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AROUND THE WORLD WITH SEYMOUR J. MANSFIELD
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Seymour J. Mansfield
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Natalizio on Strategies for Raising Your Odds in a Difficult Job Market

We are pleased to feature as our guest author for this month's Around the World column, Joanie Natalizio, a very experienced professional and executive coach and counselor, who addresses Strategies for Raising Your Odds in a Difficult Job Market. Against this back drop of staggering loss of loss of jobs to this recession, Ms. Natalizio echoes Abraham Lincoln: "The situation is piled high with difficulties; thus, we must think anew and act anew." Thus her call for carpe diem action:

"When managing your career, a failure to take early preventive action can prove to be a costly mistake. Don't wait for things to happen, make things happen, be proactive and take action now by continuously building and keeping in touch with your network's inner circle."

We are all generally painfully aware of our bad labor market situation, but it is worth addressing further the macro-economic portent of this unstable job market. While the U.S. public equities markets and large company earnings have seen some decent (and hopefully lasting) recovery from the recession of 2008 and 2009, unfortunately, this "rising tide" has not lifted the U.S. labor market. In stark contrast, not only has the US job market not seen such a recovery, but it has continued to hemorrhage a staggering number of jobs. We have lost 8 million jobs due to the recession. Even at the average job creation rate of over 100,000 per month so far in 2010, most segments of the economy continue to shed net jobs. (E.g., In July, private employment, health care, manufacturing and transportation were up; nonfarm hourly, mining, professional/business services, financial services, construction and government were down.)

Although monthly job creation at 100,000 is better than what we experienced following the last recessions in 2001 and 1991, at that rate, it will take until 2013 to recapture the 8 million lost jobs, or even longer, if before 2013, the labor market gets hit with after-shocks of more economic downturn.

Current unemployment in July remained unchanged at 9.5% (or 16.8% if you added those that have remained unemployed but have stopped looking for work). As many of us may sense, this recession has not had the same impact on all classes of U.S. workers.

• The rate for adult men (9.7%) is higher than that for adult women (7.9%).
• Blacks (15.6%), Hispanics (12.6%) and teenagers (26.1%) are all above the norm.

Education level seems to be the highest correlate to staying employed/being re-employed, as illustrated by these numbers:

• Among those completing high school, 10.1%.
• Some college courses, 8.3%.
• Bachelor's degree or higher, 4.5%.

While we all hope for stabilization and more rapid recovery through the many means advocated by economists, big and small business interests, government, politicians and others, Ms. Natalizio speaks to what you can do as an individual to raise your odds of staying employed or being unemployed as short as possible. My take away is: Network, network, network in the up close and personal way; not by having thousands of friends on your Facebook^© or LinkedIn^© pages or internet searching the hundreds of job sites. But there is a lot more to learn from her primer than that short aphorism.

Joanie Natalizio, President of Defero Business Coaching and Seminars, has over 15 years of combined experience in both business and executive coaching, and has worked at some of this country's top Fortune 500 corporations.

Along with her corporate experience, Ms. Natalizio holds a Master's degree in Counseling, and is an accredited Job and Career Transition Coach and a Certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Practitioner. She is an Adjunct Professor at Anoka Ramsey Community College teaching Career Development courses. Her specialty seminars including employee training and development change management and one-on-one executive coaching make Joanie Natalizio one of the Twin Cities' most respected advisors in the areas of professional and executive development.

Her recent book, The Fast Track Guide to a Professional Job Search, was written to take the guesswork out of your finding the right executive-level position and serve as a valuable guide to driving your job search and career forward, taking you all the way from setting your career path, through the planning and strategizing, the execution, the emotional rollercoaster, and all the way to offer evaluation and acceptance. Loaded with practical check lists, The Fast Track Guide teaches you to distinguish yourself, create a professional biography, present your unique strengths and capabilities, create a professional biography, evaluate compensation packages and make sure an offer is a good fit for you. To learn more about Fast Track, visit: http://www.happyabout.com/fasttrackjobsearch.php

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A founding shareholder of Mansfield Tanick & Cohen, P.A., with 40 years of diverse lawyer experience, Seymour Mansfield now focuses on business, complex and class litigation, mediation, executive employment and employee benefits, trade secrets and restrictive covenants, international business law and acts as legal counsel to emerging medical device companies. He is one of the firm's representatives to Lawyers Associated Worldwide and served on LAW's Executive Committee (governing board) from 2002 through 2008. LAW empowers our firm to serve the needs of our clients in domestic and foreign markets worldwide.

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Raising Your Odds in a Difficult Job Market

by Joanie Natalizio

Channel Your Anxiety into Effective Lead to Action

If you are among the lucky people who have kept their jobs in the current down economy, congratulations! Are you still worried that your once secure job may be, well, not so secure? If you're nodding your head yes, don't worry, join the club; you've got plenty of company. There are few among us today that can honesty say they haven't had at least a fleeting thought of the dreaded: "What if I lost my job" scenario. The anxiety you feel can really be boiled down to the uncertainty of it all: With today's unemployment numbers, it's hard for just about anyone to feel secure.

Depending on which statistics you want to use, the national unemployment rate in the past twelve months has been as high as 16.8 percent and is currently hovering somewhere around 9.5 percent. The disparity in the numbers has caused some confusion on exactly how bad things really are. The first number includes those that are unemployed along with those that are unemployed but have stopped looking for work. The second number would just include those who are unemployed and are still actively looking for work. Either way you slice it, the numbers can be summed up in two words: Bad and Worse. It's no wonder that with these kinds of numbers, even those people with "secure" jobs have started to feel more than a little nervous. The unfortunate reality is that it's not over yet, and we will most likely be dealing with an unstable job market for some time to come.

If you are among the ranks of those having trouble sleeping at night (and even if you're not), I would urge you to channel those anxieties into productive action. One of the best defenses against a poor job market is to be proactive. By definition, proactive means taking the initiative by acting, rather than reacting, to events. In the case of your career, being proactive means creating a variety of tactics to help you achieve your long-term career goals, while at the same time, positioning yourself favorably in a volatile job market. Being proactive may be great advice if you've still got a job, but what about those that are currently unemployed? The good news is that it's never too late to start thinking strategically about your career. If you're currently in transition, your greatest job search advantage will be in spending your time where it counts most.

Aside from not having a rainy day fund, the biggest mistake many executives and professionals make is they don't prepare for a job loss until they are unemployed. By this, I mean: They don't have a professional network in place to immediately be tapped into at a moment's notice. For many professionals 35 to 55 years old, they have never experienced a down market or the threat of a layoff, and when it happens, they find themselves completely unprepared. The best time to prepare for a job change or job loss is while you are still employed.

Network, Network, Network

Take a moment and think about all the people you have contact with in a week. The people in your office, the people in your building, those you speak with on the phone, those you meet with at meetings, conventions and professional organizations and so forth. It is most likely that some of these people will be the same people who will be most instrumental in helping you land your next position. We refer to them as your "network," and if you're a professional or executive, your network is the best tool you have against being unemployed.

There are a variety of ways to create a professional network but one of the fastest and most effective is to use a social networking site like LinkedIn^©. When creating your professional network, you should include people from both in and outside your industry; past bosses as well as people who have been your peers and subordinates; people you meet at trade shows and conventions along with customers; product researchers, scientists, industry thought leaders, college alumni, professors and even your competitors! You may not realize it now, but the quality of your network will have a direct impact on not only how fast you recover from a layoff but also how successful you are when you want to make a voluntary career change. Hands down, creating a network of quality contacts is your best defense against an uncertain job market.

If you have already started creating a professional network, great! If you haven't, what are you waiting for? Statistically speaking, around 70 percent of new jobs are found through networking. What I tell my professional and executive clients is that means 70 percent of your job search time should be spent in networking mode. Networking mode can mean a variety of activities, such as reaching out through phone calls and emails, meeting your network contacts face-to-face over coffee or lunch or attending professional association meetings and networking events. Even sending out annual holiday cards can be a great way to personally connect with each of your professional contacts at least once a year.

For many professionals, as they move up the ladder, their network can become large including hundreds of contacts. This can pose a problem of keeping track of exactly who is who, where you met them, how you know them, etc. Organizing your contacts will be imperative in creating a user friendly network. There are a couple ways to handle this large amount of information. First, I recommend that professionals create an "inner circle" of contacts. Your inner circle can serve several functions. They can be used as your mentors, confidants and trusted associates; a sort of mastermind group whose wisdom and experience can be tapped into for guidance and expert advice. Equally as important, they can also be your first point of entry when looking for a new job. If you've been laid off or even if you're just considering a voluntary job change, your inner circle can provide a wealth of information, support and guidance. Whether you are currently unemployed or just testing the waters to see what's out there, you will want to start by tapping into your network's inner circle.

Outside of your inner circle, another way to keep your professional network organized is to categorize your contacts. Depending on which networking tool you use, this can be a fairly easy process. If you're using LinkedIn^© or Microsoft Outlook^® messaging software, for example, you can easily organize your contacts into categories such as company name, location and industry. If you already have a large network, taking the time to go back and categorize contacts may seem daunting. However, time is money as they say and recalling important contacts quickly can save you both. Especially in today's competitive job market, finding the right people and making sure the right people can find you is critical for a successful career path.

Executive Recruiters, Internet and Starting Your Own Business

After creating a strong professional network, executive recruiters can be a great resource in an uncertain job market. The good ones are usually well plugged in, have strong industry contacts and know in advance when coveted positions open up. However, a word of caution about recruiters, they are not there to find you a job; so don't be offended when they don't promptly return your phone calls. The purpose of an executive recruiter is to fill a company's need by finding the best candidate for an open position. The biggest issue working with a recruiter is timing. When you're looking, they don't have a fit, and when they have a fit, you're not interested. Like building your network, being proactive and creating professional, lasting relationships with recruiters in your industry will prove extremely beneficial and increase the likelihood that when the time comes, they'll return your call.

The first step is finding a reputable recruiter, knowledgeable about your industry and professional position. I recommend you start by asking those in your inner circle and preferably using a recruiter that comes with a personal recommendation from someone you trust. I remember a past client who, unbeknownst to him, had his resume mass emailed by an executive recruiter, with his name misspelled to boot! My client was only alerted to the situation when someone from his inner circle received a copy of the unsolicited resume from the recruiter and called my client. Needless to stay, my client was horrified that something like that could happen without his prior knowledge and permission. If a recruiter asks for a copy of your resume, agree ahead of time how and when that recruiter will use and distribute your information. Better to understand up front how a recruiter works than be surprised down the road. A good recruiter can be an invaluable asset in finding a desirable position but beware of relying on them exclusively. A company must pay a recruiters fee for anyone they hire via a recruiter. These fees are usually based on the first year's salary and can become significant expenses to a company. In these lean times, if a company has two well qualified candidates and one candidate cost the company an extra 30% in recruiter fees, you can guess which candidate will most likely get the offer.

So what about the internet? As a career coach working with a professional and executive population, trying to convince people that the internet is not the best method for finding open positions is probably one of my biggest challenges. It's not that the internet doesn't have a place in a job search; it's just that at the moment, internet job searching accounts for a small percentage of filled positions. This reality is caused by several factors. First, when a position becomes available, the opening is usually filled from people within the organization. Secondly, if the position can't be filled from within, it's filled next through personal recommendations from people within the organization, i.e., networking to fill the open position. Lastly and only after the first two scenarios fail does a company advertise an open position through recruiters, websites, etc. At this point, the open position becomes a free-for-all with hundreds or even thousands of people submitting resumes online. The more people applying online, the harder it is to weed through the mountains of resumes and decipher which candidates are best. It can become time consuming and ultimately an ineffective way for companies to recruit new talent. Although numbers can vary, the percentage of jobs filled through online job boards are somewhere between 2 and 7 percent. The numbers speak for themselves. The bottom line is: don't spend too much time online.

Having said that, the internet absolutely has its place in a professional job search. When using the internet as a tool for your job search, or even if you just want to gauge your present marketability, I suggest you turn to niche or specialty sites. These are sites that have some sort of specialized purpose or criteria. For example, TheLadders.com and sixfigures.com both specialize in six figure talent. Other examples of niche sites would be sites that specialize in specific industries such as "pharmaceuticals" or a specific department within an industry such as "pharmaceutical sales." Niche sites are much more likely to be targeted to specific talent types, eliminating many of the nonqualified "lookie loo" job browsers found on the big job boards. Another great type of niche site are those devoted to industry and professional organizations. Many of these organizations now have job boards located on their websites. Some have also become active in sending out email alerts to members when job openings occur: thus giving its members first chance at filling the position. If you're actively looking or not, these are great sources for industry information. When used in conjunction with other methods, the internet can prove to be an invaluable tool in a professional job search.

For those more adventurous individuals, consulting or starting a business may be a dream whose time has finally come. According to a new study by Challenger, Gray and Christmas, laid-off workers starting their own business is currently at 3.7% compared to 8.6 % in 2009. These current numbers may not be exactly encouraging, but for some in transition it may be the right move, temporarily, if not permanently.

Career/Executive Coaches, Outplacement Firms and Free Job Search Support

The silver lining for professionals looking for employment is that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even with a national unemployment rate close to double digits, the unemployment rate for those with a college degree is presently at 4.5 percent. In comparison at least, the professional or executive worker has it much better than the average American. Even with this fact though, few can escape the uneasiness of our present economy. The best protection you have from being caught off guard is to make creating a professional network part of your daily activity and if you should find yourself unemployed and in need of help, there is help available through career/executive coaches, outplacement services, government centers and non-profit organizations.

Often confused with a recruiter, a good career coach can help you maneuver the job search maze faster and with more accuracy than going it alone. They can also help you plan an overall career strategy, put together a variety of job search documents and work with you on problem areas such as leadership, development and training. Their fee is usually paid for by the client and can vary greatly from one coach to another. If you're lucky enough to have a former employer pay for outplacement counseling services, you may not need a career coach. Outplacement services can vary depending on the package agreed upon by your employer, but they can generally do everything a career coach can do, including providing you with multiple networking opportunities.

If you are not offered an outplacement service by your old employer and you can't afford to pay for a career coach, there are many good, low cost or free options. The state-run work force centers offer a variety of free services from resume writing to interviewing techniques. They also have a great website full of useful job search information. Another, often overlooked, free source of job search information and services are non-profit organizations and religious institutions. Many churches and synagogues have valuable support/networking groups and some have outstanding job search ministries providing one-on-one counseling and seminars.

Summary

When managing your career, a failure to take early preventative action can prove to be a costly mistake. Don't wait for things to happen, make things happen, be proactive and take action now by continuously building and keeping in touch with your network's inner circle. Your career and where you take it is a blending of art and science. Find those things that inspire you and then stay focused on you goal. Don't be afraid to be creative and try new things. Your energy and enthusiasm will go a long way in attracting the right people to your talents. We may all look at our careers a little differently after living through this recession. If the present economy has prompted you to take action and become proactive, however, then some long-term good has been attained even if you have been lucky and/or skilled enough to keep your job.