Five Job Search Tips For the Recession

Synopsis: The recession makes your job search much tougher – here’s how to compete today.

Today’s economic news may be doom and gloom but it needn’t derail your job hunt. You can still win a great job, even in a lousy economy. You WILL have to get smarter in your job search strategy, though.

Here are five tips to incorporate into your job search during the recession:

1. Research Your Options

Does your industry or line of work offer little promise of employment in the coming months? If so, now is a good time to step back to identify the projected top performing industries and jobs. The best place to find this info is on the Web through Google, Yahoo or Bing. Start with “best industries work recession” or “recession jobs 2009″ to uncover articles describing some of the more “recession-proof” sectors to target.

2. Change Your Focus

Start asking yourself the question, “What’s in it for them?” as opposed to, “What’s in it for me?” Especially in an economic downturn, you’ll want to stay focused on what you can accomplish for your next employer. Show them that you understand the “bigger picture” of the role you play in moving the company forward.

3. Sell Results , Not Skills

Leave behind that old mindset that your job-related skills or length of service are selling factors. The new mindset is to think of yourself as a mini profit-and-loss center rather than just an employee. Employers today buy results and are less impressed with candidates who promote a long laundry list of skills. You’ll want to define the many ways your past and present job performance are assets to your next employer.

4. Start Talking Money

The recession has made the private sector economy even more bottom-line oriented than ever. Hiring managers categorize employees into one of two distinct groups:

a.) those who help make money

b.) those who help save money

Which one are you?

For example, Barry worked as the human resources manager of a mid-sized company. While much of his work focused on compliance issues, he noticed that the company was paying many thousands of dollars to locate and hire good employees. As a result, Barry developed and implemented an in-house employee referral program that netted three quality hires in a six-month period. This saved the company almost $70,000, money the company would have paid for recruiters and advertising costs.

Barry saves money for his company and this is an accomplishment future employers will want to hear about.

Rethink your current or past jobs to understand your position in the bigger corporate P&L picture. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

· How did my work improve the performance of my department or company?

· How many roles did I perform that saved the company the expense of added employees or contractors?

· How has my work made the work of others (employees and managers) easier, faster and more effective?

Collect specific examples of the benefits that your company gained from the work you’ve already performed. Clarify the benefits your company received by making money or saving money, and write them down.

5. Add Achievements to Your Resume

Employers don’t hire employees, they hire problem-solvers. Your new resume should be a hard-hitting sales tool designed to accomplish one goal: get the interview. To demonstrate this, add a specific achievements list to your resume. Take the list that you developed in the previous section and hone it down to your biggest and most notable accomplishments. Now, describe the benefit that your employer gained from each example. This will put you several steps ahead of your job-seeking competitors. Plus, you’ll now have some talking points ready for that next phone interview.

Summary

Don’t let all of the hype about the recession spook you into a state of panic. By revising your tactics to include a more solution-selling approach to employers, you stand a better chance of getting hired in today’s faltering economy.