Still Thinking about a New Job for New Year?

Wes Bucey

Prophet of Profit
Still Thinking about a New Job for New Year?

So, it's the end of the year. Lots of folks are stopping their job hunting because "everybody is concentrating on their holiday - they aren't looking to hire anybody now, they'll wait until after the New Year."

So what! If you are out of work, how many companies have you researched this week? Do you have a pile of cover letters and inquiries ready to send out to hit the desks of your targets on Tuesday, January 4?

Or, did you decide to take a vacation WITHOUT PAY and give your active competitors a step ahead in the race for a good job?

If you are NOT out of work, will you take some time during the slow holiday period to review and update your resume and REALLY review your happiness and comfort with your present job? Was the Christmas bonus and year-end raise what you expected and earned?

Are you making an effort in your current job to gain what Deming called "Profound Knowledge" about your organization and how it meshes and interacts with customers, suppliers, regulators, competitors, and the community at large? If not, why not? If you already know it all, are you compensated accordingly? If not, why not?

Some folks talk about "New Year Resolutions," but seldom get past the talking stage. If you fit that category, why?

It's been a brutal year for many folks. For various reasons, the coming year will be as brutal or even more brutal as economic consequences cascade through government and industry. Change is an inevitable part of life.

The bottom line for today is:
Are you prepared to survive and even excel as part of the change?

I just finished rereading through the six threads listed below and every single post in them is as topical today as it was when it was written 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 year ago. The past two years have been the most brutal I've seen in over 40 years. The bad economy has touched EVERY sector. Home ownership wasn't as prevalent in the 1930's as it was in the last ten years so the sheer number of foreclosures of single family homes in the past two years has been unprecedented in the entire history of the USA. There are more "safety nets" in the USA for folks out of work, but that doesn't prevent thousands and thousands of individuals and families with small children from being homeless and shuttling from shelter to shelter in programs like PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter.)

I volunteer as a chef at a local church that provides food, clothing, showers, and shelter one night a week in the PADS program from October through April. Other churches and schools provide other nights, so our local network (in the first or second most affluent county in the State of Illinois) is feeding and housing 100 - 150 people each night in two or three facilities. This is triple what it was 3 years ago! The county buses the people to and from the facilities.

When I talk to these folks over dinner, I am struck by how many of them had decent jobs and homes before a chain of events (job loss and illness of a family member are the top two initial events) stripped them of their livelihoods, their homes, and, in most cases, even their dignity. We are NOT dealing with chronic unemployables or drunks or addicts. These were once happy, contributing members of society who are spiraling deeper and deeper into despair.

I write these threads because there is a point before your life disintegrates at which you still have a chance to stem the tide and recover. It involves tough choices and sacrifice. Often it means taking a temporary step down in pay and prestige and/or relocating from your comfortable McMansion in an affluent suburb to a cramped apartment or small house far from the friends and family you and your spouse have grown accustomed to "being there." Accepting these reduced circumstances temporarily does NOT mean you are a failure; it means you are being realistic and pragmatic to survive until the general economy rebounds. It means you never stop learning and researching to find a way back up the ladder. You don't give up and settle for scraps; you look for a way to get back to having full meals again even while you survive on scraps.

The reality of life is there will always be someone more fortunate than you just as there will always be someone less fortunate than you. These job threads are not geared to make you more fortunate; they are geared to help you put yourself in a position where fortune can find you.

  • Fortune will have a hard time finding you if you spend this holiday season watching football and avoiding researching companies for new opportunities.
  • Fortune will have a hard time finding you if you take your severance pay and vacation on a sunny beach this winter instead of reading the 10Q and 10K reports your target companies have filed with the SEC (available online).to learn more about your target companies and the top executives that run them.
Job hunting is a JOB! You have to show up each day and perform your duties and learn how to do them as efficiently as possible.

The threads we list here will help you learn how to do that job efficiently so you can be promoted to the job you want and at the pay you desire.

Got some comments about this post or about our Cove series of Occupation Discussions? Let's see 'em!

There are actually six threads in this series which folks have found useful
Thinking about a New Job for New Year?

Resume and cover letter - How good are yours?

The Job Hunt - Care and feeding of references

Tips to get past the "gatekeeper" when job hunting

Contracting/Temping - Viable Alternates in Tough Times

Consulting – Is it in YOUR Career Future?



Why not read through them and judge for yourself?
 
M

Migre

Thanks for the post Wes - as usual, it makes for an excellent read. I've already gained a lot from reading these posts and am paying even more attention these days. Despite being in a job at the moment, things don't look too great next year. I work in local government here and there is a need to massively cut costs across the country over the next 4-5 years. Sadly, I fear my role is at risk. The advantages of ensuring that this line of work makes a significant contribution has never been really considered here (despite my best efforts) and the fact that this is not seen as a 'front-line' service puts me (and colleagues) at risk. A sad state of affairs but that is the harsh reality of it all. So yes - I'm looking for alternative work at the moment and a lot of your posts have really helped.

The most resonant part of your latest post (as far as I am concerned)?

'Often it means taking a temporary step down in pay and prestige'.

As long as I can get a job that pays the bills, I'm quite willing to do that. That's obviously not ideal but this isn't the time to let pride get in the way of things. If I can get something on equal pay (or better) that would be great but the only jobs which would involve a pay hike are in the pharmaceutical and food industries and I simply don't have the industry-specific experience needed for these roles. I've been keeping a close eye on vacancies in my area over the past couple of months so I have a good idea of where the market is at the moment.

The tricky part now is gauging when to really pursue this - I'm unsure as to when to make a concerted effort to find another job. I could wait and see exactly what happens with my current job (I'm expecting changes of some sort to happen next year - whether that means straight redundancy or a transfer to another department in an amended role remains to be seen) or really pursue something else now. The one thing I don't want to do is jump ship for anything out there just to get out - despite current circumstances I'd like to try and make the next move a positive one, if possible.

Anyway - please keep these types of post coming Wes. They are appreciated and a great help for some of us out here. :applause:
 
M

Martin IT

Thanks Wes to share your thought with us!
Your post is really well written and very rich of things to thinking about.
The situation in EU, or better in Italy (my country), isn't very different from yours.
The most sad thing that I can see is the diffidence with which people see the future.
I hope the tunnel ending soon, but we have to work hard to make our future safer.
 
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