Job Hunting Basics

What to do if you’re laid off in 2008 recession
http://scobleizer.com/2008/01/23/what-to-do-if-youre-laid-off-in-2008-recession/

It’s sad to hear about layoffs at companies like Yahoo. Right now it seems like a bad time to be laid off. I’m here to offer some hope.

I laid myself off in February 2002. Remember that time? It was far worse than what we’ve seen so far in the economic turmoil of 2008. It seemed like EVERYONE was laid off. There was even a Website, fuckedcompany.com, that tracked layoff after layoff. No good news, like the funding of Automattic, was coming out. 9/11 just happened and it seemed to be particularly dire.

But even in that tough time I found a job working at ABC. Here’s some tips I learned from that time.

1. Don’t get lazy. It might seem dire, but if you work it you WILL find a job. Some of my friends went on vacation, started drinking, or generally just hung out with their families. Those people took a LOT longer to find a job than the friends of mine who approached their time off with these tips.
2. Make sure you spend at least 30% of every day trying to find a job. That means working on your resume. Getting your cover letter finished. Sending out resumes. Searching the web for work. Networking. Etc. At first your time spent on these tasks should be a lot higher, but after weeks of watching the job sites for jobs and having your resume checked over by 10 of your friends you will naturally have more time to spend on other things.
3. Start a blog on the field you want to work in. Want to be a PHP programmer? Start a PHP blog and make sure you put world class stuff there. Link to EVERYONE who has a PHP blog. But that’s only the beginning.
4. Do things that will get you to be recognized as a world leader in the field you want to be in. Are you a programmer? Build something and put it up! Share your knowledge on your blog (give tips you’ve learned). Are you a program manager? Those jobs will be tougher to find, but you should demonstrate that you are a great manager of people as well as that you’re expert on the kinds of things you want to do. Demo! Demo! Demo!
5. Learn from Loic Le Meur. How did he get thousands of videos uploaded on Seesmic everyday? He networked. He visited tons of journalists, bloggers, executives. He is a consumate networker (you should watch him work the halls here at the World Economic Forum).
6. Do a video everyday on YouTube that demonstrates something you know. Loic does a video everyday. If you’re laid off you have absolutely no excuses. Get a cheap Web cam and get over to YouTube or Seesmic.
7. Show your friends your resume and cover letter. Don’t have any friends? Now is the time to make some. Call up some interesting people and ask for an informational interview. This is particularly key if you work at a big company and are getting laid off. I watched people at Microsoft get laid off and the ones who had tons of internal informational interviews got new jobs fast. The key is to meet people everyday and get in front of them. Not to beg for a job, but to do research on the industry you want to work in. You’d be amazed how showing some interest in your industry will get noticed itself.
8. Do the basics. I got my XYZ job by sending a resume into a job that I found on Craig’s List. Yes, my blog helped me AFTER I got the interview, but I got the interview just by having a great cover letter and an interesting resume.
9. Don’t feel bad about taking government assistance. You’ll need it to pay your bills. I took it and it helped me get over that tough period.
10. Go to any job networking session you learn about. All of them were valuable to me, even though they didn’t necessarily bring me a job. Part of it is just feeling like you’re doing everything you can to get back on your feet. It’s an attitude thing. If you have an attitude that you’re going to work at this that will come across and will bring opportunities to you.
11. Go where the money is. If you are laid off and you haven’t sent your resume to Matt Mullenweg this morning, why not? People with new funding are the ones who are hiring. You want to work for them, so do what you can to at minimum get an informational interview. Why don’t you interview Matt for your blog? You never know, he just might give you an interview and that might lead to a discussion about how you could fit into his company. Even if it doesn’t, at least you get an interesting interview with someone in the industry who is seeing success. Other employers want to be like Matt, so if you have some insights to his success you might be surprised by how that gets you job interviews.
12. Take a little bit of time to work on family and health. You probably haven’t been paying enough attention to these two things. This is the time to start some healthy habits. Give up smoking, if you’re doing that. Drink less (the temptation will be to drink more, don’t give in). Get more exercise. Yes, I should take my own advice (I went for a long walk this morning in Davos and had fish last night).
13. Volunteer. Let’s say you are going to be out of work for six months. What could you do with six months of your time? Make sure you come away with it with a great project under your belt. Why not volunteer your time with a charity that could use your skills? Not only will you feel good about yourself, you’ll come away with job experience so you won’t have a hole in your resume (building an IT system for the Red Cross looks damn impressive — saying you were “on the beach” for six months does not). Plus you’ll make great friends with people who are trying to improve the world (they are typically the kinds of friends you should have anyway).
14. Make sure you take advantage of any help your former employer is offering. Sometimes they have retraining or other programs that might help you land an even better job.
15. See if you can keep coming into the office. This isn’t open to everyone, but at Userland I kept coming into work everyday after the paychecks stopped. That made me feel better, plus it gave me the ability to use phones, stay away from negative situations (do you really want to be around family all day, everyday, who might remind you that you need to find a job?) as well as give you a place to work hard on finding your new job.
16. Go to every business event you can attend. Can’t afford to get in? Me neither and I have a job! Hang out in the hallways. You never know who you might meet. At minimum you’ll get interesting interviews for your blog. Have your resumes ready.
17. Always have your suit ready. Some interviews happen fast “can you be here this afternoon?” The one who is ready will get the interview.

7 Tips for Landing a Job in this Crazy Market

I take a no holds approach to finding a new gig. I have a ton of great experience under my belt and have been successful I think as navigating career changes, so I wanted to pass on my secrets.

1. Always be networking. I am always surprised at how many people fail to build networks and then have little to turn to when they want to start testing the waters. With all the Web 2.0 applications out there (Myspace - HighSchool, Facebook - College and Linkedin - professional ) there are many ways to hit people up for leads. Always return the favor and remember that many jobs are still found through word-of-network rather than strangers. You should continue to grow and nourish your network, brand you and screening/ interviewing skills the whole time.
2. How to Play Recruiters. Recruiters are like lawyers, a kind of necessary evil that cannot be avoided. Hate them or love them (and there are recruiters I love) you need to learn how to work with them and negotiate the cliched "win/win". Think of them as scrappy salespeople who sell people/skills based on commission. And there are time when you will feel the like they are your "pimps" at times. Deal with it and understand that they have an open position and perhaps a good "in". There are all types out there and one may be working out of a garage or for a multi billion dollar company. You never know. These guys keep current databases, but there are ways to "back door" them when needed. Take no prisoners and do not be afraid to work them the same way they work you. Many won't close the loop with you and they may come across a bit schmooze-ish, but they are a part of the job market.
3. Expect the best but budget for the worse. If you are in the midst of a layoff, career change, break, whatever, you should be in survival mode. If you have the saving for 6 months of looking then make a budget. If you do not, only even think about tapping into a 401K or other sacred piggy banks as a LAST effort. Your full time/part time job is now exploring new opportunities. Take this job seriously and you will see progress. If you like to "party all the time" as the cheesy Eddie Murphy song goes, put that on the back burner. Don't eat out much or make big purchases until you are sure where your next check is coming from.
4. Build your pipeline and expect the process to be sloooow. Hiring folks make decisions through a consensus. Even if it requires 14 kinds of phone/face screenings, remember that you are always in the running until you know otherwise. I like to have no more than 10 opportunities in the pipe I am working through. If you can handle more, all the better.
5. Develop a system for keeping your opportunities in order. Anytime you speak with someone you must track their name, contact info, job details, pay rate (if they disclose it) and a website. Try to get the names of the DMs (decision makers) and follow up constantly but not to the point of desperation. Recruiters want to know who is "hot" and that gives them the upper hand, particularly if they know you have been looking for awhile. Stay on top of your inbox and calendar and be flexible.
6. Develop a system for working the job boards. There are a TON of great places to tap for work. Check them on a weekly basis, update your resume frequently (so it will appear at the top of their searches) and work on your brand so you get exposure. The list of places to look is endless: Monster, Hot Jobs, Dice, Careerbuilder, Craigslist, LinkedIn, Notch Up, a local paper, direct hires through company website, Superpages, Blogs, you name it you can probable work anything into a bit of career knowledge or potential opportunity. Brainstorm and write down ideas or angles that come to you, talk to people and keep a positive attitude. Try to be the kind of person that you think people would like to work with and exude that energy. Action creates opportunity, so remember that.
7. Work on Brand You. Maybe your interview skills are a bit rusty, maybe you need to update that resume or maybe you have been a horrible networker. Whatever the career ailment is, make a conscious effort to remedy it. The rules for getting a job are changing everyday and just like tenure track professors must "publish or perish" you too must "publish you or perish". This includes starting a blog about what you do, working on improving your image, your speaking and communication skills and how you present yourself in verbal, written and web form. In interviews, have a story about who you are that is memorable. Maybe you were all state Ping Pong champion once or you auditioned for a reality show, whatever it is, make sure they remember brand you and you don't become a wall flower on the hiring landscape.
These are just a few ideas. Remember that how you connect with people and opportunities is as unique as you are. Don't be afraid to take calculated risks and be different.

Why Job Hunters Should Blog

January 07, 2008, ComputerWorld - Corporate recruiters have long surfed the Web to vet potential hires, but now they're also surfing blogs to unearth job candidates, expanding their talent pool and gaining insights they say they can't get from resumes and interviews. Most blog-related recruits are professionals in technology and media because jobs in these fields often require knowledge of the blogosphere.

The workforce is extremely unstable today. There are layoffs, downsizings, de-equitizations, and bankruptcies. No one is guaranteed to have a job a month from now. Generations X and Y watched their parents' lives come undone when they depended on the workplace to provide stability in their lives. Today, people do that less and less.

Blogs help you create your own stability by taking responsibility for ourselves brand YOU. A blog is a great way to do this -- it's a professional platform that you have total control over, and you can use it to provide a home base.