Today, all throughout the Internet job postings use similar language, “Only employed persons will be considered.” “Must be employed, no exceptions,” is another not uncommon phrase in job postings. You might be asking yourself, “How can this be legal?” It is legal, unless you live in a state that has adopted a “Fair Employment Opportunity Act.” A company utilizing this practice is not discriminating on the basis of Race, Color or Creed.
Why would a company employ (yes, irony intended) such a policy? For one reason, it narrows the number of applicants that the company need to process. Another reason cited is that people who've been out of work might be rusty and harder to get up to speed than people already working. Still, although it’s not illegal, it is short sighted since; 13+ million people is too large a group to ignore.
To the best of my knowledge, these kinds of postings have been around since the summer of 2010. And since then, I’ve had dozens, in fact, hundreds of my clients who have landed jobs. Many of them were not employed in income generating work. (Conor Cunneen uses this distinction as a response to his hatred of the word “unemployed.”) They weren’t employed and they found jobs. How did they do that?
Only 20% of jobs are advertised and the “unemployed need not apply” practice is used in a small percentage of posted job opportunities. So many of the folks who have landed jobs were considered based on their experience and not their employment status. However, the vast majority of my clients that have landed since 2010 have found those job opportunities through networking with people in the so called “hidden job market.” Even in those cases where the jobs were posted with an “unemployed need not apply” tag, their resume or application was presented by a person within the company as a personal reference.
So, if you see a posting for a job that claims not to want to interview people like you who are currently working in the non-income generating area of job search, don’t let that dissuade you from applying and landing the job. Do it though a friend or a soon-to-be-friend. They’ll thank you for the opportunity to make their company better.
A recent ABC news article stated: “When an employee resigns from a job based on his or her own free will, it's known as a voluntary termination. An employee who voluntarily leaves an employment position may do so to take advantage of other employment opportunities, to escape an unfavorable work environment, or for personal reasons.”
Really! In this economy, people are resigning from one job to move to another. About a year ago, I remember an article in the Wall Street Journal that indicated the number of voluntary terminations (also call “quits”) had moved above the number of involuntary terminations (AKA Layoffs.) As a coach, working with folks dealing with transition between jobs, this was good news. The quits rate has maintained steady at 1.5% of total employment. In real numbers about 1.9 million people every month are voluntarily leaving their positions.
Why is this good new? Ask yourself, “Where are these folks going?” The are going to other jobs. That means that their old jobs may be available for you to fill. It also means that some companies that have taken advantage of the lack of open jobs and the surplus of workers will need to change some behaviors. It means that corporate America is starting to trust that the economy has in fact improved and they can start spending once again.
This is all good news... even if it’s not a perfect world where workers have three jobs to choose from and companies are enticing you to come work for them instead of Google. It’s an improvement over 2009, 2010 and 2011.
It’s so easy not to notice this “good news” with all the other (bad) news out there. I am not sure who started it but there is a force out there that is set on creating a mindset of fear and anxiety. I know, let’s call it “the dark side” to borrow from George Lucas.
We need to combat “the dark side” at every opportunity. Don’t listen to negative. Walk--no, run!--away from stinkin’ thinkin’. Turn off the news when you’re feeling blue, fearful, anxious! The most talked about commercial from this year’s Super Bowl was Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood, “It’s Halftime America.” I was shocked to her people slamming the ad as a plug for corporate bailout. It was a commercial that created hope in its viewers. It said, Hey America, time to get back to work and tell the world we’re back.
So the heck with “the dark side” and shame on fear mongers. We’ve survived the worst economy since the Great Depression, this is something to be happy about. If you’re still looking for that next job... then you can be hopeful. It’s time to find our light sabers and remember that we are Jedi Knights and that you have value. The next time someone passes along negative, stinkin’ thinkin’ ignite your light saber and show them the light!
I really like the CBC radio show “The Age of Persuasion” with Terry O’Reilly. It’s a 30 minute show about marketing... everything you might ever have wondered about marketing. This week’s show was about some rules or axioms of marketing titled “According to Hoyle”. I would like to cover a couple of points that was made that should help a job seeker present--AKA market--themselves.
A 30 second response is about 85 words. When answering a question, holding to people’s attention span will work in your favor. Our attention span is about 30 seconds. The average length of a TV ad is 30 seconds and I would argue that is this not a coincidence. When answering interview questions and taking two, three or even four minutes you’ll probably loose your audience and not make the point you were aiming to.
Make the product the hero of the ad. When telling a success story, make yourself the center of the story. Talk about what you did, the problem you solved. If you led the team, talk as if you were the team. They are going to hire you, not the team.
Job search is sales, and marketing helps the sale. The interview is were the sale is made and communicating the power of the benefits you bring to the table is paramount. Go out there and sell yourself in 85 word responses, showing yourself as the hero and all the benefit of hiring you.
Hey It’s a New Year
There are two kinds of people in the world... those who make New Year’s Resolutions and those that don’t. One might argue that there are a third kind, people who makes resolutions on January 1st and break them January 2nd. Regardless of which group you fit into, the New Year is a wonderful time to take stock on your career and where you’re going.
Vince Lombardi was famous for beginning the first day of football camp with the statement: Gentlemen, this is a football. Each new season he focused his team on the basics. I suggest this is a good strategy for us, regardless of where we are in our career journey. If you find that you’re 35 years old and haven’t be able to move out of front line management, or you’re 55 years old and hit the ceiling with your company, or you’re 45 years old and you have been looking for work for more than six months, it’s a good time to go back to basics.
Revisit your goals. Some goals are longer term than first considered. If you want a new job or a promotion and you’ve been working towards that for three, four or five months, now is a good time to sit down and review the goal, evaluating your progress and what still needs to be done. Then get to work.
Who can help. Making a move in your career isn’t a solo act. The other thing to realize is that there are people in your life who are willing to help you. You only need to ask for their assistance. It’s been an axiom pronounced by Success Gurus that if you desire success, surround yourself with successful people. Associate with people who have achieved what you would like to achieve because these folks are often in a position to assist you. I’ve found that when people are in a position to help someone, they are hurt or offended if the person fails to ask for their help.
Make some phone calls. It’s a new year, you can call everyone you know just to say Happy New Year. While you’re at it, go ahead and ask them if they know of anybody who could use a person with your skills and abilities. You can ask them if they have any contacts at any of your target companies. When they say yes, thank them and then call the new contacts you were just referred to.
Meet and Network with a lot of people. You can schedule a face to face network meeting with anyone you call who lives or works locally. The more networking meetings you have with folks, the more opportunities you’ll have to meet decision makers... and decision makers are in a better position to offer you a new job or promotion. It’s the new year... make it a successful new year!
