8 Golden Rules to Getting a Job in a Bad Economy
August 19, 2009 by sparktalk
By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Rob Taub
Show me someone who hasn’t fantasized getting in the car and leaving it all behind and I’ll show you someone who doesn’t drive. The banks are a mess, credit is awful, the U.S auto industry is a mess, unemployment is climbing still, we’re all out of money, gas prices are on the rise again … oh yeah … and according to the G-8 Summit our planet is melting!
Many people mistakenly assume if a company is not actively looking for someone then a job isn’t available. The experience of many job-hunters may say otherwise.
What do these successful job-hunters have in common?
For one, they have identified their key strengths, related achievements, talent and competences and where and how to apply them. Too, they have learned to engage in conversation that start others thinking about why they should create a job for them. If you have something people want, THAT’S the bottom-line. It’s business as usual: Someone recognizes a problem or opportunity and decided to do something about it.
What else do these people have in common?
They do not rely on convention; the career paths that were winners for most of the last century are often not providing much success; they’ve gone the way of the “eight track” (some of you may get that). These job-hunters also have certain rules in common. Some of them are,
- Out with the old; in with the new: Make time and create room for new learning (this is increasingly necessary today)
- Think small as in new, start-up, entrepreneurial not large, mechanistic and bureaucratic
- “Let’s make a deal” wherever and whenever you can
- Think like a Consultant: Help businesses from the outside looking in (i.e. opportunities for project work with downsized companies)
- Get excited about competing; show a competitive drive (always grasping for the gold ring)
- When life gets tough, tough! Build a bridge and get over it
- Pay attention to the consequences of the economic downturn over the last couple of years and keep your eye on the future (watch affect on globalization, agriculture, R&D, Environment, etc.)
- Showcase your leadership qualities: Think like a leader not a manager
What else can be said about these job-hunters and what they have in common? They recognize the need for objective input and feedback from someone or others they know and trust for the same reasons key decision-makers rely on staff or input from their Board. The easiest way to make smart decisions is to surround yourself with people “in the know”. It’s business as usual. Here’s one scenario:
A colleague and close friend phoned me. He is looking for a new career position and after speaking to a mutual friend of ours who too is searching for a new position he concluded “when I had my own company and had to make an important decision that would impact the company and me, I would gather up and consult with my Board as the President does his Cabinet.” He asked to meet with me to see if I would accept a seat on his Cabinet, which I gladly did, and he then preceded to fill 4 other seats.
The experiences of many of these job-hunters also tells us they have learned how NOT to get caught up in the think of thin things. They recognize that what matters most cannot be at the mercy of what matters least. The current economic challenges individuals and companies face in this recession is daunting. Changes in the marketplace, culture, the lightening-speed advancement in technologies… have made job-hunting more complicated now than it was even just a few years ago. However, to let your doubts about the market and your success cause you to give up transcend foolishness. “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them” (Michael Jordan) and successful job-hunters do! They believe life doesn’t happen to them, it happens from them, and they keep moving on towards the “Gold”, for to them, that IS business as usual.
Good Luck!
YT,
RT
Rob Taub, MBA, CCM (Credentialed Career Master) and CAREEREALISM Approved-Expert, is a 25-year veteran in the job searching and career marketing field, helping recent grads, young on-the-rise professionals, and mid- to senior-level managers and executives with individual job searches and career transitions. Rob is Principal at Job Search Corner [www.JobSearchCorner.com] and creator of the blog Job Searching with Rob.
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