Becoming comfortable with unemployment

A friend of mine recently questioned me about the risks of promoting myself as The Unemployment Guru. Why would I want to popularize the notion that I am experienced enough at being unemployed to become expert at it? Both he and I know well that a reputation for having been repeatedly unemployed could damage my chances of succeeding with my career, whether it be with my consulting practice or potentially with courting other companies for jobs in the future. Nobody wants to seek the expertise of someone who has had career struggles....or do they?

Think of unemployment just as a glut of free time during the day. If squandered, this time acts just to make the individual poorer and more confused. Practiced skills get rusty and the mind gets mushy. I wouldn't want to hire someone who spent their available time this way. Then again, having initiative is not tied to employment status, and so those individuals who would spend their unemployment days stagnating would likely do so at their jobs as well. We have all met workers who have no drive to do any more than is absolutely required of them, and these are the characters that should not be attractive candidates, independent of their employment status.

On the other hand, there is another set of candidates - the go-getters - who will be attractive candidates coming from either employment or unemployment. A motivated individual with a career goal will make great use of their unemployment days just as they would would when working. There are many reasonable circumstances in which a great talent would find themselves out of a job and looking, and it is incumbent on the hiring personnel at every organization to avoid negative biases towards unemployed candidates while looking for real indicators of intelligence and initiative.

Typical causes of unemployment

• Fired *
• Quit
• Laid Off
• End of contract
• First entry into workforce (post education)

*Of the five typical causes, only one type (being fired) directly implies poor performance on the candidate's part.

To make things easier for both job seekers and employers, I have created a list of unemployment behaviours that are indicators of successful candidates.

(1) Networking - The candidate regularly spends time networking with a variety of industry professionals or experts. These meetings will largely affect the candidate's understanding of industry knowledge and specific job functions.

(2) Reading - The candidate keeps current by reading books, magazines, articles, blogs etc. on relevant industry & functional topics. For example, an aspiring furniture salesperson subscribes to a furniture style magazine or a wannabe consultant follows a blog on consulting skills.

(3) Activity and affiliation - The candidate volunteers for charities, or keeps active with internships, community organizations, etc. High energy candidates - who are so valuable to organizations - are easily identified by their need to keep up a busy schedule, even in unemployment.

(4) Entrepreneurialism - The candidate shows interest in starting their own ventures. In many circumstances this behaviour can be indicative of creativity, planning skills, people skills, and more. This one can be difficult to judge, however, and so this behaviour is generally more valuable to entrepreneurial, creative, and risk-friendly organizations.

(5) Self Reflection - The candidate has carefully considered their skills, work personality, and career goals. Oftentimes getting to really know oneself in the work world takes the kind of perspective which can only be achieved by leaving one's job. If a candidate can clearly articulate their skills, career goals, and work styles they become more valuable and less risky to the organizations that hire them.

Let's return now to the original concern that my friend voiced about being labeled as 'unemployed' by the professional community. In my case, unemployment undoubtedly led me to my current successes. Without having faced unemployment, I would never have started my own business, whereby I managed to more than double my annual income from my earlier contract job. Furthermore, I would never have been able to drastically change my job funtion, or consciously build my skill set from basic analytical skills to more holistic business management skills. Finally, I would never have met half the professional contacts I now possess, or had the self-confidence and awareness to market myself as a valuable human resource.

Unemployment is a challenge, but it is by no means a blemish. To all those unemployed reading this blog, I say stay focused, work hard at cracking your dream career, and derive pride from it. To my concerned friend, I say: I've been unemployed, but look at me now!

Job Search Tip #2

The job search is largely a 'numbers game' whereby you have to apply to many jobs to get an interview and complete several interview processes (presumably) before you get an offer. It is possible that you may even get several offers before finding a suitable one. Either way, the job search stages take a pyramid form as I have illustrated below:



While I don't recommend that you analyze this diagram for exact scale, I do suggest that you focus on increasing your output on the bottom two levels to get better returns on the top two levels. In other words; search broadly for openings and apply to as many jobs as you can within the limits of your skills, experience, and career goals.

The issue lies with the amount of time you spend on each application. I can spend upwards of 90-120 minutes on some applications including researching on the company websites and/or filling in detailed proprietary application forms. It is difficult for me to make the time to maximize my number of applications, when I am also making time for work, spouse, family, networking, and of course, blogging.

So here's are some methods I have devised to compensate:

(1) Spend more time on an application to a job you really want and less time on a job application that you want less.

I am not saying that you should apply to jobs that you don't want, but some jobs are really exciting to you, and some are in your field, but are less attractive because of pay, company culture, location or for whatever reason. Spend less time on those applications, so you can complete them, rather than not doing them at all.

(2) Get 'Headhunters' on your side

Contact a few 'professional placement' firms and get yourself a telelphone chat or in-person meeting with a placement specialist. If they like you and your skills, they will do a lot of job search work for you. Generally, placement specialists will not want you to be juggling several of them at once, because they want you as an asset to themselves. Personally, I would only offer to be exclusive with a placement firm on the condition that they get me an interview.

(3) Have your contacts circulate your resume

Another way to get more exposure with less effort is to provide your resume to professional contacts and ask them to circulate it. Of course, I wouldn't ask for this straight up, but if you can solicit some help from someone in your professional network, they may also offer to circulate your resume. In layman's terms: If you have a family-friend or friend-of-friend in the industry you want to work in, ask them for advice on acquiring your next job role. If they like you, they will likely offer to show your resume to some people they know. It's a quick and easy way to get your resume seen by a wider audience.

For a more thorough review of networking, tips, strategies and more, please stay tuned.

Job Search Tip #1

This one is a no-brainer, really. Still, I took a while to realize it and apply it. Duplicate your successful applications!

It's very difficult to predict the precise way to package your experience and skills to a particular job in a particular field. Choosing the verbiage in the cover letter and resume can be a balancing act - don't come on too strong, but don;t be too modest. When you manage to get an interview with a particular application package, take one day to celebrate your success and let it seep in. The next day, go out and find all the comparable positions you can find and apply with the very same package (changing the name of the company, etc. in the letter of course).

Take this example - you get an interview with an application for a marketing role at GM. You shold also be applying to any similar openings at local offices of Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, Toyota, Honda, Mazda... you get the picture. Industries tend to share attitudes as well as hiring best practices, so if GM 'likes the cut of your gib' then likely too will the others. I'm not purporting that this method is guaranteeing extra interviews, but it's a more likely scenario now that your application package has already received a 'yes'.

Interviewing

I believe that interviewing is the most important skill to master in a job search. In fact, I would go as far as to say that people who interview well are more likely to be successful at many aspects of their careers than those who don't. To put it bluntly, interviews are hard to fake; anyone can exaggerate on their resume to get noticed, but interviews occur in real-time with no outside help. There is no substitute for being quick on your feet, well-prepared, and articulate in an interview. I have detailed three basic strategies for interviewing below:

(1) Know the job - Don't go into an interview without knowing enough about the role, the company, and even your potential bosses. Demonstrating that you fully understand the job and the company makes you more credible when you claim that you can do that job well. I would even recommend trying to figure out a little about your interviewers and your potential bosses. After all, you're trying to impress them in the interviews and that becomes easier when you get to know their experience and skills. You may even find that you have similar skills, background, or education which is always a boost for your case.

(2) Know your brand - Enter every interview opportunity armed with the knowledge of what you have to offer to that company. Prepare yourself by reviewing your skill set, and potentially even ranking those skills in terms of importance to the job. Review how many years of experience you have with each of your pertinent skills and consider how each skill helps your potential to succeed in the role. With enough preparation, you'll be comfortable in the hot seat; you'll be answering interview questions with the ability to tie your skills directly to the organization's needs.

(3) Take your time - It's easy to panic in an interview and hard to accept silence amidst the discussion. Nevertheless, it is perfectly reasonable to take a moment or two before answering a tough question. I oftentimes simply say "That's a good question..." and I may add "...I'm going to consider it for a moment before answering." Interviewers don't mind waiting for a solid answer, and this behaviour will prevent those run-on rants that you sometimes get stuck with, when you don't first plan out your answer in your head.

It's Not Fair!

If you're unemployed, you're playing a game that is stacked against you. The only way to mitigate these challenges is to know them and to work around them. Unemployment is very difficult, so why not at least know what you're up against? I have named three sources of unfair challenges against the unemployed below and have suggested a manner to deal with them.

1. Employers seem to prefer candidates that apply from the vantage point of having a job. This has been verified to me by discussions with a handful of professional managers. The idea is that candidates who are currently working or have only recently been out of work are less risky than those who have been out of work for a while. Candidates who apply from a job are like candidates who have been 'vouched for' by another organization. Of course, this is a kind of thinking that systematically creates a downward spiral effect for unemployed workers; the longer they stay unemployed the less attractive they become to employers.
2. Employers also prefer candidates that apply from within the organization. Presumably most times that you apply for a position, you will be competing with members of the organization looking for a lateral change or a promotion. Any candidate known to the organization has an immediate leg up on outsiders, by virtue of their recognized experience and industry knowledge.
3. Unemployment can cause serious mental health concerns. While I cannot comment professionally on the impact of depression on the unemployed, I can say that from my experience, it is quite prevalent and quite demotivating. I have personally grappled with feelings of uselessness and low self esteem while searching and have heard echoed sentiments from friends and family who have gone through the same process. It is really hard to promote yourself competitively in your applications when you just don't feel your best.

What is probably the best offense against all three challenges is keeping yourself busy with a part-time job or volunteer position. Not only will you be perceived as more 'active' by recruiters scanning your resume, but you will also keep your spirits up, feel useful, and contribute positively to society. Furthermore, keeping a part-time job or volunteer role opens doors to new networking opportunities, and potentially even new jobs in those organizations or their partners. You'll potentially keep your skills up, get paid a little, and get more experience of some type (even if you feel it is generally unrelated to your field) and all of these are good things.

Resume Tip # 2 - Keep Many Resumes

While you're already editing your resume for different types of jobs, why not just hit that save button and hold on to several versions?

As a business professional with some 'transferable skills', I tend to apply to a variety of jobs in different industries and with different functions. I may apply one day to a job analyzing data for a market research firm, and the next apply for a job selling financial products at a bank. After all, my education and experience have made me a versatile human resource. By keeping different versions of my resume - 'Analyst Resume' and 'Sales Resume' for example - I can save time on the next application to any analyst or sales position.

Resume Tip # 1 - A Living Resume

Many people will compose unique cover letters for each of the positions they apply to. Why not customize your resume as well?

I have found that very few professionals will spend time editing their resume before each job application, but this can be a really great way to get noticed by a recruiter. Within just two to five minutes, you can re-order some of your experience (and bulleted points) so that the most relevant experience to this particular job is at the top of the list. Usually, within ten to fifteen minutes, you can actually write new bulleted points, specific to the job. Just as keywords are important in your cover letter, they are important in your resume.

Generic resumes and cover letters will feel generic when they're being reviewed. Customized application documents will let your audience know that you are definitely interested.

Searching for Jobs

Job search is very difficult. There are a plethora of jobs out there, and a great number of ways to search for them. In my experience - and the combined experience of those who have advised me on the subject - not all job postings are equal.

Try to think of all job opportunities as leads, just as in any sales position. Certain leads will be easier to 'sell' to and others will need more convincing. In the sales terminology, we would call these leads either 'warm' or 'cold' respectively. There are channels for finding jobs that will deliver you 'warm' leads rather than cold ones. I have listed 3 examples below:

(1) Social Networks: There are a handful of social networks now that have online marketplaces for jobs. Several of them are designed specifically for professionals to post profiles and network with each other. In these cases, your profile (which will be visible to the hiring manager), will help to give more context around your resume and cover letter. This acts to 'warm' up the lead. Social networks like LinkedIn (which I use) also allow others to recommend your work which also goes a long way to warming your application.

(2) Campus job boards: If you're a postsecondary graduate, make sure to keep connected to your institution's job board. Applying for a job through one of these - especially a faculty/program specific job board - provides a warm lead. Think about it, the hiring manager has already pre-selected your education as a valuable criterion for the job by choosing to post at your school (alma mater). You're already halfway there, so long as your experience matches the job as well. The absolute best part about campus job boards is that they are often populated with jobs posted by other former graduates. This gives you instant relatability to the recruiter on the application and will provide easy conversation if an interview follows.

(3) Industry associations & publications: If you're looking to work in a specific industry, make sure to peruse the industry's association website and any industry publications for job postings and forums. This provides an instant warm-up function as it showcases your interest in the industry and your initiative with keeping involved. Such postings are also likely to have fewer applicants than those on major (general) job boards.