mpnThoughts

I happened to read the Corner Office section of The New York Times Sunday paper (Oct. 18, 2009) this morning. It was about Carol Bartz, the current CEO of Yahoo. She grew up poor on a farm in Wisconsin; her mother died when she was 8; her grandmother raised her; and she worked in sales at DEC, where she faced down some very upfront anti-feminism. But what was most interesting about the piece was what she said about careers. Her best advice was as follows:

“You need to build your career not as a ladder, but as a pyramid. You need to have a base of experience because it’s a much more stable structure. And so that involves taking lateral moves. And it involves getting out of your comfort zone.”

I’d never heard this before. It struck me immediately as excellent advice. It also provides a very good reason for those who are looking at jobs that they might be “over qualified” for. In other words, you can tell potential employers that you wish to broaden your experience at this point, and refer to her quotation. In addition, she said something that echoed what an MPNer said at a meeting a month ago. He said that when hiring, once the candidate’s competence was established, he looked for two things: 1) intelligence, and 2) whether he wanted to spend the next two years hanging out with this person. When asked how she hired, Carol put it in a slightly more C-suite way:

“I’m assuming that the people that get to me know their business. But what kind of person are you? Can I stand to have dinner with you? How did you tackle your problems? How does the person think? How do they act? Will they take a little humor? I’m looking for a personality fit. I use humor in my management. I can’t take a person who gets offended by every little thing I say. I always have dinner with them because I want to find out if I’m thinking, after that first glass of wine, how can I get out of here? I have to be able to make it through a dinner.”

You may not get asked out to dinner, but remember, as hard as it is to find an opening, as hard as it to get through all the interviews along the way, a little humor and a lot of attention to the personality fit will go a long way. Then again, you might want to get in the habit of having a glass or two of red wine at dinner!

Hopefully, it will only continue to pick up. While we have three job announcements to list this issue, there are a couple of others that the Admin Guy is awaiting input on before printing up the particulars. In one case, the individual had done a national search that stretched out in terms of time, but in the end it was worth it because he found what looks to be like a very good match. In the meantime, other MPNers who were working have been able to move on to new positions or new companies. And job leads have increased noticeably.

In short, there seems to be a real pickup in the job market. Which in turn is encouraging job seekers to come out and be more proactive in their searches. No question it was a long summer and only the most ardent and persevering went through the whole season without a break. Then again, I just read an article in the Wall Street Journal that recommends that one cut back on how long you work (and I would include job search work in that category) in order to be more productive. At the same time, when things perk up, it’s a good time to pick up your search as well.

As for how long a search should take…there is no real formula. The old formula of a month/$10k of salary is no longer really relevant, especially to this economy. The real key is how quickly a candidate can learn the ins and outs of job searching; how soon they move away from their computer screens and out of the house to meet new people and explore new avenues of work. This is no time to be timid and house-bound; better to go to one of those endlessly dull networking meetings (like MPN – not!) than read another online job description and send your carefully crafted reply to the black hole of resumes. Still, you’ve got to take the steps you feel necessary for you; but sooner or later, you’ll get out and about. And the sooner the better!

When I came into work this morning at my usual early hour, I stopped to talk with two young women dressed for the office but tossing around some boxes in a mini-warehouse in the back of our building. They said they were packing to move out. Ahh, another company downsizing thinks I. But no, they work for St. Jude’s Research and are expanding and need more space. I don’t know if they have any jobs available, but they did say they were doing well. Which is not as unusual as one might think as there seem to be pockets in this economy that are doing well…and people who are finding jobs. Yes, it takes longer: look at Kelly M. It was a five-month campaign, but she’s now raring to go: witness Aline K. who is fast back at work. I know of a couple of other MPNers who are on the verge of being hired as well. From what I’ve heard from recruiters around the city they are finding the same kind of activity, busy in spots, quiet in others, but in general there’s been an uptick. MPNers themselves have noted that there seems to be more activity out there. And why shouldn’t there be? The Fed is printing money and buying clunkers — an idea that the Germans first used, more for environmental reasons than pump priming I believe—and spending on infrastructure so there should be more economic activity. How can you be sure that things are really turning the corner…beyond the musings of some misguided blogger? Or anecdotal evidence which is microeconomics at its finest? Here’s a tip. Go to the Labor Department’s site for the Bureau of Statistics (http://www.bls.gov/ces/home.htm#news ) and look up the latest report on the Current Employment Situation. You’ll find buried in the statistics an entry for Temporary Employment. It just so happens that a recent research report by the American Staffing Association (ASA) in conjunction with its corporate partner, Inavero Institute for Service Research, has confirmed the old wisdom that, like a robin is a sign of spring, an increase in Temporary Employment is a coincident indicator of a recovery. Then again, you can do what Caroline R. is doing and not put your eggs in any one applecart, as it were!, and take multiple smaller jobs in the interim. Which in fact is what I am finding a number of MPNers doing: a contract job here, a temp to perm opportunity there, a consulting agreement over there, a partnership or boutique consultancy up there…and pretty soon you have a patchwork vision of the local marketing job market. At least until the BLS tells us differently, it’s all we’ve got…and some of it is pretty colorful, too! Let’s just hope the upswing keeps on going up.

Every summer I hear people say that since companies don’t tend to hire in the summer they might as well go off to the beach themselves. Or, maybe they’re a little more savvy, and ask how busy it is at MPN and what should they be doing? Fact is, as a recent article that MPNer Stacie M. gave me (from CEO Update) made clear, summer is actually a very good time to be out looking for a job. For one, some companies like to do their interviewing in July and August so that the candidates can on board right after Labor Day, which arguably is a much the beginning of a new year as January 1^st. Furthermore, people are more social in the summer (and not hidden in their caves riding out the cold, dark days of winter) so they will be apt to take the time to see you. Finally, even those who are working are not immune to the news from the unemployment offices, so they are now more than ever aware of the importance of networking. Who knows when they’ll need a favor returned? At the same time, there’s nothing like a healthy tan to project a picture of vitality and “can-do-it-ive-ness” (a technical human resource term!) to help you secure that next job. So, by all means, be sure to take some vacation time and spend time outdoors. A 60-hour a week job search in July is probably counterproductive, but a month hanging out on the islands, sending off the odd resume and making the occasional networking phone call, probably won’t get you very far…well, not beyond the local lobster and margarita shack! Then again, you never know whom you will meet down at the Cape. Stacie M, who just happens to be enjoying the easy life this week at the Cape as this is written, ran into an old friend a couple of years ago who helped her network into her last job. So if you do go to the beach, don’t forget to make nice with your fellow vacationers!

It’s almost a daily event these days: a company announces a round of layoffs. The first, the second…the ninth? Who knows? As a job seeker you immediately scratch them off your target list figuring that if they are laying people off, they won’t need the likes of you. But not so fast, Buckwheat…! It turns out that companies frequently don’t take into consideration the effects of their layoffs and end up letting too many people go. For instance, after a layoff, as a recent CareerBuilder survey found, over a third of the employees left behind were spending more time at the office and, in some cases, taking on the work of two people. Not surprisingly, 34% of respondents said they were burned out. And when that happens people start looking elsewhere. As a result, there are numerous voluntary resignations, many more than the geniuses in the C-suites planned for. Two University of Wisconsin-Madison professors, Charlie Trevor and Anthony Nyberg, wrote a seminal paper on the subject not long ago entitled, “Keeping Your Headcount When All About You Are Losing Theirs: Downsizing, Voluntary Turnover Rates, and the Moderating Role of HR Practices”. Their findings confirmed the CareerBuilder survey; in fact, they were able to quantify the phenomenon:

“Perhaps the most striking finding in this study of quitting rates in some 200 companies was the considerable exodus that even a small downsizing could set off. For example, companies that laid off a mere 0.5% of their workforce sustained, on average, a turnover rate of 13%, a rate that was 2.6 percentage points higher than the average turnover rate of non-downsizing firms. In other words, an extra 2.6% of the workforce left of their own accord, more than five times more workers than were laid off.”

One of the mitigating factors in the increase in the numbers of workers leaving, they found, was the presence of an HR department that promoted fairness in the treatment of employees. When there was trust, there would be loyalty. When not, there would be a stampede out the door. Conclusions: 1) Just because a company you’re interested in has a layoff doesn’t mean there won’t be openings in the future, and maybe sooner than you think; and 2) you might include HR in your list of questions as to how a company is run. The existence of an ombudsman, for example, or other built-in processes to handle employee grievances would suggest that it would be a good—and fair— company to work for. Either way, be careful not to take things at face value these days.

The Sunday New York Times recently featured an article entitled, “What’s Your Backup Plan?” The article looked at three potential backup plans: chocolatier, organic farmer, and dog massage therapist. As the author, Alex Williams noted, “Plan B typically offers less money and prestige than Plan A, but promises a more hands-on, stress-free and fulfilling existence. That’s the fantasy anyway. After a few days spent test-driving a few new careers, however, I started to suspect that Plan B should really be called Plan G. For grind.” Obviously, that lead and ensuing story makes for an entertaining one—especially for the well-heeled of Fifth Avenue—but for the rest of us, it’s serious business. If the downturn continues, do you have a Plan B? A way to bring home some money, do something that appeals to you, and isn’t such a grind that you can’t keep looking for something in your regular line of work? Sometimes these Plan B’s can turn into a full-time job…and a new life. Witness one MPNer who in the last recession took her interest in animals and started a pet products distribution company. Did it make her rich as Croesus? No. But last I heard she was living upcountry and happily serving the pets of New England. Or the MPNer who just didn’t seem to gain any traction in the large corporate database marketing firms. He finally bit the bullet and took the exams and became a middle school science teacher. And we know another MPNer who is currently spearheading the effort to market a new line of organic teas. And having some fun doing it, too, by all reports. So what’s your Plan B? Might be worth some thought now.

Just to give you a little insight on how things look from the end of the table at MPN: We have only had two people get full time, bona fide jobs in the last few months, far fewer than normal, but not so bad given the economy. A number of people have taken on part-time, contract jobs: some in their field, some outside. More than a few of those contracts have been rolled over with good prospects for the future. The numbers at MPN meetings have doubled, or thereabouts, in the past three to four months, with some MPNers, and good ones, returning after losing jobs that they had held – some for lengthy periods, but many for shorter stints, say nine months to a year. The job leads that are coming in have decreased, but there has by no means been a stoppage in the pipeline. That being said, when a good marketing job opens up at a growing company such as Constant Contact, resumes pour in. The company received, according to one report, up to 350 resumes—but keep in mind that no means are all of those resumes qualified. In sum, there’s no question that it is extremely challenging job market right now, but it’s not an altogether washout. There are signs that the credit markets have firmed up and that the bond markets are more active; good financial signs for the future.  Given that employment tends to lag economic cycles though, any significantly positive developments in hiring after the markets stabilize are still a ways off. Therefore, it is well worth the effort to track down any and all contract jobs and part-time opportunities to tide you through this vale of tears. All things must pass and this will pass too; the only question is how soon. And if anyone tells you exactly when that will be, tell them to get Madoffed!