Thursday, May 3, 2012

Top Five Challenges Faced by Job Seekers in the Current Economy


Hello everybody!!!!  I hope you are having as great of a week as I am.  Spring is in bloom here in Iowa and it is really starting to get green here.  We are beginning to get some nice, hot, muggy days and lots of great thunderstorms at night.  On the home front, things are progressing nicely as well.   Baby Kai is progressing towards only getting up once a night and Mom and Dad are very appreciative.  On another note, I’m proud to say that I’m a new uncle once again.  My brother and his wife recently welcomed Blake Thompson into the world on May, 2nd!  I’m pretty excited that Kai will have a cousin that is almost exactly the same age.

Now on to the career stuff.  We are in a very unique job market right now.  Companies are starting to hire again but not at the level that we have been hoping for.  Unemployment is still fairly high and ultimately it is still a buyers market where the employer has the advantage in the process.  This presents some interesting challenges for job seekers that most certainly can be overcome if they are handled appropriately.  However, if you want to overcome them, as Ricky Ricardo once said “You got some ‘splainin to do!”



Below are some of the biggest challenges faced by job seekers and how you can make a convincing case.  Let me know if you agree or if you think I left something off!

1.  You are Overqualified
I’ll start out by saying that I hate this comment.  Often times it is used as a brush off which means that when it is actually the case it elicits a negative response from the candidate.  My take is that people are never overqualified for a position – that’s a stupid argument – however, I do believe that people can progress to a point in their career where they wouldn’t be challenged or happy by doing certain duties even though they are perfectly capable of doing so.  Regardless, the impetus is on you to sincerely sell an employer on the fact that you want to take a step back in responsibility.  The key is that you have to WANT to do so – you can’t just be willing to do so. 

The other thing that is important in this area is that you need to be careful what you share about yourself until you find out what the company is looking for.  I talk to many people that lead off a conversation by telling me that they are a terrific leader, that they like a big challenge, that they are motivated to grow and succeed in their career.  Then when they find out that the position is lower level, doesn’t have management or leadership, is transactional, etc – they tell me how they would accept something like that too.  Here’s the problem.  Employers don’t want employees  that look at their job or organization as acceptable – it’s really pretty insulting.  You have to sell them on why this would be good for you and why it would be good for them.  Be excited.

2. Trying to Change Industry or Position
I work with a lot of people that after finding that there are not opportunities in their present field or position that decide to make a transition to a different industry or position.  I don’t have an opinion either way about if this is a good move or a bad move.  I’ve seen successes and failures for both.  However, I can  tell you that there seems to be a direct relationship between the unemployment rate and employers open mindedness when hiring someone.  When there are less people on the market employers are  generally less open to out of the box solutions – for some reason there is  this perception  that it is more likely that the perfect person with the perfect experience is out there waiting to be hired.

However, you can make this work.  The solution is to look at your transferable skills and sell them up.  Think about the objections that the employer will raise – overcome them before they ask them.  The key is that you need to have a persuasive argument built up – you can’t just say – “I know I can do this.” – My mom used to tell me that I was the cutest boy in the school and that statement carries the same weight.  There is one other point to this that you need to know.  There will be companies out there that will not consider you – they just won’t.  Because of this you need to reach out to a higher number of places knowing that if the normal positive response to your resume is 1 in 5 it will more than likely be 1 in 10 or 20.

3.  Convincing Someone You Will Take Less Money
I get this one – you need a job – you were making a comfortable living and had money left over.  Now that you have a problem you can make it work with less income.  Here’s the problem – companies have a perception that if they hire someone for a significantly lower salary than their previous job that the person will either continue to look or will be generally unhappy.  I’ll be honest – there is probably some truth here in some cases.  That said, I do believe that people are not always motivated by money.  If you truly are willing to take a step back you need to do some convincing.

I’ve written extensively in the past about how to ask for more money – essentially you have to build a case.  The same goes for taking a step back.  You have to tell them why  - I’m OK with less money because…:
  • I’m going to work less hours
  • I’m saving a ton of money with my commute
  • I’m going to get to see my family more
  • It’s worth it to like my job and be happy

4.  Relocation
This is another situation where companies have a preconceived notion.  For some reason there is a belief that when the economy is bad, there are droves of people that are willing to uproot their entire family, move to a foreign place and then when things get better they will rush back home.  It doesn’t work like this.  However, I can  tell you that things are generally less likely to work out if the only reason you move somewhere is for a job and a job only.  In order to overcome this you need to pro-offer why you want to live in a specific place.  You can use things like:
  • I’ve visited there several times and it is my dream to live there
  • We have family in the area and want to get closer
  • I’ve got some friends in the area
  • We are tired of living in the big city – I’m looking to improve my lifestyle

Whatever you do – DO NOT use the following:
  • I’ll move anywhere – nobody likes a nomad
  • I’m really tired of the weather up here – many are skeptical that you would sever your relationships with all of your family and friends solely because of three months of snow.

5.  Overcoming Employment Gaps
For some reason there is an inherent fear that having been out of work for a long time or having spotty employment over the past couple of years is a real detriment.  To a degree it can hurt you.  However,  this in itself does not make you broken as I and many others refuse to believe that the 10% that have been unemployed (more like 17% total) are somehow inherently unemployable.  However, you still need to be able to talk about in a way that makes you look good.  When you are asked about it you need to tell them the truth.  I spent the better part of X years/months looking for a new job.  However, you can’t just end there – make it a positive – turn it into some lemonade.  Follow up by saying, “it was really difficult but I did the best I could to make the most of my time.  I got to spend more time with my kids, volunteer at X. finish up all of my projects – It’s been great but I’m really excited to get back to work for something great like this!”

Even if it is the truth here is what you can’t say:
  • I decided to take a break – even if this is the case – turn it into a positive – I focused on this while keeping an eye out for something like this
  • I just gave up

Last point here.  Many people took jobs outside of the industry to remain employed and often did retail or other things that paid them drastically less.  You should not hide this – most employers will respect that you were willing to do whatever you could to get by.  If this is the case you need to put it on your resume but structure it so that your relevant experience is on top.

So!  That’s my thoughts on that.  Let me know if you agree or have any comments or suggestions.  As always you can email me at sthompson@insurance-csg.com!

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