Now The New Economy means something else – layoffs, restricted hiring, long lines at job fairs, IT people scrambling for a few new jobs, and lots of competition for almost every position that’s advertised.

So what’s a job seeker to do? What’s the best approach to follow in these difficult and turbulent times?

Well, for one thing, I, as an experienced job coach, believe in going back to the basics. In difficult times, the basics still work; in more prosperous times, they also work, perhaps with somewhat less effort.

So (Rule #1) you have to be prepared to put in more effort. The truth is, very few people who are job hunting really put in a full forty hours a week. For one thing, they don’t know what to do to occupy that much time. For another, it is hard work in itself and not everybody is able to work hard, especially because it involves a lot of rejection, both overt and covert (like the sins that are sins of commission and sins of omission). It’s all too easy to find household chores and millions of things to do every week, after you’ve spent five or ten hours in job-hunting activities. A job coach comes in handy here.

Which brings us to Rule #2: Be prepared for lots more rejection. The reason for this is to keep your morale up, so you don’t start avoiding doing the very things that can find you a job. A job coach comes in handy here, too.

Rule #3: Network. My observation is that most people don’t do this (which is a good thing for those who do because it keeps the marketplace less crowded). They don’t know how. They’re scared of it. They do it wrong when they do it and, consequently “burn up” any network. But it’s still one of the best ways to find a job and it often results in finding jobs for which there is no competition.

Rule #4: You must write a “Killer” resume. In a very competitive job market, you must stand out with a resume that gets you job interviews. And rule #5: Write Killer cover letters. They act as insurance to help get your resume read.

Rule #6: Sign up for the on-line job listing websites that cater to your specific field. (For those of you who are interested, I’ll be glad to send out a free starter set of these.) In this case, the more you sign up for, the merrier. With those websites that offer PSA’s (Personal Search Agents), specific as many keywords as you can dream up and let them jam your e-mail In Box with zillions of job listings that you’ll have to weed through.

Rule #7: Target at least two areas that you pursue pro-actively through networking and listings. Perhaps you’ve been a Product Manager and a Marketing Manager. In that case, write two resumes, each slanted to a separate area. Look at the jobs that are displayed in each of those areas.

Rule #8: Learn how to work with recruiters. Many job seekers despise recruiters and block themselves from dealing with them. This is because they don’t really understand how to work with recruiters. This is a monumental mistake.

Rule #9: Try being pro-active by sending out a Broadcast Letter. Write a good one and expect the same return as any good direct mail piece. It’s another way to uncover jobs in the “hidden” job market.

Rule #10: Find yourself a “buddy” or professional job coach to keep you going. Both men and women tend to be macho/macha (?) about this, thinking they have to do it themselves or it’s shameful, or that it’s too expensive. I’ll be glad to send anyone who likes a cost justification for hiring a professional job coach. After all, very macho football players openly admit they need a coach.

And, last but not least… Rule #11: Be prepared to job hop, to move at an instant’s notice. In The New Economy, I believe, we’re all “hired guns”, only useful until the next quarter when the next financial statements will be issued and the company decides to “tighten its belt” or be acquired. So learn how to conduct a multi-level job search and then do it, whenever you want advancement or more money, before the next axe falls.

© 2002 by Lawrence M Light

Lawrence M. Light is a job coach who works with people in transition – those seeking a new job while employed, those who have been laid off, or those returning to the workforce. He coaches a wide variety of people, including CEO’s at six-figure salaries, IT professionals, CFO’s, executives in the non-profit world, middle-level managers, and those involved in switching careers. His Web site is www.ejobcoach.com and he can be reached by phone at (949) 716-3581 or by email at larryl@ejobcoach.com. His 39-minute video on how to find a job quickly has been used by leading colleges and universities, private industry councils, military bases and career counseling groups. He is a member of the Philadelphia Area Coaches Alliance and serves on the Board of Forty Plus.

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What I discovered during our initial meeting shocked me deeply. Apart from the fact that he had done nothing to prepare for a possible layoff, he said casually: “I really need to brush up on my PC skills.” It takes a lot of denial to think that you’re not going to be laid off if you work for a bank in the United States in this day and age of mergers, and it takes even more denial to think that you can get along in any position today without being computer literate.

I’m probably preaching to the choir here about being prepared for a layoff and about becoming computer literate, but this individual reminded me just how many older people lack even rudimentary knowledge of how to use a PC. As a realization, the impact of it felt like a smack on the side of the head.

Let’s address the PC area first. This is a terribly important and basic issue in finding a job today because many jobs today are listed on the Internet in on-line websites, and you have to know how to use the Internet before you can even look at these jobs. It’s even more important to all future employers because most of them absolutely require such skills and take them for granted and someone who lacks them is in deep, deep trouble as a candidate.

Here are the basic computer skills you will need to acquire if you haven’t already done so. You need to:

Know how to use a Personal Computer (not a MAC). NOTE: MACs are perfectly fine computers, but they are not the dominant breed and, except for graphics work, employers don’t require knowledge of how to use them.
Know how to use the current Windows operating system (not that I prefer it but it is the dominant business operating system).
Know how to use Word as a word processing program.
Know how to use Excel as a spreadsheet program.
Know how to use Access as a database tool (this is not as critical as everything I’ve mentioned already).
Know how to use PowerPoint to produce a presentation (this becomes critical if your position requires you to give presentations).
Know how to access the Internet and use Internet Explorer as a browser (again because Microsoft dominates the business market).
So anyone who is reading this, whether employed or not, who doesn’t have all of these computer skills needs to find a good training outfit and sign up immediately. The YMCA or YMHA near you may be an inexpensive source for such training. There are other relatively inexpensive ways to acquire these skills and the expenditure is an investment in yourself. Sometime even your local library, that old stand-by for information, can provide you with classes that will teach you these computer skills or at least give you a line on inexpensive schools. This is not something you want to ignore or put off. It is basic, basic, basic.

The second issue is far more complex. If you are working in a field in which mergers and consolidation occur regularly and with increasing frequency, it behooves you to begin learning all of the key elements of successful job-hunting post haste. In other words, you need to learn how to find another job quickly.

The elements of conducting a good job search, the elements that you need to learn and master, include:

Being able to write a “killer” resume
Knowing how to write cover letters that sell you as a candidate
Being able to use on-line job-listing websites
Having a good elevator speech and being proficient about using it
Knowing how to network
Knowing how to use a broadcast letter
Understanding how to work with recruiters
Knowing where to find a support group and/or job coach or “buddy” to work with
Understanding the interviewing process and knowing how to interview well
Knowing how to negotiate so you maximize the offer
For most employed people in fields that are consolidating and merging, the number one priority is to learn how to network now, and then begin using these skills by actually networking. In effect, you’re always, I repeat, always lining up your next job as part of this process. This starts with finding all of the professional organizations in your field, joining them, and networking within them. You can then branch out to networking with individuals.

Whenever possible, if working in such a high-risk field, you need to create a Plan B. This includes understanding your industry, which companies are growing and which are declining, networking to learn as much as possible about trends, who pays what, who can use your skills, what skills are required by those who are hiring, and the like. It is constant education, paying attention to yourself, not immersing yourself in your job and job skills to the exclusion of what’s going on around you.

If you take the actions suggested here, any abrupt transition can be met with some measure of equanimity.

The expectation is, you could lose your job at any time. Your tenure is comparable to a hired gun or a tenant farmer or a month-to-month tenant. In the “new economy” there is less and less security as a salaried employee, to be cynical about it.

© 2002 by Lawrence M. Light. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part prohibited without prior permission.