If desperate times call for creative measures, it’s time for job hunters to get wildly inventive. Even though the official unemployment rate dipped a tiny bit last month to 5.7 percent, the economy has lost more than 2 million jobs since the recession started in March 2001. Some 8.8 million people remain unemployed or too discouraged to even look for work, making this the tightest job market since Reagan was in the White House. Finding a job has become a job unto itself. “It’s a completely different market out there today,” says Penny McBain of DBM, a large New York employment-consulting firm. What used to work doesn’t, but there are new ways to attract offers. One in three firms says it’ll hire this year. Here’s how to find them and, more to the point, make sure they find you.
QUIT CLICKING: There’s a lot of good information on the Internet, but it’s a time waster, says John Challenger, head of the Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. Those popular job sites are like big black holes. Look for jobs in your local paper and through your professional association. Research specific companies or job niches on the Net after hours. During the day, focus on talking to people in person.
PLAY THE DATING GAME: About 60 percent of jobs are found through personal contacts, but forget the old-fashioned informational interview. Just hit up everyone you know for introductions. “The last thing you want to do is spend a half hour of somebody’s time talking about the state of the economy. You have only one thing to ask them–will they introduce you to the person you would work for,” says Challenger. Don’t feel ashamed about being unemployed. So many talented people have lost their jobs, it’s no longer a concern for employers. And waste no time with gatekeepers in the human-resources department. Go directly to your would-be boss.
WRITE LONG: The one-page resume is passe. The most effective resumes today are loaded with specific information, and if that takes five pages, so be it. Include buzzwords, software programs and acronyms of your field, and the kinds of projects you’ve completed. If you’ve ever saved an employer money or helped fix a problem, say so. No padding, though. Fudging is out in the post-Enron era.
SCHMOOZE AND WAIT: Those heady days of the late ’90s, when applicants would get instant job offers, are so over. Now companies stretch out the process for months, calling applicants back in repeatedly. Get the job by being personable and proving you can fit in. In this market, you’ve got to keep interviews focused on a simple message: you’re smart and easygoing and you can start saving them money tomorrow morning.
