So, it’s February 2010, how are things going so far this year on your job hunt?
From my vantage point, I can see things are starting to pick up. Just this past week, I got three calls from businesses that had been holding my resume since last year. They contacted me to let me know that they were just beginning a new hiring process for a number of positions within their companies.
This is great news on many levels.
After asking a few pointed questions, these recruiters confirmed what I had suspected since August of 2009. Businesses spent the latter half of 2009 retrenching and defining what their new strategies would be for 2010, and beyond. Most everyone in industry just treaded water last year, while they devised new plans for restructuring and rebuilding their organizations.
By January 2010, many businesses had their new plans and budgets approved; knowing that they would be recruiting for new hires beginning late in the first quarter of 2010. Now, we are just starting to see the first trickles of life back into the job market as recruiting activity increases. Initial recruiting will be for leadership positions within businesses, followed by strategic management, and then general support positions. So, though we are not out of the woods yet, we can be heartened that business leadership is growing and providing direction for new growth and development.
So, how can we accelerate the process?
The best personal strategy for employment now is to circle back within your network and see where people are within their current organizational strategy. If anyone over the past year has told you that they were not hiring, but that they would keep your resume on file — CALL THEM BACK. Don’t wait for them to call you.
You will also want to do some research on what companies are still out there in your field of expertise. There have been major shifts in industry since last year, and it is up to you to stay current on who the players are. The key is to align your skills with the needs of industry today, not yesterday. Once you find out who the players are, call them, email them, and do whatever you need to do to let them know that you are ready and available for a discussion.
We all need to take a proactive stance in our job search by identifying the new opportunities that are beginning to spring up, and making potential employers aware of your value to their new plans for growth and development.
If we are willing to retrace our steps with a new outlook, we are sure to find some hidden rewards underneath all this winter snow.
