Marketing Yourself in Tough Times

Author: Adam Krueger

As I sat watching the Superbowl last night, I was noting that many of the commercials during the breaks were career related or made some reference to our hobbled economy. If you’re a normal person out there, you’ve either a) thought about what your prospects for being laid off are, b) have been told that layoffs are a real possibility, or c) already been laid off. This current recession that we’re in has affected most people and has probably gotten you to think about what you would do in the event of a layoff. Here are some tips on how you can effectively market yourself should you find yourself out of a job (or on the lookout for one).

1.) Make sure that your resume is in good shape. I’ve seen a lot of resumes, I go through hundreds everyday and there are definitely a certain set of resume traits that make one stand-out over another. Use THIS resume kit to help put together a resume that will stand-out from others.

2.) When you apply for a job through a website, or send your job to a recruiter, tailor your resume to fit the specific position you’re interested in. In other words, don’t just blast your resume out there. Instead, put the extra time into tailoring your resume for the position so that when the hiring authority or recruiter looks at it, they will clearly see how you fit their position.

3.) “If at first you don’t succeed, keep trying.”  If you’ve been searching for awhile and haven’t come up with much, keep at it, keep sending your resume, keep checking in with us, we are constantly coming over new positions, and chances are that we will eventually come across something you fit (or someone we know will).

4.) Make sure that you are prepared for interviews, phone or in-person. Get as much information as you can about the company, prepare your responses ahead of time or at least prepare a hit-list of accomplishments that you can talk about. Preparation is key to impressing during an interview and it can mean the difference between getting the next step or not.

Being able to market yourself is becoming more and more important these days because the talent pool out there right now is very large due to many layoffs. Those who can do an effective job of marketing themselves will be able to avoid long periods without work in the event of a layoff.

The Counter Offer

With today's market being what it is, the prevalance of the "counter" offer is steadily rising. This is because more and more companies are realizing how difficult it is to find qualified replacements for the employees they lose. I have personally seen companies promise my candidates bonuses, pay increases, or promotions in attempts to entice people to stay. The fact is this (and the research backs it up), aside from short-term personal gain, there is little good that can be said about accepting counter offers. In an article entitled, "The Counterproductive Counter-Offer," Jamie Fabian says, "counter-offers are almost always counterproductive for your career." [Link] She goes on to say that many companies will make a counter offer just to switch the balance of power. If they can keep an employee on-board whom they know wants to leave, they can look for a replacement with no real rush and replace that person with no significant down-time. When viewed in that light, counter-offers are seen as, at best, something to be very skeptical of. I saw a statistic on many different websites saying that, "in more than 90 percent of the cases where people accept counter offers, they end up fired, laid off or at least looking for a new job within six to 12 months." [Link] Bottomline...counter-offers can look enticing but in the end they can be bad career moves and you'll more than likely end up in the same position one year later than you were in when you first started looking for a job.     --AK

Why Use A Recruiter?

From time to time I am asked, "why should I use a technical recruiter?" My knee-jerk reaction is to say, "why shouldn't you use a technical recruiter?"...but that hardly answers the question. Here are three practical reasons to use a recruiter. A) Technical Recruiters like myself, who have been in the business of recruiting for over a decade, have access to many people simply by picking up the telephone or keyboard. I spend 75% of my time at work building relationships with employers, job seekers, etc... There are people who I have known (both employers and engineers) for over 20 years and with whom I talk on a regular basis about the market. I also have access to other recruiters so that in the case that I don't have a job in a particular location of the country, I can contact those in my network and find out if they do. So, not only do I have access to my jobs and the jobs in our office, I can make a couple phone calls or send a couple of e-mails and get the skinny on hundreds of other job openings. Does that mean I'll be able to find a job for everyone? No, but it does mean that I have a chance to help more people find new employment. B) My services are free. It doesn't cost you, the job seeker, a single cent to use my services. All of the fees that pay the bills are paid for by the companies I fill positions for. C) I can coach you for an interview with a specific company. Because I have the opportunity to speak directly with the technical people within the companies I work with, I can get details about what a company is looking for that will never show up in a job ad anywhere. Using this information, I can clue you in to the different things that companies are looking for that will help you do even better in the interviews. This information could be the difference between a person getting a job or not!  --JP