« Fight Back! Five Blogs for Better Networking
The Dirty Little Truth About Your Network »

Two January Numbers You Need to Know

February 5, 2010 | Author: Allyn Horne | Filed under: Job Hunting, Layoffs

The false promise of a declining unemployment rate and the real promise of new opportunity

Today, the Labor Department released updated unemployment numbers. It’s supposed to be good news, reason for cheer, with the unemployment rate dropping to a five-month low. But if you’re still among the unemployed, the cheer isn’t resonating with you: you’re still dealing with a too-long job search, a too-quiet phone, and a nagging sense that you’re wasting time sending your resume into online black holes.

So what’s going on? The bad news is that the unemployment rate hasn’t really improved. The good news, however, and a possible fast-track to opportunity for you, is another stat that hasn’t been as widely reported: temporary and consulting jobs rose by 52,000 in January. Let’s explore both the unemployment rate and this potential new opportunity in greater detail.

First, the unemployment rate: why, despite the numbers, you’re still experiencing a tough job market:

1. The false promise of a declining unemployment rate. The economy shed 20,000 jobs in January, yet the unemployment rate went down. How does that work? Well, unemployment equals the total number of unemployed workers seeking jobs divided by the total workforce. Conversely, the employment rate equals the total number of fully employed people divided by the total workforce. If the economy lost 20,000 jobs, then how are MORE people employed? They’re not. Instead, people are running out of unemployment benefits or putting their job searches on hold, which means they’re no longer counted as part of the available workforce. It also means that more people are being removed from the workforce count than there are jobs being lost.

2. – and that there are more of these people than there are jobs lost! But this should not be you.

3. On a related note…the number of “discouraged job seekers” rose to 1.1 million from 700,000 from this time last year, which also explains why the “available workforce” is declining. But we are here to provide you with new options—to encourage rather than to discourage you.

This brings us to our good news: the fact that temporary and consulting jobs—the kind you can secure and turn into full-time assignments—rose by 52,000 in January. Winning such jobs requires a different approach, though, mercifully, not one that requires sending your resume into black holes all day!

1. First, set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and list your skills. What do you have that employers or businesses want? Maybe you worked in the past as a Social Media Manager. So why couldn’t you help build and execute viral marketing campaigns on a part-time basis for non-profits or start-ups with interim needs that could spin into full time if you’re successful? Perhaps you’re a finance or investment whiz. Why not coach entrepreneurs through the crazybalancing act of securing funding? You do have skills that others need. The key is connecting with the people who need them.

2. Next, define your market. What companies, industries, or geographies do you want to serve? What roles would hire you? More specifically, what particular challenges are those roles, companies, industries and/or geographies facing that your skills might alleviate? This information forms the basis of your marketing plan.

3. Build a plan to reach your market. For your plan to work, it must include activities you’re good at and like to do. It’s no use to tell yourself to hit the next speed-networking or association event if face-to-face networking is torture to you. If you’re more comfortable online than on the phone, then why not get social by launching a blog around your area of expertise? Or why not build a highly targeted e-mail list of key individuals in roles that might hire you and send an unforgettable e-mail introducing yourself and your services?

On the other hand, if you’re the chatty type, try getting offline and talking to people! Use UpMo’s My Network feature to organize the professional contacts who work in your target market, and then start meeting them face-to-face or by phone. UpMo’s Career Toolbox provides plenty of customizable communication templates to help you do this.

Tell your contacts that you’re not only looking for full-time work, but also for consulting assignments. Flaunt your skills and propose ways you can help their organization on an interim basis by, for example, performing market research or implementing IT systems. E-mail us if you’d like more help thinking of projects surrounding your background and skillset.

4. Finally, when you get in front of a decision maker, don’t be shy: sell yourself and your services. Be confident. You ARE good at what you do, right? Practice articulating how what you do benefits the person on the other end of your pitch. Most important, be ready to share tangible results you’ve generated in past jobs. Come equipped with a proposal that shows you understand the decision maker’s and company’s challenges and opportunities.

We’ll have a lot more to say shortly about how to succeed in consulting and temporary roles, and how you can turn them into full-time assignments. But the first step is to find them. Know that they’re out there—and they’re more plentiful than full-time jobs. They are NOT, however, accessible through online black holes!

Share/Save/Bookmark

This entry was posted on Friday, February 5th, 2010 and is filed under Job Hunting, Layoffs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen

No comments yet.

feel free to leave a comment

Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

All fields marked with " * " are required.