When I was working in New York City we used to call Park Avenue “the
beach”. The avenue was studded with corporate headquarters and consequentially
the upper echelons of management were buzzing about in abundance. When a
businessman/woman was out of work they could walk along the avenue as if they
were strolling a beach (all the while disguising anxiety under a facade of
casualness.) The drill was to walk down Park toward Grand Central
Station in the morning hoping to bump into someone on their way to work who
could either hire you or give you a lead on a job. The process was reversed in
the late afternoon, those out of work would walk up Park Avenue hoping
to bump into prospective targets who were on their way down the avenue heading
for Grand Central and their trains for home in the bedroom communities of
Westchester county or Connecticut.
Being out of work is a
brutal trial for those directly involved of course, but the misery also spills
over to their families. My gut tells me that being fired or having close
friends out of work will be part of this “recession” for a very long time. Look
around. Remember the guy who used to be up at dawn racing to catch the early
train? Now you see him shopping mid-day for specials at the supermarket. With
slight variations such sad scenes are repeated time and again. One out-of-work
executive told me, “I'm using my friends ruthlessly to find a job”. If
that doesn't make you pause and reflect, I don't know what will. That’s not
what we think our friends are for. Yet I understand exactly where he is coming
from. Everything has changed in job-searching these days, including the “all purpose”
resume. Nowadays your credentials have to be tailored to a specific position
and fine-tuned as to what you can bring to that company. Hiring companies want
to know why you are uniquely qualified and just what you will bring to the
party. Anything else is more or less window dressing. In-Person Communications
can help in such situations. We spend a lot time assisting professionals to
organize their backgrounds and then rehearsing them on how they can best
present themselves for job interviews.
If you are “on the beach”
right now, don't hide in the basement hoping some miracle will get you back in
the game. It's not going to happen. You have to be pro-active and get the word
out to anyone who can help you. Make your family, friends and associates
part of your team in the job search.
If you are lucky to be
working now, don't think that “because you are doing a great job” you won't be
downsized. Make marketing yourself a way of life. Solicit mentors to help you
constantly improve your value in the marketplace. Remember that when upper management
wants to improve the bottom line they usually do so by lopping off heads –
percentages with no names attached. Saving dollars is what counts in their
mind. This is particularly true when those gray hairs show up around your own
temples. Years ago when the creative guru John Bergin spoke of the advertising
fraternity he said, “Advertising is the only business where experience counts
against you.” Well, John was ahead of his time for this applies to virtually
every business these days.
The name of the game is to
consistently upgrade your own skills so that you are prepared when and if there
is a knock on the door.
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