Getting your player ready...
Myth: A company announcing job cuts or in bankruptcy should be avoided since it is not hiring.
Reality: Companies in turmoil are not only hiring but many are willing to pay a good salary to top-tier candidates. Contrary to what most job seekers may believe, the company that is having difficulties, even announcing sizable layoffs, has a more urgent need for qualified people than many economically fit companies.
Not only do most other job seekers avoid these situations, thus reducing the competition, but such companies may be willing to pay a premium to those who can prove they have what it takes to revive the business.
What constitutes a company in turmoil? Look for layoff announcements, firing of the president, multiple senior level job changes, closing of facilities, rapid decline of the stock price, cutting of dividends, and negative broadcast or printed stories.
Myth: Companies today are not interested in hiring candidates over 55 years old.
Reality: Older workers are highly regarded for several reasons. For one, employers see them as valuable assets in the struggling economy because their experience and skills make them better able to do the work of two and sometimes three younger workers.
More importantly, companies are looking ahead – not just to a recovery sometime this year or next, but 5 to 10 years down the road when a labor force depleted by retirements will not be able to fill the jobs our economy is projected to create. As a result, it will become more and more important for companies to find ways to keep older workers from retiring.
According to the Bureau of Labor, the projected number of jobs to be filled (167.8 million) will outnumber available workers (157.7 million) by 10 million over the next decade.
Myth: If you have spent your entire career in one industry, it will be impossible to find a position in another industry.
Reality: Quite the opposite is true. Companies are most concerned with a candidate’s core skills and how they can be applied in their industry. An employer may, in fact, be seeking people from outside its industry in order to gain new perspective and new ways to approach old problems.
We encourage job seekers to consider many different industries because casting the widest net possible will greatly improve one’s chance of success. Job seekers should realize that they can take their skills, whether it is in accounting, IT, project management or marketing, and apply them to any number of industries.
Myth: Unless a company is advertising positions in the newspaper or on the ‘Net, then do not bother contacting them about a job.
Reality: A very small percentage of jobs are actually found through newspaper or Internet ads because a very small percentage of the available jobs are listed there.
Job seekers should be focused on ways to create opportunities by actually getting out and meeting people and visiting prospective employers. It is a system that results in a lot more face-to-face rejection, but in the end a job is usually found much faster.
One technique that has proven successful is simply showing up at the office of a prospective employer, without an appointment, and waiting to see the manager you want to work for (do not go to the human resource department unless seeking a position in that area).
Even if the company is not officially hiring, several positive scenarios could result: there is an opening the company was going to fill internally, but will now consider you as a candidate; there are no openings, but the manager liked you so much that he or she will create a position for you; or the manager has no jobs to offer, but knows other companies that are hiring and will recommend you for consideration.
