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.
For those who don't need an immediate job, a tough employment market is the best time to get that graduate or law degree or M.B.A. "It will improve your earning power throughout your career," says economist Paul Harrington at Northeastern University,
Midcareer. The old adage about the best time to look for a job is when you have a decent one holds true even during a recession, and workers in their 30s and 40s should not become too comfy. "In a recession, people tend to cling to a job," says Rutgers's Van Horn. "But they shouldn't. They should be assessing the business situation where they are, and if it isn't good, look for a company that has a good five-to-10-year outlook." That's where research comes in, courtesy of the Internet. There is plenty of information (often from the employers) on salaries in various job categories, working conditions, and a company's financial health. And make sure you're exiting your job for the right reasons, experts say. Don't look only at salary but also at future earning potential, benefits (especially pensions and profit sharing), and work-family issues.
Getting the skills for a new career is key, but midcareer folks typically won't earn back the cost of a multiyear degree. Instead, consider certification programs that may take only a few months. Some states, like New Jersey with its N.J. Training Sources (www.njtraining sources.org), have set up databases of courses and other licensed training programs. And job programs exist across the country. In Norwood, Mass., a state and federal collaborative program has created a job training center offering courses in such skills as resume preparation and PowerPoint, as well as a career center with online job-search services and counselors, all previously laid off themselves. Ginny Messmore, a former real-estate appraiser and now a photographer in Norwood, says, "This place is a godsend. It's good to have the support of a group of job seekers who understand."
Older workers. After 50--and especially after 55--it's tough to get hired, because workers are at their most expensive and also because of well-entrenched discrimination. "The employer is always going to want the 40-year-old who is happy with the salary he's getting, instead of the 59-year-old who may be disgruntled, even if he says he is willing to take a 30 percent pay cut," says Rutgers's Van Horn. That's why it's best to downscale expectations. If you are laid off after 50, think hard about what you really need in terms of pay--perhaps you've paid off the mortgage, for instance --and try to promote yourself as offering "bang for the buck" in terms of expertise.
No matter what you do, sometimes it doesn't work out. One 59-year-old Boston area job seeker spent more than 25 successful years at photo giant Polaroid. He took an early-retirement package in 1998 that seemed generous. But when Polaroid filed for bankruptcy, it walked away from its agreement to provide healthcare to early retirees. The senior marketing manager returned to work, and in the past several years he has had at least three management jobs, most of them ending because hard times hit the company. Now the manager, known as a "master networker" at the Norwood career center, is having trouble finding a job to match his skills and says he faces age discrimination at interviews. Still, he says, "You have to keep on moving. You must be resilient."
This story appears in the February 24, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.