In this flagging economy people with steady paychecks win our admiration faster than those with a fine wine cellar. Back when people were buying second homes and investing in hedge funds, the news drew an admiring crowd at cocktail parties. Those avenues to increasing net worth have vanished, replaced by the dirge: “Our portfolio is down 50% and our mortgage is more than what our house is worth.”
After years of being taken for granted, a job has become a person’s most valuable asset—just when bringing home a paycheck is harder to come by. Anyone with the goods on how to secure a steady paycheck is on a roll.
The career industry is going gangbusters. Before you jump in, read the 2009 edition of What Color is your parachute?. The job-hunting and career-changing tome, first published in 1970, is back on the best-seller list.
Then take your job search online. iRelaunch, the Clifton, New Jersey-based job coaching firm, helps women who have opted out of the rat race but who are now scrambling to get back. This top-notch educational resource covers job-search strategies in $19.99 webinars. For $350 women can join a Relaunch Circle, often run by former recruiters, and receive six hours of coaching.
YourOnRamp is another website where you can pick up tips for how to make social media part of your job search. You can use the information to position yourself to be discovered by companies seeking applicants. Companies and recruiters are using social media to find job candidates.
Check online job listings. There is less new demand but there’s still job opportunities generated by replacement demand. The Ladders lists job opportunities for those aiming for a job in the $100,000-a-year-salary range. More people want to work in New York than anywhere else in the country but the least competitive job market is Washington, D.C. with only six job seekers for each executive-level job opening.
Flexible employment is the slant to the job listings posted at Mom Corps, a staffing firm based in Atlanta. Skilled professionals, who may have run their own business from home designing web sites, come here because they need a reliable source of income. Thousands of people pounce on job openings posted online. In March, Mom Corps had 34,000 job hunters and 54 jobs. “It’s certainly an employer’s market,” says CEO Allison O’Kelly. “Employers want to get exactly what they are looking for.”
If you don’t want to go the DIY route, and you have the money, you can opt for personal, customized coaching sessions. Job-coaching firms step you through the process, not only repairing ineffective resumes but zeroing in on the value can you extract from your education and training.
A typical client at Career Insiders, a San Francisco-based career consulting firm, is someone who:
- has sent out a resume a dozen times with no response.
- was laid off last year and is becoming disheartened.
- wants to change careers.
- wants to tap into online social networks to connect to potential employers.
- becomes tongue-tied at interviews.
- hasn’t had to look for a job in twenty years and is unaware of his or her true earning power.
In this post-financial-meltdown-of-Wall Street world, a flurry of options exists for people refocusing on their number one asset. Career Insiders CEO Mauri Schwartz says a job is the real source of financial stability.
