Are you jobless in Gotham? Or, for that matter, anywhere right now around the world?
New York has been hit hard because of the losses in financial services, but so have other cities, states and countries since the bubble burst. This is more like an economic tsunami that has affected other sectors such as manufacturing and construction, not to mention the media, retail, pharmaceuticals and a long list of other industries. Well, you can tell yourself, friends and loved ones that “it isn’t my fault,” and “I’m going to start my job search and work at it 24x7” with the very best of intentions to stay afloat, and I’m sure you’re not alone in those thoughts. You think, “I’ll work hard at landing a new management position—as I have worked conscientiously my entire career—and eventually something will give” because hard work yields a reward. Except that this time, the dynamics of the job-search game have changed dramatically and everyone must adjust to new realities.
Old networks may have already dried up or will soon be dead ends, the constant barrage of bad news and dire warnings affect the decision-making process, and everyone thinks that economic and labor experts are making projections by looking into their crystal balls. So, is there anything you can do to change your mindset, turn around the job-search strategy and create a new path?
1. Ask. Talk to anyone who fits into your demographic, psychographic or geographic circle and ask for help. Then, ask everyone else. It makes sense that if you don’t ask for it, you won’t get it, and in today’s environment you have nothing to lose.
2. Follow the money. I know, you’re thinking: what money! But there is money that will flow and is flowing right now into certain sectors, companies and individuals who are in start-up or growth phase. Even though there are fewer IPOs now, the deals are still being structured. New companies are sometimes funded adequately by angel investors. Your job is to seek this information, analyze it and carve out a strategy around data.
3. Creation vs. continuation. If the jobs and opportunities have disappeared for the foreseeable future and you’ve exhausted your leads, don’t think of your hard work as wasted effort. What you’ve done is plant seeds that may yield results at some point. Since you can’t afford to wait and do nothing, when you’ve saturated the market and executed an aggressive search, start your Plan B. (You have a Plan B, right?) Instead of continuing to seek positions, begin creating opportunities.
I’ll have much more to say on this, with links, ideas and specific information on all of the above later this week in my Valentines series of targeted career advice to start melting the frozen fear that has a lot of people stuck in their executive searches.
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