The people who get hit the hardest by recession are those who lose their jobs. Competition for the few jobs available is intense; recruiters have fewer assignments and tend to be unrealistically picky about candidates for the openings they’re seeking to fill; people in your network are less likely to know about jobs or useful contacts. But it’s not all negative. Recessions actually create opportunity as long as you understand your situation and are willing to change your approach.

6 Recession Job Search Strategies

Here are six strategies that have proven effective for finding a job during recessionary times.

1. Place Less Reliance on Recruiters

In good job markets, recruiters are invaluable. But recessions diminish their value. Thus, experts advise executives and managers to spend less than 10% of their job search time trying to contact recruiters. Stick to the recruiters you’ve worked with in the past or who’ve been referred by close friends and colleagues.

2. Place Less Reliance on Posted Jobs

Published job leads and Internet postings are the first place most of the hordes of unemployed look for jobs. Your odds of landing a position through this channel are thus very slim. Spend no more than 5% responding to ads. Respond only to postings that closely match your skills and experience. If you’re not a “perfect fit,” don’t waste your time going after the position.

3. Network With People You Don’t Know

In a recession, the people you know are less likely to be in a position to help you. It’s the people you don’t know that you need to cultivate. During the first month of your search, call or e mail at least 50 “warm” contacts, i.e., people you know and are comfortable with. After that, network with at least 100 new contacts each month.

4. Target Smaller Companies

Think small. During a recession, small and mid-size companies are the ones most likely to hire a professional in transition. Companies with sales between $5 million and $100 million outnumber $100 million and above sales companies by more than 20 to 1. And it’s not just a numbers game. Smaller companies tend to be more open minded than their larger brethren. They’re generally less concerned about employment status —especially in this economy. And they pay less attention to age.

Research Dun & Bradstreet, Moody’s Million Dollar Directory, Standard and Poor’s, Hoover’s and other websites for smaller company information. Most libraries provide free access to these resources.

5. Target Underperforming Companies

Recessions open minds. The struggling company is no longer “radioactive” in the eyes of job candidates who are out of work.

The opening of minds also works in the other direction. In good times, companies are skeptical of job candidates that want to change industries, especially when those individuals are unemployed. But when industries decline and struggle to adapt, industry hopping loses its stigma and companies are more inclined to hire from outside their sector. In fact, outsiders might actually be embraced because of the perception that they can think “outside of the box.”

6. Consider Interim Assignments

During a weak economy, companies tend to prefer hiring individuals to manage specific projects on an interim basis. The interim position often leads to bigger and better things as both sides establish a comfort level with the other. Thus, up to 40% of interim assignments result in full-time positions.

Conclusion

There are still jobs to be had. But to find and land one of those jobs, you must adapt your job search strategy. After all, the failure to adapt traditional methods to new business challenges is precisely what got us into this mess in the first place.

Wishing you career success

Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet
www.execunet.com

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