you meet online, offering to give them assistance, discovering similar interests, and common friends. This is networking. Just because you found someone's name online does not mean you can ask them for a job or to recommend you to someone else. This would be like meeting someone on the street and asking them for a job. A new online contact would be extremely foolish to recommend you to anyone until they know and trust you.

Fifth, post your resume. Not bad advice, but your resume should always be customized to highlight your skills (and key words) to the particular job you are going after. Although posting your resume on job search sites, is the electronic equivalent of adding your resume to work wanted printed ads of yesteryear - with thousands of competitors. Yes, creating your own Web site will help you to stand out - some good advice - but where you will most likely find a job is through effective networking not a job site. I have read where up to 90% of senior manager and higher jobs are not even posted outside the company and most likely involve a recruiter. This is where networking comes in to connect with someone inside a company who knows of a particular job which your qualifications are a good fit. Perhaps even getting your resume on a hiring manager's desk before anyone from the outside hears about it - eliminating competition.

Sixth, join career or job clubs. The camaraderie is good for moral support but they won't find you a job.

Seventh, hit the streets. This is some of her worst advice unless you are applying at Joe's Plumbing Supply. Professional businesses do not want you "dropping by" to hand deliver your resume, nor calling, and they state this in their HR Web sites.

Her eighth point, and last one, is probably her best - Consider something temporary. As she suggests, find a temporary employment firm that specializes in your field of work. Many times contingent work leads to full-time employment, but more importantly it gives you a story to tell potential employers about what you've been doing. It shows them you are industrious, and willing to think outside the box.

My advice is to check out the backgrounds of career counselors before you buy their products or services. Find people with real-world experience and study their material first to see if what they espouse makes common sense. I've reviewed thousands of resumes and personally recruited and hired hundreds of people, and have a couple of decades of experience with large corporations and start-ups. My experience and what I believe I can do to help countless floundering people in this tough job market is the reason I wrote a book on careers - not I'll write a book and then become a career expert.

Richard S. Pearson is the Author of 5 Necessary Skills to Keep Your Career on Track. He has held vice-president positions with four multibillion dollar travel industry companies and three Internet early stage companies. He has a BA degree from Regis University in Organizational Development. His experience has given him a unique perspective on how to navigate the organizational structures of both large and small companies. He has hired and trained hundreds of employees from frontline salespeople to vice presidents, and coached many through their careers. He is currently working on facilitating the large increase of travel between the US and China, which is taking place. http://www.5necessaryskills.com

Get a Job in 90 Days - The 2010 Recovery

While there is no silver-bullet available to get you back into the full-time workforce, there are proven methods that will expedite the process. The rule of thumb for the time to find a job (and it has held true during this recession) is one month for each $10,000 of annual income you have earned. For example, if you made $90,000 in your last job it will take you roughly nine months to find comparable employment, a year if you made $120,000, etc. But things are different as we start the new '10's decade. While we are in a recovery, don't expect the job market to return to the way it was a few years back. We now realize how fragile our national economy is; how closely tied we are to the world's economy; and that our government cannot jump in and "save the day," as we have witnessed its inability to create jobs other than government jobs. And on this last point, that is exactly what we do not need - a bigger, bloated government which created a national debt greater than the combined debt of all the other countries of the world - sapping available funds from the credit markets that are sorely needed for private enterprises to grow and add jobs.

The jobs growth engine of our economy for the past two decades has been small business, which (depending on the source you follow) has created between 70 and 80 percent of all new jobs. It can be argued that this growth came as large corporations downsized and outsourced more and more of their functions. This trend will continue as these corporations become even more risk adverse.

The first thing needed to fast track your job search is to re-tool your resume. Keep in mind it's not about you - but about the skills required by a potential employer, with your skill set overlaid to determine the most qualified candidate. You will want to tweak your resume to mesh with the unique job requirements of each position you are interested in. You've heard it before but it's worth repeating - always maintain an up-to-date resume. The last thing you want is for a friend or colleague to "open a door" for you and ask for your resume, then not receive it for a week or two. It needs to be in their hands while you are in top-of-mind awareness.

I will bet that just about everyone reading this article can find a volunteer position directly or indirectly related to their past employment, within one week. If you have financial services experience, volunteer with a community agency to help people repair their credit scores, as an example. With a human resources background you could assist in a job services center helping workers get back into the labor force. Construction workers would be welcome at Habitat for Humanity. Who knows, you might end up pounding nails with a CEO or city councilmen - not bad connections to do some networking. There are three primary reasons to volunteer: It gives you a "story" to tell a potential employer about what you've been doing; it may provide the opportunity to network and find a new job; and it will build up your self-esteem - utilizing your skills and doing what you do best - giving you the confidence you need to project as you land interviews.

Networking is where you will find your next job. I do not mean to rush out and join Twitter and see how many followers you can get in 60 days, or friends and family on MySpace or Facebook. That is not sophisticated networking - just because someone's name showed up. But do join LinkedIn, the most professional social networking site, if you have not already done so. Use your newly crafted resume to fill out your profile and search for friends, classmates, and former colleagues to re-connect with. You do not want to appear desperate. Don't ask for a job. Ask about what they are doing. Offer any help you can in getting them connected to others for their own careers or for a work project. Tell them about your volunteer work while you are looking for a new career position. Let them offer to assist you. This is effective networking.

Don't waste a great deal of time on job search sites, which are more or less the "help wanted ads" of the digital age. You can find sites that will let you drill down for a particular field and by city and region, but you will be competing with hundreds or even thousands of others for these positions. Do research on the companies which employ people with your skills - by reading annual reports, searching their web sites, trade associations, press releases, etc. Then use LinkedIn or similar professional sites to find out which ones are hiring; current and former employees you or one of your connections might know; and who can make an introduction for you to get directly to the hiring manager. This is the best way to ensure you will be brought in for an interview.

With small businesses adding three-quarters of all new jobs, focus your efforts on those which may have been the recipient of outsourced business in your field or a closely related one. You may very well find that one of the large corporations you contact now outsources what your specialty is. Ask who they outsource it to - perhaps get them to forward your resume to them (a great way to open the door). When connecting with a small business use your large corporate experience to your advantage by suggesting how you can get more companies to outsource to them. Almost one-half of all jobs are now filled with contingent workers - either consultants, contract, or temporary employees. Find a staffing company or two, specializing in your field, and let them go to work and find you an interim position either in your field or closely related. Over a third of these jobs become full-time employee positions -- and you get the opportunity to experience the company's culture firsthand and they see how you blend in with their existing workforce.

While there are no guarantees in life, following these steps can stack the deck in your favor to land a new job in the shortest time possible. Good luck!

Richard S. Pearson is the Author of 5 Necessary Skills to Keep Your Career on Track. He has held vice-president positions with four multibillion dollar travel industry companies and three Internet early stage companies. He has a BA degree from Regis University in Organizational Development. His experience has given him a unique perspective on how to navigate the organizational structures of both large and small companies. He has hired and trained hundreds of employees from frontline salespeople to vice presidents, and coached many through their careers. He is currently working on facilitating the large increase of travel between the US and China, which is taking place.http://www.5necessaryskills.com