In some countries, the number of job seekers is reaching unheard-of proportions. Ireland and Spain, two of the worse cases, are on their way to a 20% unemployment rate. Some American Counties face the same grim statistics. Merced County in California is just up the road from me. They found themselves a lead story in USA Today last month with unemployment figures hovering around 19%. In fact most of the counties around me including my own are at least in the 15% category. As part of Crossroads Career Network we had a booth set up at our local career fair yesterday. I only spent a few minutes because I had appointments set up on the coast. But just that few minutes almost hurled me into a panic attack. The convention center floor was wall to wall people looking for jobs.
The depressing job statistics deceive many people into believing that no one is being hired in this economy. But 162,000 Americans got hired in March alone: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
According to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke 1.8 Million Jobs come open in this country every month!
If you have work, count your blessings even if it’s not your ideal gig!!!! If you are un-employed at the moment don’t panic. As the above numbers show, thousands of people are still being hired, just make sure you are doing everything you can to be one of them. Mass un-employment is a phenomenon that results from major economic shifts. Don’t take it personally. Just get into action.
How you handle the job statistics will somewhat governed by your unique goals, needs, and circumstances as well as the unique conditions in your area. Are you looking for Cash, a Career, or a Calling in this season of your life? I love to work with people around the whole "Calling" piece and ideally these all come together in one nice job package but in the real world you sometimes have to pull them in one at a time.
Here are some thoughts:
1. Go Where The Jobs Are! While jobs are being lost in certain areas and sectors of the economy, go to the places where you stand a better chance. Don’t waste a lot of time trying to find work in companies that are falling apart.
2. Be Relentless In Your Search! Don't post your resume in two places, try ten or twenty. Call up ten to twenty companies per day, ask to talk to their human resources manager, and present your skills.
3. Package Yourself Perfectly! Polish your resume and your shoes. Polish everything. This is a time to “Kick It Up A Notch”. Ask for feedback on your presentation.
4. Make Special Offers! Offer to work the swing shift. Go to the location nobody wants. Propose a reduced introductory salary.
What ever you do… make sure you have made it very clear when you really want to work somewhere. This is not a season to be coy. Follow up... and follow up again even a few weeks after you didn’t get the job. Often an employers first choice doesn’t work out the way they’d hoped. If you are waiting in the wings and easily accessible you might get a shot just because the person in charge of hiring doesn’t want to go through whole publicizing and interviewing process again.
If you want further advice in the form of a short, inexpensive game plan I reccomend The Job-Hunter's Survival Guide by America's top career consultant Richard Bolles. He is the author of the best-selling career book of all-time titled What Color Is Your Parachute. It comes out in a new addtion every year and I highly recommend it. But this little book was written with the specific challenges of 2010 in mind! It's less than 100 pages and designed to get you into action quickly. Chapter titles include:
There Are Always Jobs Out There
How To Find Hope In The Midst of a Brutal Downturn
The Best and Worst Ways to Look for a Job
A Plan of Action, When Your're Out of Work
Buy it here or I'm seeing it at a many of the Fed X Kinkos locations!
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Welcome to "Maximize Your Career", a site designed to '"Revolutionize Your Approach To Life and Work. Our goals are to offer daily posts and resources that will help you enjoy increasingly higher levels of success, satisfaction, and significance. We will help you focus on productive attitudes, increased use of your aptitudes, talents, and abilities, and navigate the job searching, sorting, and selection process. This site is for career professionals, business owners, managers, parents, educators, and students who want to increase their effectiveness in the world of work. Whether you are super-employed, unemployed, underemployed, miserably-employed, nervously-employed – in school preparing for work or in retirement returning to work – you are an incredible, we believe one-of-a-kind person made by God who is as motivator Zig Ziglar says, “Designed for Accomplishment, Engineered for Success, Endowed with the Seeds of Greatness.”
This blog comes with free access to: The web’s largest job search engines, a network of more than 100 career group locations, a free 80 page Maximize Your Career Booklet, links and resources from national experts like Marcus Buckingham, Harvey Mackay, Tom Peters, and Seth Godin, over a dozen short biographies from Entrepreneur Magazine on people like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, film maker George Lucas, Ben and Jerry The Ice-Cream Guys, and more...
What are you Insanely Great at? What could you be great at if you developed it? What are the moments when you think "I was made for this"? Read on. Explore the Career Assessment Strength Links on the side bar to your right. Nose around in our Career Bookstore. Begin a process designed to put your unique strengths out into the world where you and everyone else can enjoy the benefits.
This blog comes with free access to: The web’s largest job search engines, a network of more than 100 career group locations, a free 80 page Maximize Your Career Booklet, links and resources from national experts like Marcus Buckingham, Harvey Mackay, Tom Peters, and Seth Godin, over a dozen short biographies from Entrepreneur Magazine on people like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, film maker George Lucas, Ben and Jerry The Ice-Cream Guys, and more...
What are you Insanely Great at? What could you be great at if you developed it? What are the moments when you think "I was made for this"? Read on. Explore the Career Assessment Strength Links on the side bar to your right. Nose around in our Career Bookstore. Begin a process designed to put your unique strengths out into the world where you and everyone else can enjoy the benefits.
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"The Purpose of this letter is to describe the benefits I enjoyed from my coaching experience with Dale Cobb. I had a very specific issue, which I needed help getting over the hump with. Our conversations were very helpful in keeping me on track and getting me to the finish line. I believe that Dale is a keen observer of the human condition and has the ability to reflect back an individuals thoughts and goals as one strives for success. I found the services offered by Dale to be timely and effective. In the future, I am sure I will be presented with challenges that require outside assistance. When that time comes, I will not hesitate to call on Dale for his fresh bright and insightful guidance."
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Managing Partner, CFR Executive Search
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Fred Friday, Director of Operations
Fundcraft Publishing
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"Dale has always impressed me with his integrity, marketing insights, compassion and follow through. He thinks outside the box, asks the questions that others fail to ask and has a real heart for training others to be the best they can be. You can count on Dale."
Tim Turner, Owner Turner Strategic
Atlanta, Georgia
“Dale is always the most prepared person in the room. He has the ability to listen and clarify the issue at hand. He is a creative, caring leader. He has always been a joy to work with.”
Beverly Sherman, Owner Creative Connections
Lansing, Michigan
I would like to take the opportunity to offer my recommendation for Dale Cobb. He has the remarkable ability to clearly listen to a problem, understand the issues and suggest a course of action that satisfies the needs of me and my clients. I cannot tell you how many times his advice was precisely what I needed to close a deal or carefully resolve a difficult situation. He is resourceful and creative in his teaching style. Over all he helped me to be more efficient and successful in my career.
Michael Ward
Sacramento, California
It has been an incredible experience for me having you as my coach. As a small business owner I have at times felt isolated and stuck in my own thinking. With your excellent coaching I have been able to expand not only my thinking about existing design practice but about the design and building industry and how I can enlarge my place in it.
Interior Designer
Carmel, California
Dale helped me with exploring perspectives, chunking them down, setting goals, action planning, and overcoming hurdles (professionally and personally). The coaching format has moved me from a dream to implementing an action plan.
Management Consultant
Greenbrae, California
I have found your coaching very helpful. I have been somewhat stuck in my career decisions, but with your understanding and focus I am now moving forward. I am now positive about my direction and the steps I want to take. The coaching has also helped my personal life. I thank you for being there for me now and in the future.
Retired Dentist
Meadow Vista, California
This is one of the most beneficial and rewarding classes I have attended. Thank You.
Comfortable casual feeling....Lots of laughter...Made classes fun and increased learning.
Everything was explained so clearly. I came away from the course having learned a great deal.
Very interesting, I've learned a lot... The material has given me a lot to work with.I've enjoyed all the sessions and feel I received something from each session to help me be a better person.
Thank You,
Joe Sexton
Managing Partner, CFR Executive Search
Chicago, Illinois
“Working with Dale has always been rewarding. Dale has always been on the leading edge developing new ways of marketing his products and services. Always willing to try new approaches and follow through... Always convincing.”
Fred Friday, Director of Operations
Fundcraft Publishing
Memphis, Tennessee
"Dale has always impressed me with his integrity, marketing insights, compassion and follow through. He thinks outside the box, asks the questions that others fail to ask and has a real heart for training others to be the best they can be. You can count on Dale."
Tim Turner, Owner Turner Strategic
Atlanta, Georgia
“Dale is always the most prepared person in the room. He has the ability to listen and clarify the issue at hand. He is a creative, caring leader. He has always been a joy to work with.”
Beverly Sherman, Owner Creative Connections
Lansing, Michigan
I would like to take the opportunity to offer my recommendation for Dale Cobb. He has the remarkable ability to clearly listen to a problem, understand the issues and suggest a course of action that satisfies the needs of me and my clients. I cannot tell you how many times his advice was precisely what I needed to close a deal or carefully resolve a difficult situation. He is resourceful and creative in his teaching style. Over all he helped me to be more efficient and successful in my career.
Michael Ward
Sacramento, California
It has been an incredible experience for me having you as my coach. As a small business owner I have at times felt isolated and stuck in my own thinking. With your excellent coaching I have been able to expand not only my thinking about existing design practice but about the design and building industry and how I can enlarge my place in it.
Interior Designer
Carmel, California
Dale helped me with exploring perspectives, chunking them down, setting goals, action planning, and overcoming hurdles (professionally and personally). The coaching format has moved me from a dream to implementing an action plan.
Management Consultant
Greenbrae, California
I have found your coaching very helpful. I have been somewhat stuck in my career decisions, but with your understanding and focus I am now moving forward. I am now positive about my direction and the steps I want to take. The coaching has also helped my personal life. I thank you for being there for me now and in the future.
Retired Dentist
Meadow Vista, California
This is one of the most beneficial and rewarding classes I have attended. Thank You.
Comfortable casual feeling....Lots of laughter...Made classes fun and increased learning.
Everything was explained so clearly. I came away from the course having learned a great deal.
Very interesting, I've learned a lot... The material has given me a lot to work with.I've enjoyed all the sessions and feel I received something from each session to help me be a better person.
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