Headhunter Trade Secrets for Finding a New Job During a Recession

It is important to remember even if the unemployment rate reaches 10 percent, that means 90 percent of Americans are still working.

So, do not to get caught up in the emotional anxiety of assuming you too will lose your job. The fact is that most Americans will continue to keep their jobs. Yet, workers from all companies will be let go to meet the bottom line. It's just for show (and yes it is just for show).

Let's face it, even the meanest boss hates to fire anyone, but when the "recession" word is used in conjunction with lay-offs, it's really a blank check to fire anybody with no real reason needed.

Work is not a democracy. If you weren't old enough to be working during the 1991 recession, the idea that you're not just judged on merit or performance is probably new to you. It seems repugnant; however, get your head out of the sand.

It's important to humanize who you are. In my book Bulletproof Your Job (HarperCollins), I write that one of the 50 secret tips to "bulletproofing" your job is to have your boss know you as "a person," not just an employee.

For instance, it is better when the boss can think of you as "the woman whose husband has prostate cancer," or "the guy who is taking care of his sick mother," or "the single dad with three kids in college," or "the guy whose partner has AIDS."

It is easier to fire an employee who you know nothing about personally, or who you can't relate to as a person.

Still, with the economy the way it is, firing is no longer merit-based and even good workers can get the pink slip. The boss can fire you, because he did not like what he read on your Facebook. Yes, Facebook imprudence = pink slip. Is it legal or fair? Probably not, but it's the way of a recession.

The Obama administration went through every new employee's Facebook page before hiring them. What does that tell you?

Now, it's a fine line between spilling your personal guts to your boss as opposed to casually making yourself known to the boss at the "human" level.

For example, you can casually weave in a line like this. "Hey boss, Mary and I are deciding where to send Junior to college this year. He wants to go to a private school, but we are both so nervous with our jobs, should I be thinking state schools instead?"

Don't expect the boss to answer, you just did enough to establish with the boss who you are as a person, and could have potentially saved your job. Get it?

Is this a guilt trip, trick or technique? Darn right it is. That's why "bulletproofing" yourself requires being a bit Mommy and a bit Machiavelli.

Tele-commuting? I would not be in this economy. "Out of sight, out of mind". Besides, it's easy for your boss to fire someone he never sees and can easily fire over the phone!

If your boss does approach you about letting you go, and they always use these same line, "It's not personal, it is a numbers thing," you should definitely call his/her bluff! Ask your boss, "What's the numbers thing, boss? What is the number?" Tell your boss that you're willing to take a pay cut of 20 percent less for a year, or you'll work three days instead of five. It's better to keep the job you have along with all the benefits, than to be unemployed in a recession. It really works!

Run a "Google Alert" on you company, your boss, and you competitor to keep ahead of news and jobs, and get to know your boss's boss too.

Finally, if you do lose your job, don't fret too much, because there is light at the end of the tunnel.

At www.BulletproofYourResume.com, we create specialized resumes that help people to be perceived as ten years younger on paper. Sorry, it matters. Clean up your Facebook, buy some Crest Whitestrips, no cologne or perfume on interviews and leave the cell phone or Blackberry far away.

Here is a tip that always works---If you're a finalist on the final rounds of interviewing, make an offer your potential employer can't refuse. Offer to work on a "temp" or per project basis. When the boss narrows down the candidates to two or three finalists, ask the interviewer(s) to "try you out." This usually works, because it lowers the risk for them, bosses hate to commit, and you'll seem more desirable than the more arrogant candidates who would never accept that kind of deal. Chances are, you'll do great on the job and land a permanent deal in 30 days.

Also, if you lose your job, stay away from Starbuck's for God's sake!

What is it with the unemployed flocking to these overpriced coffee shops? Is it that misery loves company? The internet is not even free! Unemployed workers show up to Starbucks and Coffee Bean like alcoholics go to AA meetings. Well, here is the problem for the unemployed... guess what? There is no "higher power" at Starbucks that will help you find a job. Get your ass home, make your own coffee, and look for work.

Finally, "networking" is the most over used term in the English language today. Networking is critical, however, keep in mind that people use "networking" as a mantra when it should just be used as a tool. My advice is to start snooping around, and the direct competitor of where you work now is really the best place to start.

Somehow the media has latched onto "job fairs," and everyday I see the same reports run over again and again with people standing in line at job fairs. I'm not saying don't go to them, but I say, get on the internet and follow the Obama dollars. Find out where all this money - YOUR money - is going including to what states, cities, industries, etc. Governors will be controlling the money so look in your state as to where the money is being spent or move states if you have to.

Look, finding a job isn't brain surgery, but there is a strategy that is unique to a recession. The important thing to remember is that you really can keep the job you have, but if you're constantly living in fear and anxiety of losing your job, bosses can smell fear. Remember the saying that you become your thoughts. It's easier to fire the employee who's constantly living in the fear and anxiety of losing his/her job.

To sum it all up, employers hire people who they like personally, and they fire people they don't know or don't like, regardless of performance. During a recession, they can get away with this. Sad but true. In my book, Bulletproof Your Job, I give out 50 secret tips and tricks to help you be part of the 91.9% percent of Americans who have been able to keep their jobs. It's not as bleak as you think if you follow my rules.

Readers of my book write to me every day that the secrets in my book really do work. To those who are unemployed and looking, remember, there is a fine line to being persistent and being a pest. No one hires a pest!

Stephen Viscusi is the founder and CEO of BulletproofYourResume.com

Comments

[SG Phillips]

""It is important to remember even if the unemployment rate reaches 10 percent, that means 90 percent of Americans are still working.""

HOGWASH! When you start your argument with such an obvious misstatement, do you really expect anybody to read further? Even before the economists recognized that the US was in a Recession, the unemployment numbers far, far undercounted the legions of folks who were without jobs or had no employment to speak of: the long- term disabled; those languishing in prison (do prison jobs count??); people who've had their hours cut down to nearly nothing; folks on commissions now functionally without income; underemployed people; independent contractors who aren't being paid; working poor who are holding down two or three part-time jobs just to make rent, etc etc etc.

Ninety percent of Americans working?? Even if you meant "90% of working age, employable folks are working" the statement is obviously FALSE. If you aren't unemployed, you should be! Somewhere, somebody with brains could really use your job to feed his/her family.

[Stephen Viscusi - Huffpost Blogger]

I get it! What’s your point? READ MY LIPS: For the sake of your argument regarding the semantics, which I agree with, let’s make the unemployment rate 50%! That means that 50% of Americans have their jobs. The number is important, however the number isn’t equally important as those who ARE remaining and working so don’t get so frantic.
I am the author of a brand new book called Bulletproof Your Job, written specifically on how those who remain employed with jobs (be it 90% or 50%) then keep their jobs. I get it! More Americans are out of work and in the drama of the numbers created by the media, there really is a way to keep your job. There are special tricks and secrets to bulletproof their job which is unique to a recession and specific to a recession. Thousands of people have written to me saying these tricks have really worked for them. That is the point of the book-- to Bulletproof Your Job. My mission is to help those with jobs keep their job, get it? As far as the other 50% of you who aren’t working, I hope you find jobs as well. Please visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com.
Stephen Viscusi
Contact me at [e-mail]
Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com

[Uosdwis]

I'm really tired of hearing that canard, 100% minus the unemployment rate=a huge number of people still working. That and "93% of people are current in their mortgage." Well, plenty of people are underemployed, stopped looking, homeless. Even those that do have jobs are barely hanging on and are one illness away from total bankruptcy. PhDs are fighting over janitor jobs. Any job that can be done overseas is being done overseas. Productivity rose but wages stagnated and declined (but the rich made out like Madoffs). So just because 92% SUPPOSEDLY still have a job doesn't mean everything is wonderful.

[KMAz]

I find a great deal patently offensive and false about your comments, but after all, you are a marketer. The reality of your product is never important, only the sales.

[Stephen Viscusi - Huffpost Blogger]

Part of this is true, but I’m not sure what your squabble is -- is it the number? I’m marketing the truth, and while I agree it’s still one of the most overused words in the English dictionary, my main job is not to be a marketer, it’s to be a career authority. I’m the author of two career books, my most recent being Bulletproof Your Job, in which I teach the tricks and strategies for those who are employed to stay employed and keep their jobs. The feedback I get on my books is that I’m helping to save thousands of people’s jobs. I’m not marketing anything there either. Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com

Stephen Viscusi
Contact me at [e-mail]
Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com

[ppearson2005]

IF YOU ARE A HUNTER , YOU WILL FIND FOOD.
IF YOU ARE A GATHERER, YOU WILL FIND FOOD.
IF YOU ARE USE TO OTHER PEOPLE FEEDING YOU, YOU MAY GO HUNGRY.

[Stephen Viscusi - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the poetry, your symbolism is relevant. However, if you need to find jobs, go to my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com.

Stephen Viscusi
Contact me at [e-mail]
Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com

[pundit27]

Actually, it is important to remember that if the unemployment rate is 10% and you were to include those who have given up looking for work, those who claim they are self-employed and those that never have looked for work, the adult non-employment rate is closer to 30%.

[KillTheMessenger]

Oh, Momma. And I thought I had seen it all.

Listen up people. I know "the boss" personally. A couple of them actually. They are awfully nice people. I have seen them cry after firing someone. And I have heard them say "we should have laid off X six months ago because we really don't have the money to keep him".

That X didn't get laid off earlier had nothing to do with performance (which is excellent), the honest financial situation of the company (which could be better) but was necessary to stabilize the stock price (aka satisfy fiduciary responsibility to stock holders).

And you know what? The boss and X are friends. They go out together. The boss will do everything he can to get X a new job. Trust me. E V E R Y T H I N G.

And there you have it. You can be the best friend of the boss. But when he has to follow his fiduciary responsibility, that's what the boss will do. And he can only hope that X will understand. After all, X is a boss, too, and just recently fired someone... for the very same reasons and in the very same way.

[WIpatriot]

One would hope that ;aying off one person doesn't impact the stock price.

[cindyward]

Wall Street likes layoffs and rewards companies with higher stock prices when they announce reasonably small layoffs periodically (e.g. 10% across-the-board). But at the same time, Wall Street hates large unemployment percentages and tanks all the stocks when these numbers are released by the government. Somehow the Wall Street idiots haven't figured out that more company layoffs = higher unemployment.

IMHO the current economic crisis is not going to get solved until the Obama administration finds a way to punish companies who lay off employees solely to "satisfy their fiduciary responsibility to stock holders." If a company isn't losing money - and I mean LOSING money, I don't mean not making as much money as last year - it shouldn't be laying off employees right now. The author of this blog post was sadly all too correct when he stated, "... but when the "recession" word is used in conjunction with lay-offs, it's really a blank check to fire anybody with no real reason needed."

[Stephen Viscusi - Huffpost Blogger]

From your mouth to God’s ears.

Stephen Viscusi
Contact me at [e-mail]
Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com

[Overtone]

SMALL BUSINESS IS THE KEY TO JOBS!
Up to 6 million jobs and 4 million small businesses can be created by A Human Investment Tax Credit Program.
This was missing from the stimulus package.
One component, a jobs tax credit, became law for one year and generated more jobs in less time than any legislation in our history.
Two versions of the 2009 Report can be downloaded free at: aesopinstitute.org
The full Report contains a post Keynesian economic analysis.
The short version includes only what can be done, as well as an outline for Congress. The House Ways and Means Committee needs to launch this urgently needed Program without delay.

The Brooklyn Project on the same aesopinstitute.org website provides an overview of a path toward revolutionary breakthroughs in energy that will revive the automotive industry and create additional millions of jobs.

[Stephen Viscusi - Huffpost Blogger]

Most of this is true. Good for you for doing your homework. Thank you for doing your aside in jobs creation.

Stephen Viscusi
Contact me at [e-mail]
Visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com