Search Clues
Even in this lousy labor market, there are some valuable tips for job seekers, whether undergraduates or middle managers
Just a few years ago--before 9/11, the recession, the bear market, and the Internet bust--job experts advised viewing your career as a commodity: Dump your employer, sell to the highest bidder, worry more about advancement than career path, and go online to grab that great job.
Today, those experts say, throw out such notions. Instead, treat your career as a long-term investment: Soldier on in the workplace until you find something more secure, get extra training, stay in school--or go back until the economy improves--and network like mad. In other words, continually invest in your career, so that you have a safety net when the inevitable downturn comes. "The 1990s were an aberration, not a new trend," says Carl Van Horn, director of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University in New Jersey. "We're back, frankly, to a much more normal job environment now."
That means college graduates must start at the bottom and work their way up. Midcareer workers are typically the most in demand but should proceed cautiously. And workers over 50 have the most trouble securing another job, especially at the same pay. Yet skills are king, and those with them will be well positioned. Job searches are intensely personal and affected by intangibles like timing and luck. But there are strategies that job seekers at various career stages can employ to help ensure success.
New graduates. This is nail-biting season on college campuses as the class of '03 tries to land those ever important interviews with recruiters. A check of about a dozen major campuses shows recruiting is down significantly from two years ago and off even from last year. At Boston College, for example, the number of on-campus interviews is down about 10 percent from last year, which was off 28 percent from 2001. And recruiters showing up typically have fewer openings. Yet there are beneficiaries of the current slump: Some firms may seek new graduates because they are cheaper to hire. Even as Fleet Bank in Boston was announcing 1,900 layoffs, it was signing up to interview Boston College seniors. "They are probably consolidating some positions at a lower level," says Theresa Harrigan, director of the college's Career Center.
Also in a preferential position are those with some work experience. Students should try to land an internship early, following their sophomore, or even freshman, year. At Northeastern University in Boston, some 7,300 students a year participate in the well-respected cooperative education program through which they get positions--mostly paid--that yield work experience. Some 65 percent of the school's graduates get permanent jobs through co-ops. "The level of skill that an entry-level employee needs now is much higher than it is in a better market," says Kellianne Murphy, one of the school's co-op coordinators.
Students should polish networking and interviewing skills. At Rutgers--where nearby Johnson & Johnson recruits students, along with finance and management companies in Manhattan--career services manager Dorothy Fredericks hosts a variety of sessions, including a "mocktail" event where students learn to circulate and make contacts. "The successful students are really working the system," she says.
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