The Southern California Job Market : Making It Work : There’s a Job Out There With Your Name on It

You’re on the street for the first time, or maybe for the first time in a long time.

Panic sets in. Wherever you go, you’re not the person they’re looking to hire this time around. You’re either too old--or not old enough. Or it’s a question of gender or ethnicity or education or job experience or location. Something’s always wrong. Sometimes it even seems that if Hollywood were casting a movie of your life, you’d be told you were wrong for the part.

Must job hunting in the 1990s be so difficult?

Of course not. Employment counselors repeatedly say there are any number of techniques a job applicant can use to edge closer to that all-important interview and, better still, that most hallowed of apparitions: a job offer.

First, don’t wimp out. Just because your job, or maybe your entire industry, melted away like a sandcastle at high tide does not mean you are no longer of use to American business.

True, your technical skills may have been geared to a now-extinct industry, but your problem-solving skills, your energy and your experience are universal and valuable. Sell, sell, sell.

Your life is not just the sum of your resume. Atomize/analyze/assess your life and find skills that are in demand.

“Many skills are hiding in non-work experiences,” said Nella Barkley, president and chief executive of Crystal-Barkley, a New York-based career counseling and training firm.

Maybe you were a camp counselor in the long ago. Many people would be reluctant to put that on their resume. Nonsense, Barkley said.

“A good camp counselor has to know how to operate boats, how to deal with safety procedures, how to integrate other skills in dealing with people, how to show leadership with kids,” she said. “A lot of these things are transferable into the workplace.”

Some of the best potential hirees flub interviews because they can talk the lingo only of their former employer.

“They’ve tied their personal goals to the company goals for so long they tend to talk in the company’s terminology,” said Jan Thompson, managing director of the La Jolla office of Drake, Beam & Morin, one of the nation’s largest firms that helps downscaling companies find jobs for former employees.

“That’s fine if you’re still in the company, but it’s tough for the new employer to drag the information out of you,” she said. “Today, when employers are getting hundreds of applications for every job, the more work the interviewer has to do the less likely you are to get hired.”

Naturally, the resume remains the weapon of choice for most job-seekers. Two pages is tops. And forget stunts like sending in a resume on red paper or showing up for an interview in a gorilla suit.

Network like crazy. Call up friends and associates to see what they’ve heard about job opportunities. You’ve got to tap into the hidden job market, because if you restrict yourself to answering classified advertisements, you’ll find yourself in a long line.

Don’t hide your light under a basket. List not only your previous job title, but also your accomplishments. Be assertive but not obnoxious.

You didn’t just organize a community theater play, you negotiated a 15% discount in materials for scenery, arranged a work schedule and made sure that deadlines were met and quality standards satisfied.

Remember, it’s a tough market out there and the average employer spends 30 seconds per resume. That’s 30 seconds you’ve got to separate yourself from the pack.

One tip: Talk the talk.

You’ve got to tell the employer how you can help his or her business. This is the lean and mean ‘90s, not the go-go ‘80s. Make your resume and follow-up interview reflect the era.

Be specific.

“Surface descriptions like ‘I’m good with people’ or ‘I’m a problem solver’ may have worked 15 years ago but not today,” Thompson said. “For every skill claimed, you should have at least two accomplishments on how that skill was used and was of value to the company.”

Learn phone techniques. If you’re an ex-executive used to being put right through, learn to adapt to the world of being put on hold and given the quick brushoff.

“In a job search, it’s not unusual to make 15 calls before getting in,” Thompson said. “In each call, you have to be respectful, not let your irritation show, and be purposeful.”

Janet Hauter, a Chicago management consultant and author of “The Smart Woman’s Guide to Career Success,” says the smart job applicant during an interview talks about diversity, speed, customer service and the new non-hierarchical structure of American business.

Diversity: If you’ve had experience in a racially or ethnically diverse workplace or helping a company break into a diverse market, talk it up.

“An employee who can help remove obstacles or impediments for minorities is a tremendous plus for an organization of the future,” Hauter said.

Speed: In a competitive market, the employee who can deliver the soonest with the mostest is much prized. “The faster you can do something, the bigger asset you are to a company,” Hauter said.

Customer service: If you’ve had experience assessing the mood of customers or tailoring a product to the shifting whims of the market, your chances of landing a job are much improved.

“In the 1980s, companies ignored customers,” Hauter said. “But in the 1990s, customers won’t take it anymore. They’re more demanding, more confrontational, they know how to price-shop, and they have no brand loyalty.”

The new “flattened” structure of business: A job with big responsibilities for a small company is probably more impressive on your resume than a job with small responsibilities for a big company.

“Show the employer that you were wearing more hats than your job title shows,” Hauter said.

“The hierarchical organization of the Industrial Age is disappearing. Organizations are flatter now, and everybody has to assume more responsibility and accountability.”

There you have it: Job Hunting ’94. And remember: Be good to yourself while looking for a job. Your ego will take a battering, but don’t take it personally.