We all hear the stories about the plight of the unemployed. I am in the enviable position of filling 10 moderate to high paying positions in a company I work for. So I have been interviewing candidates and looking at resumes and I wanted to share what I have seen and make suggestions to the long term unemployed.
http://www.bls.gov/...
Well the best candidates are the ones who are currently employed and who want to leave their jobs voluntarily. They have overall better attitudes, interview better, more energy and sharper skill sets than their unemployed counterparts.
And not all the unemployed candidates are created equal either. In fact, one who will likely get a position, was laid off of her job but has been doing contract work ever since. Now she could have sat back and collected unemployment and waited until her equivalent job came through, but instead she took temporary contract assignments, kept her skills up and actually is equivalent to her employeed peers.
2 other examples of candidates that have been out of work for 17 months now. One has done virtually nothing for 17 months except for taking a few seminars in his field, while the other one started a consulting practice with his skill sets. Now the one who started a consulting practice, I do not think he was making a lot of money, but he sure looks better than the candidate that did virtually nothing.
Also the guy who was doing consulting again was fresh, high spirited and much sharper than the one who had done virtually nothing. The candidate who had done virtually nothing was very bitter at the end of the interview when I told him that the job was budgeted at 20% less than his top salary 17 months ago which was still more than 300% of the median family income in the US.
The other guy who had been doing consulting was happy to accept what he was being paid at the rate of not the last job but 2 jobs ago which was more of his real market value and 30% less than his last job. He realized his last job was a special situation of a company going into bankruptcy and needed to pay to keep key employees to the end.
As an update based on a great comment...If you were laid off because you were one of the highest paid for the function you were performing but still a stellar performer, that is not a bad thing either and should be highlighted as the reason with a reference for a backup. This can also occur during Mergers and Acquisitions where a great contributor is paid well in excess of his/her peers doing the same job. Those jobs are at risk for obvioius reasons.
So what does all this mean? If you are unemployed and want to compete with those who have jobs and want to change here are some ideas to keep your edge or at least level the playing field.
1. Do something, anything, temp work, volunteer work (in your field). The worst thing that can happen to you in an interview is to not be on top of your game
2. Keep your skills up to date with a combination of temp work, volunteer work and CPE. Also update your basic computer skills with spreadsheets, word processing and even some basic charts and graphs.
3. Be prepared to answer the question, "What have you been doing while you have been unemployed" in a positive and constructive way. Nobody wants to hire a bitter whiner for a key position. If there is a reason why you could not work, like a sick child then it is good to talk about that too.
4. Be prepared to answer the question why you left your prior company. Was it because they re-organized, downsized, moved your position to another location, eliminated your position or you were let go for some other reason. Remember not all layoffs and reductions in force are created equal. For instance if your company was bought by another company, it is very common that good people are let go, on the other hand in a reduction in force action, companies will let go of the lowest performers first. If it was because of relocation of the position, were you offered the position but could not move for personal reasons, or not offered the position. All these factors make a difference.
5. Have some positive reinforcement prepared for your value to your last job, like a former boss who was sorry to see you go and would hire you back if a position was opened up.
6. Put something on your resume about what you have been doing since you were laid off. That way a HR person who is scanning resumes won't put it in a circular file because you are unemployed. They typically will scan for the top postion to be to "present"
7. If you were previously employed as a manager of some department, be prepared to talk about how you are willing to "roll up your sleeves" and be a worker as well as a manager. Typically today, employers are looking for those who can do and produce compared to those who are simply managers.
8. Practice being positive in an interview. Tell the interviewer that you are excited to get back in the game and work again. That will show initiative and that you won't be 3 months getting used to getting out of bed in the morning for work.
9. If possible, be willing to relocate. If you do not own a house and can move relatively easily, then you should be willing to relocate to a place that has a better job market.
10. Don't talk about politics or your disdain for wall street, wealthy, tax inequity and other topics. You don't know who is interviewing you and their POV. Leave those comments to DKos...
11. Bonus Advice: (tip of hat to Tarheel) If asked your salary requirements, simply say negotiable. Do not give salary requirements because you could be weeding yourself out of an offer.
Good luck with job hunting as the job market appears to be getting better slowly but surely...