So, you’ve been laid off, downsized, right-sized, middle-sized, whatever, and now have to start looking for work.  It’s been a tough couple of years since this damn recession started and that’s not making things any easier.  I know.  I’ve been writing resumes left and right for folks who have been blindsided by the economy and the fact that there just doesn’t seem to be any jobs out there.

There are so many people with really strong resumes that are not even getting a call, never mind an interview.  Breaks my heart.

But, there ARE jobs out there.  You just have to find them – and they may not be in a place where you’ve traditionally been looking.

Instead of trying to find a job in your present field, have you thought about the idea of “reinventing” your career?  Many skill sets are transferable to different jobs, different fields and different industries.  Maybe it’s the time to start thinking about moving into a new, perhaps more realistic direction.

Reinvention is about finding your true calling; your passion.  One of the greatest feelings is doing what you love, all day, every day.

I’m fortunate to be one of those people.  Rehabilitating organizations and developing talent is my game and that gives me the opportunity to do pretty much anything I set my heart on.  I had to reinvent myself in the late 90s after leaving a long-term career in a very large organization.  I had a job, but decided to chuck it and start fresh in another state.  Scared?  Heck yea.  But I took the plunge, survived and thrived.  Trust me; you can, too.

While you’re waiting on that call from the recruiter, try doing some of these things.  You never know; you may just reinvent yourself and when that call comes say, “No thanks, I’ve got my dream job.”

Listen to your heart.  Think about all of the things you’ve always dreamed of doing, especially those things that you would do even if you weren’t paid to do them.  Tory Johnson, CEO of Women for Hire calls this “heartstorming.” If your passion is organization and you find that you like keeping things in order, why not think about using that skill set to start a new career or self-owned business, such as managing Medicare or health records for the retiring boomers.  The key here, according to Johnson, is to ask yourself, “What’s standing in my way?” and then developing a plan to get around those barriers.

Start brainstorming.  Think back through your last few jobs. Make a list of the skills and tasks you do daily.  Think about how these skills could used in industries or jobs outside of what you currently do.  Many skills, such as sales, are easily transferable. As you begin to look at opportunities are available in other fields, search for similarities in the job descriptions and the skills on your list.  One of my clients wanted to follow her dream by moving from the retail corporate world to the child development nonprofit arena.  Highlighting her sales skills were what helped her make the transition because the new organization needed someone who could positively influence others to make donations.

Go back to school.  There’s no time like the present to get additional knowledge and skills.  As a matter of fact, tons of people are flocking to undergrad and grad schools alike to pick up that degree they never started or finished.  While you’re in school, check out different courses and curricula related to your interests.  Heck, take a cooking class just for fun.  Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next top chef! 

Check out the local free career center or one-stop.  If funds are limited, check out the local library, career center or one-stop to see if there are any free classes available.  Career centers also offer information on new positions and job openings, resume writing services, interview help or specific job training.  Many local nonprofit organizations also offer free career planning and development services or courses on entrepreneurship.  They may also be able to hook you up with an internship in your area of interest.  Yes, even 40-somethings can do internships; they’re not just for college kids anymore.  Boston.com has some great ideas for folks in the career change mode.

Volunteer.  Yes, do something for an organization without payment.  Don’t have a job right now?  Have some spare time?  Volunteer.  Pick a nonprofit or service organization that supports one of your passions.  Many people start out by volunteering and end up with full time paying gigs.  It’s a great way to keep your head in the game and build the resume at the same time.  Who said career listings on a resume all have to be paid work!

Network…and then network some more.  Let’s be honest with ourselves.  Getting out there and talking to people, making contacts is one of the most productive things we can do.  Talk to friends, neighbors, contacts from old jobs.  Let them know you’re interested in a new career.  They may not know of anything at the moment, but that conversation could lead to something positive down the road.  Have that one-minute elevator speech handy.  You never know; that person standing in line in front of you in the grocery store may just be your ticket to a new career!

Finally, 

Have a good attitude.  How you feel about yourself and your search will be directly reflected in your resume and in your interviews.  Think of this as an opportunity to regroup, refresh, re-energize.  When a door closes in one place, a window can open in another.  As I used to say to my kids, “Patience, Iago”  (comes from the Disney movie, Aladdin).  Good things come to those who take the time to seek them out.

Now, go get ’em.  You can do this!

A New Career, Anyone? is a post from: The HR Whisperer

It’s that time of year again when kids are starting to fill out college applications, deciding if they don’t want college but would rather be a dental hygienist or fire fighter instead, or just plain freaking out that in a few short months their high school career will be over.  I’ve got one of those at home right now and it ain’t pretty.

What do these kids really have to look forward to anyway, career-wise?  With unemployment ravaging the workforce, organizational changes drying up the already few and far between entry-level opportunities, major competition for jobs driving highly experienced people to do desperate things and college tuition rates soaring, just what is out there for new grads?

Not much says an article in the October 19^th issue of BusinessWeek.  Author Peter Coy points out that newly minted high school, college and MBA grads are bright, eager – and unwanted.  The U.S. unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds is around 18% and with the lack of jobs for those kids, their lifetime income potential is plummeting.  It seems like we are creating our own death spiral.

You’d think that with all this cheap labor out there companies would be snapping young people up by the dozen and getting rid of the more expensive employees.  Tain’t so.  We all know nobody’s doing anything in light of the unstable economy. But we weren’t doing a good job of bringing in the new kids to begin with anyway.

Part of what is scary about this too, is that so many of these young people are well-educated, enthusiastic and raring to go.  They’re the ones who are going to be funding Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare in the years to come.  We’re all living longer and many of us lost a ton of retirement money over the past several years due to the bouncing stock market.  So, that means that the older generations are going to have to keep working– which leaves even less for the new kids on the block, never mind our societal coffers.  And let’s not start on the loss of creativity and diversity in organizations.

Some people think the government should intervene before things get worse by subsidizing education, cutting minimum wage, offering more job training, or instituting apprenticeship programs for skilled blue-collar jobs.  Good ideas all, but require some more thinking on my part before I profess an opinion one way or another.

What I will opine though, is that we need to take care of our “pack.”  All organizations should be hiring or interning young people to keep the talent pipeline viable in spite of the wishy-washy economy.

Yea, I know these are great words…reality of business life…who’s going to train them…where do we put them…blah, blah, blah.

If we only focus on short-term and not look toward the horizon, how many organizations are going to miss the sunset and not see the dawn?

Free Puppy Anyone? Taking Care of the Pack Young is a post from: The HR Whisperer

I was reading about the fed’s Car Allowance Rebate System and started wondering about its applicability to human capital in organizations.

The “cash for clunkers” program in a nutshell: it’s a $1 billion program that provides a voucher of up to $4,500 to help offset the cost of a new fuel-efficient car purchase or lease.  You can only trade in drivable vehicles made in the last 25 years that have been continuously insured by the same owner for at least one year leading up to the trade in, so no junkyard finds or used cars can be bought to be “flipped.”

With all of the layoffs, right sizings, competitive build-downs, reengineering, release of resources, negative hiring, de-recruiting going on (we have lots of terms for “dirty” words, don’t we) , it occurred to me that organizations have their own cash for clunkers program.  Except many of the folks who are being traded in today are not clunkers – even if they were “insured” by the same business owner for the past 10 or more years.

What I’m talking about here are the people who, for one reason or another, are being let go by their organizations because of the perception that they are paid too much, cost too much, are too old, etc.  At the beginning of the year, CNNMoney.com reported that at the end of 2008, 2.6 million jobs were lost; the highest level in more than six decades.  And 2009 ain’t looking so pretty either.  The Washington Post reports that,

“The number of job losses had decreased every month since January before spiking again in June, and economists think it is highly likely that the jobless rate will hit double-digits later this year. A broader measure of unemployment, which includes people working part time who want full-time work and those who have given up looking for a job, has already risen to 16.5 percent. The nation now has the same number of jobs it did in 2000, meaning that nine years of employment gains have disappeared.”

We know that organizations downsize to reduce costs, generate positive shareholder reaction, increase productivity, or to better decision-making – or so they say.  Estimates are that each laid-off employee will cost the company 50% of the person’s compensation and benefits for each week the position is vacant, even if other people are performing those duties.  So, short term, save some cash.  Long term, cost savings are obliterated, especially when new folks (no matter how old or young they are)  are brought back into the job.

More importantly though, what is the cost of this “cash for clunkers’ to our society, nevermind our economy?  I read this statistic – pretty scary – that for every 1% rise in the unemployment rate, the U.S. suffers  36,887 additional deaths, 20,240 heart attacks, 495 alcohol-related deaths, 920 suicides, 648 homicides, 4,227 admissions to mental hospitals, and 3,340 state prison admissions. 

So, who are we helping here folks? 

Our challenge as HR pros is to help our organizations react to outside threats and strategically manage people to help prevent talent flight and the deterioration of morale.  But I believe we have a much larger role to play – shouldn’t we be coaching our business leaders to look at the bigger picture and rather than use a “cash for clunkers” program, employ “cash for care” instead?  You decide.

Cash for Clunkers is a post from: The HR Whisperer