I recently started coaching someone who has been out of work for 2 years and has been in denial because she has won 12 marketing communication awards. Although her positioning rhetoric got more “sales-y” at 18 months, Mary’s search and networking activities were otherwise generic. The campaign did not offset prejudice about her age (a matronly 52) and being out a long time. Did you know 70% of hiring managers avoid candidates who are out of work? (a)

Long before she panicked, she should have been test-marketing alternative strategies to see which offered her the best ROI (Return On Investment.)

I asked her what she has been doing in her spare time. She admitted that she loves travel and gardening. Has won 5 awards for gardening. Would love a marketing job in travel or gardening but has no paid experience in either.

Here are strategies she is now exploring in order to create more options for herself:

• Create kick-ass “whitepapers” to demonstrate her marketing knowledge in depth in formats that will additionally showcase her award-winning publication design abilities.  Find ways to circulate them to hiring managers including those she has already met.
• Produce B2B or B2C publications on gardening or travel to be used to demonstrate that, although she has never been paid by those industries, she has lots to offer.
• She is going to quietly shadow a salesperson selling to resorts to learn more about VOC (Voice of the Customer) for the hospitality industry.

If what you have been doing is not working, have you considered something new?

(a) http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/unemployed_need_not_apply/index.htm

Topics: career strategy, hidden job market, solving problems | No Comments »

Much of what we have been taught to do to make us valuable to “the job market” is more about the convenience and profit of the employer rather than giving the employee maximum control over his/her destiny and security. However, as company agendas will continue to be less and less stable for an individual employee, a “Portfolio Career” strategy is a concept you need to understand as a pro-active means of a establishing a foothold for you in a new industry in case your current job disappears or if you wish to change roles long-term.

On a simple level, a “Portfolio Career” means someone earns income from more than one simultaneous employer by choice or necessity. It is not a new concept. “Freelancers” in ad agencies and “Contractors” in IT have been doing it since the 1970’s as a means of gaining exposure to a wide variety of clients/technologies as quickly as possible. Folks with multiple jobs are easy to find in any industry in Europe.

Deliberately selecting unrelated simultaneous jobs spreads your risk if any one industry or skill area shrinks. Remember when the telecom industry shrunk by 70% in the 1990’s? Ad agency work has been shifting over 20 years from mass media like network TV and magazines to the Internet and other personal media. A Portfolio Career would protect you in similar transitions. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: career strategy, hidden job market, networking, solving problems | 2 Comments »

There are lots of books and courses available on how to use LinkedIn with the standard messages and tools. But those courses tend to produce users who think that if being listed in the software is good using it heavily without further thought is better. I disagree.

1. In the Twin Cities Metro there are 4K LinkedIn listings with “marketing communications” mentioned, 59K with “sales,” and 31K with “engineer.” 65% social media participants users use to stay in touch with friends, 47% use social media “for work” and but only 26-28% use it for “career search.” Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: branding + positioning, career strategy, hidden job market, networking, recruiting, resume + cover letter | 3 Comments »

In the current housing market, most clients will avoid trying to move someone. I have worked with job-seekers who had an offer in a new city but then were told by realtors it would be 8-12 months before they could expect to sell their house in the previous location. Unless you are very senior, a new employer is unlikely to want to take on your transition housing costs. Add to that the possibility of having wife, kids, and husband in separate locations for the 8 months and you have a recipe for divorce. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: hidden job market, interviews, networking | 1 Comment »

Most job hunters do not know how to market to the “Hidden Job Market.” If you find yourself saying, “That’s me. I don’t know how to do that,” then listen up. Not only is this job market hidden from you, YOU are invisible to all the people awarding jobs in the Hidden Job Market.

A job is said to be “hidden” when it is not public knowledge (such as being posted in a newspaper or on a job-posting site like www.monster.com.) Very early in the life cycle of a job posting it is only known by the hiring manager and perhaps 2-3 key execs who work closely with the hiring manager. It frequently is not even approved by HR before the hiring manager has 2-3 candidates in mind he intends to interview and is biased towards because they were recommended by someone he knows well.

Industry studies show that 30-35% of people hired are identified before the knowledge of the opening gets beyond this stage. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: career strategy, hidden job market | 1 Comment »