ALUMRISE

For those on the outside looking in – either seeking non-traditional positions or seeking a full time return, what are the implications?

I think there’s a few:

1. Stop hunting so aggressively where others are hunting – it simply may not be the best use of your limited energy and time
2. Start using services targeted specifically at you and your unique lifestage – the wonderful silver lining in the noisy online and offline job market today is that there’s a host of interesting companies focusing on niche segments – like moms, retirees, returning workers, career changers, etc. They are simply more likely to focus on your unique challenges and needs – and connect you to other solutions that can help. At ALUMRISE, we are building a series of partnerships with niche solution providers to bring you services we believe can help you, whatever your work life stage – stay tuned to see those come to life
3. Job “hunting” feels good, because it’s active. It’s hard to put yourself out there passively and wait – but if you target the right services and communities online, that profile you to the right employer audiences, passivity in online hunting and profiling will leave time for the most important way to target your energies – actively connecting with real people who can point you to opportunities that you may not have considered, not searching ad-nauseum online

We aren’t the only ones that have been saying for a long time that the job market isn’t just in a down “bit” – HR guru and ALUMRISE advisor Libby Sartain shared in a recent post that there is a big and important shift in employment patters and contracts. (ps: She’s been known to call our business an ebay of employment). She notes that as a new “consumer of work,” as a professional you should get yourself ready for a new way of working, whether you’re mid-career, early-career or a late bloomer returning to work after a retirement or lifestyle hiatus.

By looking at work differently than your job-seeking peers, you actually may open yourself up to the true opportunities that fit and fulfill. After all, even when a job is found, that’s just the beginning of the road to satisfaction and success.

The new reality is that full time employment is quickly being replaced by a marketplace model where jobs of all shapes and sizes will connect you to employers of all shapes and sizes. At ALUMRISE, small a team as we are, we’re passionate about finding those outside the workforce the right solutions, and the right work life fit.

That’s because we believe that when jobs fit better, life works better – for both employers and professionals outside the workforce. 

Tell us what YOU think.

Tanya Mehta, CEO & President Tranverse Leadership LLC

Guest Blogger Tanya Mehta, CEO of Transverse Leadership LLC, shares the second part of her series on professionals navigating career change. In the first post, Tanya shared the questions: 1. Do I really know what makes me tick? and 2. Do I have a clear sense of bridge jobs and mid range career goals?

NAVIGATING TIMES OF TRANSITION, PART 2

3. Have I created a community of supporters?
 
It is not uncommon for me to have clients call totally demoralized having sent out 500 resumes wondering why their phone is not ringing.  In times of transition, you need to be exceptionally strategic about how to approach and target opportunity and the most effective place to start is with the people who are familiar with the caliber of your work and talent.  Make a list of everyone you have worked with that can speak with some depth about the quality of your work.  Develop an action plan to reach out to each of these individuals to discuss opportunities and how you might proceed.  Ask them for their support in mentioning you to their networks and thinking of you when opportunities arise.  Further, I always encourage early career professionals to reach out to their professors as they often are linked to loyal alumni who are willing to make time for talented students. 
 
It’s important to be gentle with yourself as building a community of supporters happens over the span of you career and is a reciprocal process.  Be willing to help others, make introductions and open doors for those in your network and you will benefit greatly when you need advice, short term freelancing gigs or someone to give you a much needed break.
 
4. Can I articulate my unique value proposition?
 
Imagine being lucky enough to have a chance encounter in an elevator or on the subway with a senior leader at a company you are targeting – how would you present yourself? Could you articulate your value proposition to their organization in a 20 second elevator pitch? This is a critical question to be able to answer well.  I can’t tell you how many of my clients slave over the perfect resume and cover letters but get totally tongue tied when having to articulate what they are currently doing, what they have worked on, where they are heading and strengths/weaknesses in their leadership style. 
 
The fact that you are in transition is nothing to be ashamed of yet many let that emotion get the better of them – millions of people are in your shoes and its important to remember that being prepared and learned optimism are your best allies.  Its not about being overly aggressive or sales-like when talking about your talents and capabilities — what I am suggesting is that you exude a sense of confidence that gives a vital message to the person meeting you – I am qualified, I am competent, I am excited about your company and I feel we are a great fit for the following reasons i.e. I am a person you should consider interviewing.  Think carefully about what you would say – practice in front of a mirror if you have to.  At the end of the day the impression you make is often as important as the credentials you have.  Embrace it and use it to your advantage.
 
 
5. How am I nurturing myself?
 
This is the most important question of all.  Very often talented and goal-oriented individuals going through major career transitions feel that they don’t deserve a break or a splurge unless they have the results to justify it.  It’s true that perseverance and focus are vital to emerge positively from times of transition but it’s essential to step away and refuel in order to have the energy and perspective to keep going.  This is where your self discipline and awareness are vital as rejuvenating means different things to every person – a walk in the park, road trip with your kids, dinner with an old friend or solitude with a good book – figure out what works for you.  Making sure that you are making time for activities that center you will make a world of difference in terms of the quality of your outcome. 
 
I end with GE CEO, Jeffrey Immelt’s words as they epitomize the attitude that resilient and highly successful leaders across the globe have in times of adversity — “I’m an optimist. I’ve always believed the future is going to be better than the past. And I also believe I have a role in that. The great thing about human beings, myself in particular, is that I can change. I can do better. If you can get up every day, stay optimistic, and believe the future is better than the past, those few things get you through a lot of tough times.”
 
So view this time of transition as a gift – a chapter in your life that was game-changing.  Keep dreaming big and make some time to think through your own responses to the above five questions – you might be amazed at what you uncover.
 

To view the first post, click here.

Career changers: Join ALUMRISE

Tanya Mehta, CEO and President Transverse Leadership LLC

ALUMRISE Guest blogger Tanya Mehta is President and CEO of Transverse Leadership LLC. A leadership coach and consultant specializing in executive development, Tanya has special passion for coaching early career professionals looking to accelerate their leadership trajectory as well as women returning to the workforce.  Her 10+ years of expertise span talent development, succession planning, corporate training and executive education at leading corporations including Sun Microsystems, Hilton Hotels (the Waldorf-Astoria), The Walt Disney Corporation and Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Prior to founding Transverse, Tanya held the role of Director, Business Development at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (Executive Education) where she consulted with senior Fortune 500/Nasdaq 1000 leaders on a broad range of executive education needs for their senior teams and high potential leaders.

In this, the first part of a two-part series, Tanya explains how navigating career transition can be eased by answering 5 critical questions. Today we feature the two most critical questions for a professional to ask themselves.

NAVIGATING TIMES OF TRANSITION EFFECTIVELY
Critical Questions To Answer

Are you going through a tricky patch on the career front?  Don’t despair – what follows are some key questions you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself. Answering them with brutal honesty can very well help you get back on track sooner than you expect and perhaps even take your career in a direction that is more personally fulfilling and to heights you never imagined.

 1. “Do I really know what makes me tick?”
 
Anyone laid-off, on boarding after maternity leave or trying to break into a new industry can identify with the rollercoaster of frustration, exhaustion and (hopefully) eventual euphoria that major career transitions often bring with them.  If you can look past the tumult of these phases, one gift that emerges is that of time. A departure from the daily grind enables you to reflect and focus and presents a valuable opportunity to uncover what really makes you tick!  Now I don’t mean to make this sound simplistic because no one I have ever coached or worked with loves every aspect of their job.  However, the role to which you devote the majority of your waking hours has to provide some innate happiness and deep sense of purpose – you will never be really great or motivate others to be really great at something you are miserable doing.
 
You might have been working in the same industry for the last decade but what aspects of your work did you really love? What kind of role would make you feel fulfilled? How do you visualize your professional life 10 years from now? Have the audacity to dream about how you could earn a paycheck doing what you love.  Don’t despair if you feel like a totally blank slate when asking yourself the question of what really makes you tick.  Leverage the knowledge that close friends and colleagues have of your talents and strengths and test the waters through a range of short term projects.   For additional perspective consider taking a leadership assessment or working with a career coach.  It does take effort to uncover the answer — the operative point is to have the courage to seek it.  
 
 
2. “Do I have a clear sense of bridge jobs and mid range career goals?”
 
Winston Churchill once said “success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”  Oftentimes people feel paralyzed by career transitions because their expectations are out of touch with the reality of their situation and the broader economic landscape.  Focusing on your vision is vital but you are not going to get your dream job as a fashion buyer right out of undergrad or your story on the front page of the New York Times because you are a stellar writer.
 
Every career path from medicine to management consulting has rites of passage – you have to have the patience and use critical experiences to learn and grow while keeping your eye on the ultimate goal.  Be proactive about figuring out what the key stepping stones to your dream or “destination” job are.  The best way to do this is to talk to as many people doing the kind of work you aspire to do and ask very specific questions.  How did they start out?  What did they wish they had known?  What were the most critical learning’s they had in their early roles?  Where do they think the industry is heading? Using this information, you need to develop a very clear set of actionable mid range goals and target bridge jobs. 

Look out for a follow up post next week, featuring three additional key questions on navigating change. You can check out a detailed spotlight on Tanya and her services at www.alumrise.com

Blog readers: I wanted to share the news that in case you aren’t already a member, we recently launched our Facebook Fan Page and our ALUMRISE Twitter presence. I’m sharing below the note I authored to thank our growing fan base, because it tells a story about where we are and where we are going that you may enjoy reading, and that I hope you take the time to react to it, by leaving us a comment.

This was published to our Fans Friday June 12, 2009 … July and our full media launch are just around the corner. These are exciting times for me personally, and for our dedicated team.

Facebook Note: June 12, Authored by Aassia Haq, CEO & President - ALUMRISE Inc. “Thank you for taking the time to join ALUMRISE’s Facebook Fan Page. We’re happy to welcome you to a space where you can learn about upcoming benefits and changes to our application and come along with us on an exciting journey. We’re excited to see our membership grow with every passing day.

When ALUMRISE first began evangelizing its vision and predictions for the workforce — we privately shared with key leaders at major Fortune 500 entities, organizations and partner firms, the thought that the workforce was on the verge of an elemental shift. The shift was to be driven by changes in demography – growing workforce populations either entering a new post-corporate, retirement lifestage, taking time off in the middle to raise children or care for aging parents, or the plethora of new workers who would believe that work and life should somehow more flexibly, fluidly fit better together. We also shared the view that organizations would radically change how they hire and find professionals to get work done. We got a lot of attention and some raised eyebrows.

Fast forward to today. Even to our prescient team and focused application developers, the reality of the vision surprises us. Work contracts are every day shifting from fixed to flexible. Organizations are hiring in a variety of ways, from a variety of professional and lifestage backgrounds, to fill an ever-changing set of business goals. They seek functional competency, flexibility, and more simple real-time access to the professional marketplace. The full time job is changing into jobs of all shapes and sizes.

And, instead of the 15 million we estimated initially for our ALUMRISER population of professionals outside the workforce in the U.S., today the actual number is closer to 30 million not formally employed, but still seeking opportunity and projects or jobs that fit.

We are here to serve each and every one of you better and look forward to sharing some big and exciting news and key application updates as we complete a full splashy media launch this summer.

Is the summer of 2009 the end of work as we know it? Or the beginning of a process that takes each of us – employer and professional - one step closer to a work life that works?

Whether you’re hiring or seeking, we hope that you find that our unique ALUMRISE profile, our fitting search that matches on a variety of important criteria in a simpler way, and our two-way marketplace connectivity, deliver on our simple vision that when jobs fit better, life just works better.

If you could be served by joining ALUMRISE (it’s free), or know someone else who could benefit from our platform or many private organizational offerings, please do share us on – email, Tweet, share our blog, or send an ALUMVITE from our marketplace itself – because every little bit helps our company. Our team (do check out our new digs in the Photo section!) comprises members of the workforce we seek to serve – experienced executives who have moved beyond traditional corporate roles; young mothers juggling work and family; midcareer flexers seeking a new balance; and professionals coming back on track after a circumstantial exit beyond their control. That is what makes us authentic and what will make us succeed in helping each and every one of you.”
- Aassia

Ps: We’d love to grab our vanity URL for Facebook, so please do help us reach 1,000 members so that we can be www.facebook.com/ALUMRISE to each of you. Invite or spread the word on your page – if each of you invites 10 friends, we’ll get there before we know it. (And yes, we already submitted our “hold” on our handle and have heard back from the Facebook team).

Thank you to those who have followed our blog, noted and commented on our vision or shared a unique perspective. We value you and will continue to blog to provoke your thoughts and comments. Perhaps you’d like to be a guest blogger too, like our friend Libby Sartain? If so, please send a note to us we’ll work to make it happen.

 

Libby Sartain, Author of Brand for Talent

ALUMRISE is proud to count among its advisors HR guru and author Libby Sartain. Libby’s distinguished career includes serving as head of people for Southwest Airlines and as head of human resources for Yahoo! Inc. She recently entered a new lifestage as an author, speaker and advisor. Her most recent book, Brand for Talent, is making waves. In the related post below, she shares a perspective on the changing employee — a “consumer of work.”

Libby’s Guest Blog

In just the past couple of years the marketplace for talent has churned like never before. Organizations need for talent has intensified while the supply and demand of essential workers ebbs and flows.  The need to engage workers is strong, but the very environment in which we operate makes engagement more difficult.

The speed at which change occurs in today’s business environment has produced an era of volatility making it difficult to for any organization to craft a practical strategic workforce plan with a view much beyond the current budget cycle. At the same time, the market for talent has tightened, even in a down economy. There are segments of work where supply of workers cannot keep up with demand.

In the past, the solution for business has been to hire workers on the open market versus growing them from within.  And, when faced with business setbacks, the reaction is to reduce the workforce of workers who may be needed later when conditions improve.  Yet, as the need to control costs while maintaining optimum talent resources has escalated, this approach has proven to be unsustainable over the long term. Hiring from the outside is expensive and the workers with the right skill sets are rarely readily available.  Reductions in force nullify all investments made in the workers who are let go.

At the same, workers themselves have changed.  While the baby boomers may have switched organizations 4 or five times during their career, as compared to their parents who worked for 1 or 2 companies; the next generation is expected to change organizations every two years and may change careers several times during their work-lives.

Baby boomers will continue to work during past traditional retirement age, some on a part-time or contract basis, while working parents will also look for more flexible arrangements. And, technology allows many “creative class” workers to disengage from the traditional work environment in favor of work on their own terms.

Workers of all demographics look for more than just a “job”.  They look for a meaningful work experience that allows them to contribute what they do best, feel part of something significant, and enhances their career from a development and personal point of view.

Today’s worker views their professional skill set as a product for sale and is at the same time they are a consumer. The worker has expectations of what that skill set will bring in today’s talent marketplace. All the while, the worker is shopping for the right experience, or relationship with a place to work. 

Organizations need talent, but the need fluctuates. It is foreseeable that the same workers will come and go from the same organizations multiple times as both the workers and the organization’s needs evolve.

All of this is enabled by technology.  In the past, employers posted job descriptions and compliant candidates applied for open “jobs”.  Evolving now is an online community enhanced by Web 2.0 technology where the workers post their profiles and terms and conditions for working to be found by talent scouts scouring blogs, websites and social networks. 

The relationship between employers and potential workers could one day look more like eBay versus Monster.  Workers will be in the drivers seat and might post their requirements while employers will hire workers for time periods where they need the work.

All of this change will pose many challenges for employers. How will organizations keep core workers engaged and on board for the long term? What kind of systems and management infrastructure will be required to manage a new kind of workforce? How can an employer brand itself as an employer of choice for this new kind of worker? How can an employer stay relevant to all the segments of talent it needs to keep and to attract?

Strategic workforce management will involve a sourcing strategy that will look more like a consumer marketing strategy. Employers will need a targeted branded marking campaign aimed at each critical talent segment through multi-channel marketing.

Now is the time for employers to get ready for this new consumer of work by establishing a branding strategy for critical talent segments. Now is the time for workers to establish their own brands as they look for the experience that meets their needs.

Since joining Twitter, I’ve been getting into the free-flowing online “jobs” discussion. I recently followed an interesting thread about whether the new workforce generation will move to a model of 40 jobs in 40 years.

Whether or not a Gen Y professional will actually racks up that number of jobs isn’t the key point I took away (though a greater majority than we think may end up falling into the serial category) – what was more interesting to me was the idea that it was 40 “jobs” as the qualifier.

As ALUMRISE readies to move beyond its technology launch into go-loud (yes, we’re officially moved into our new office in Plano, we’re inking contracts, re-doing the site for user input, readying press releases), we’ve also been honing in on what makes us unique so that we better communicate that to new introductions and existing members like you.

Why I found the discussion above particularly interesting? It’s because our team here at ALUMRISE believes our mission is creating a unique space that supports jobs of all shapes and sizes – connecting and achieving better fit for professionals to employers of all shapes and sizes. The traditional career job hasn’t gone away, it’s still very important as a stabilization center for entities - but it’s role in each of our individual lives, may well have permanently shrunk. A confluence of technology, globalization, shifting employer practices and a renewed focus on broadly relevant cross-industry skills, means we’re going to be about gigs & fits.

What does that mean? It means I believe we may well be moving to a world in which we well may well have 40 gigs in 40 years.

Some gigs will continue as part of each day or week – long term gigs. (p.s.: I think parenting or elder care fall into this category – they will always take a certain part of our day and should be acknowledged as such). Others will be short term – volunteering; internships or returnships; mentoring; or coaching. Some will be fixed (3 years, full time). Others more lenient (such as: when I need you, for the next 5 months at $120/hour).

At ALUMRISE we believe our task as professionals will be to figure out two things:

• Our income needs
• The total available time or capacity we have to generate it

We should each plan to among these variables to get to right gigs & fits equation - including our unpaid gigs! And as employers of professionals, we should recognize that this is an emerging factor in the equation for where a professional will want to work.

What do you think? Agree or disagree, I hope you consider this a point of debate - do share your comments or reactions.

Join the marketplace! http://www.alumrise.com/alumsignup.aspx

Ps: Stay in touch with us by signing up for our RSS feed and newsletter so we can share some new tools ALUMRISE is developing as part of the launch of our social presence (we can’t help it, we’re watchers and analyzers … we take our time to trigger things like a Facebook fan presence). Our hope is that new tools we introduce will help you make fit happen, whether you’re a professional seeking a job of any shape or size, or an employer figuring out how to find the best fitting professional for your work need.

 I had the chance to quickly read a very interesting report shared the other day by a friend and longtime ALUMRISE advisor, Haris Ahmed. Haris is a consultant with Oliver Wyman Delta, a firm that helps large clients around the world deal with HR changes and plan for the future. He’s specifically focused on advising leaders and developing leadership strategies.

Parts of the “New Imperative” report authored by his peers at Oliver Wyman, Mark Nadler and Dan Plunkett, focus on how people working at large companies are being affected by the current climate, framing a “crisis of talent.” (Fair disclosure: they touch on a whole lot more; I simply gravitated toward this section as the head of a company focused on talent through life stages).

Why a “crisis of talent”? They report talent is walking away from large companies, driven by disillusionment and fear of the impact of the recession - greater stress, enormous accountability (think of the sad taking of his own life by Freddie Mac’s CFO recently), and stalling of work/decision making.

People are jumping to smaller firms and start ups, and will continue to, the report predicts. I don’t find this at all surprising - many who join ALUMRISE do so seeking a better fit between their skill sets, life and aspirations and an organization. Size of organization doesn’t matter - peace is a new part of the “total compensation” package that millions care more and more about. Sobering for the big-company driven stock market, but so great for innovation.

At ALUMRISE, we built our tool precisely to promote a better work-life fit and have seen real-life examples of this at work, including three of our own team contributors, who found us, interviewed and got a deal done, in under a month each by simply stating their skills and objectives and allowing us to find them in a matter of minutes online. (Hmm …. are we the Dallas startup that many long-time corporate contributors are gravitating toward?)

The report also suggests victims of a layoff are less likely to return to a similar job in the same industry, but instead will move to a more entrepreneurial goal or start afresh in a new industry context.

I wonder - does that ring true for you, members and readers? Please do leave a comment either agreeing or disagreeing, so we can continue our dialogue on how to best help you make that cross-industry or cross-sector move.

A section of the ALUMRISE profile - The Transparenskey

For example, the “transparens-key” section of our site, (here’s a partial snapshot of mine), lets a member clearly indicate what moves they will make.

We’ll be adding the ability to indicate interest in new industries to this list soon .. so it will get even more targeted and specific in finding the right fit for you and an employer of any size-start up to large enterprise.

Thirdly, the report says if you’ve been waiting in the ranks, gainfully employed for the past five, ten or fifteen years, just waiting for that so-called retirement wave around the corner, you today may be stressed by the realization that people aren’t retiring, and the corner office isn’t accruing to you. Sadly, it could be years before the next ladder rung.

Stay or go, there’s a stalemate in excitement or energy that may affect you, or your gainfully employed spouse, friend or parent. Many who join ALUMRISE are joiners by choice - not because they have lost their position, but because they exited consciously seeking a new wave of inspiration, a new set of experiences, a new productive way to use their mind and energy. It’s why we say that people stop working - but minds don’t stop working. It’s because many of us at ALUMRISE have been there.

 All in all, I see a glimmer of hope in an otherwise somber report from Oliver Wyman Delta. It tells me that whether or not companies are in a position to react and innovate, people are doing so each day. (People - aka “Talent”).

They aren’t giving up or giving in, they simply are re-evaluating what it means to life a productive, income-generating life. My husband and I have thought a lot about this. In another post, another day, I’ll share the conclusions we reached. 

Whether personal or professional, in every “crisis” there’s an opportunity.

Jobs, economy, health, wealth, security. These are the themes I heard echoed across three regions of the world recently – South Asia, the Middle East and Europe – during three enlightening weeks of travel abroad.

Interestingly, I fell into somewhat esoteric, philosophical conversation late one night around the idea that the recent global economic crisis has led to a true discrediting of the world order. 

It got me thinking. If the last century was about the prevalence of two competing systems – communism, and capitalism, with passing nods to socialism – it is becoming unclear what governing tenets will prevail in the coming one and how the system will evolve.

Today, it’s certainly clear too many are falling outside the important, social net that keeps our world healthy. Whether it’s the millions losing jobs and baseline security in the previously secure U.S. market, or the many millions who never had that security in the first place across the poverty-stricken, crime ridden developing world, have enough now fallen outside that the system faces a genuine threat?

Here’s my position or thought … for what it’s worth. The functioning of stable, liberal democracy and a world order as we know it today is based on satisfying enough people enough of the time by taking care in a meaningful way of the needs both primal (home, health, food, water) and emotional (culture, expression, art).

The bell has rung to begin the exam to figure out how to save, or evolve our world system. The mandate for any evolution of the system – with no prejudice for governing names or ideologies – should be that we do a better job of protecting and securing the baseline needs of more of the people, more of the time. Are we close to satisfying even a meager 50%; will we pass or fail?

Note to system architects: primal needs matter greatly when you age, or during the early years of life – stages that much of the world are now in. We are not a middle-aged world concerned only with freedom and wealth. We are a young-old world concerned with health, security and the proper nurturing of changing life stages.

We need to lay the foundation of a more humane evolution of our governing world systems before we rush to protect ideology. I’m not arguing against or for free market capitalism or for any recreation of something like communism. Frankly the older I become, the more boring I find pure ideology.

Instead I’m simply saying that our system needs to recognize the changes occurring in our world, and do a better job of evolving to fulfill the needs of ….

• A newly minted retiree without a pension or healthcare in the U.S., no savings, and no family member with a job
• A young mother in Dubai whose husband will be deported next week with a home that has depreciated 50%, she lives in a car
• An engineer in Pakistan who wants a real world-class education in every sense
• An artist in Eastern Europe whose livelihood depends on enough people having the time or interest to travel and think about art, because their bellies and pockets are full
• An so on

Jobs, economy, health, wealth, security. Better linking the economic engine to the social net.  Whether you’re in the US or elsewhere, aren’t these the things that matter most?

John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas

Last week, I was invited by a thoughtful outplacement industry leader, to attend a breakfast to hear some data and insights about today’s talent economy.

Over some scrambled eggs and fruit, I had the chance to hear from research firm Birkman about the results of a multi-year leadership/talent survey and to also hear from John Challenger, the CEO of venerable outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. Mr Challenger shared some personal hiring landscape insights and observations. (If you have not had a chance to hear Mr. Challenger speak or read one of his columns, I highly recommend it.)

With many today wondering what the hiring future holds, I wanted to share the morning’s key themes with members of our ALUMRISER network - which today includes both C-Level executives as well as many experienced middle managers seeking new opportunities. At the end of this post, I’ll also share some personal take-aways and implications.

Another One Bites the Dust: The landscape is changing – and it will take time to return to traditional hiring patterns

• Many companies are freezing salaries, or even taking across-the-board salary cuts — in some cases up to 30-50%; Others are mandating strategies like a 4-day workweek. The silver lining to the extreme moves? They are in most cases alternatives to layoffs — and designed to keep valued talent close. Midsize companies are more likely to use these tactics today, possibly because they are more lean and more dependent on key talent inside their ranks
• In contrast, large companies are actively considering severances; in fact, up to 67% of leaders at large enterprises (>5,000 employees) surveyed by Birkman, suggested they would use job cuts as a cost strategy in 2009. (The full White Paper results can be downloaded here – select “Business Implications of the New Reality.”)
• A “second wave” of impacts will now affect industries outside financial services & automobiles – impacted will be retail, technology, electronics, semiconductor and wireless among others

Jack be Nimble: Executives and line managers alike must think differently about job search

• It’s time to consider opportunities that would once have been off-limits, such as part time or “audition” positions if you are an experienced business person – the market may not support quick re-entry into a full time position 
• It’s an era that Mr. Challenger describes as one of “no fault job loss” which means companies will be quick to cut, so the ability to move across industry lines will be ever more important
• The willingness to cross-over by marketing functional skills and fungible talents will be a key to success in this economy; seek positions in sectors and geographies where hiring is still happening (apparently discount retail and hospitality and consumer goods as areas that may weather better, in addition to core healthcare and education)
• Titles that will be particularly affected by layoffs are professional support and middle management. Those roles of a more senior level; those of a more technical nature or in sales are less likely to be hit, reported Birkman as part of their survey results

I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Online): Job loyalty is being replaced by a free agent mentality, so both talent and companies will have to foster “outside the employment door” relationships using technology as an enabler

• For talent, retaining connections to former employers is a key way to renew and revive career opportunities – using either formal or informal alumni or career networks
• For companies, investing in long-term talent relationships is a key driver of longer-term success, as they are forced to swing employment patterns based on larger, uncontrollable macro-trends leading to job cuts and rehires- Challenger specifically recommends building privileged relationships that retain flexible connection using online community and networking formats

Are you an ALUMRISER?

ALUMRISERS - My take-aways and implications:

1. Don’t over-think opportunities – be open to a variety of job contracts including part time or temporary as well as newly engineered positions – ALUMRISE understands that today you are competing with millions of other job-hunters as well as a growing stream of income-seekers returning to the workforce to support displaced family members – so look hard at each and every message of interest. Your profile helps position you for a variety of types of interest – job, project, mentor/coach, board, etc. So get into action/contribute and meanwhile, enjoy the time life has given you back, either in your job hunt or after-hours in a (hopefully) less intense position that allows time for self-reflection.

2. Look hard at your functional skills & understand exactly which your fungible or transferable skills are. ALUMRISE can do this for you – by answering the few simple questions that create your profile you are in essence creating a ‘functional resume’ making it easier for you to found for a transfer between industries or sectors … your experience tells the tale for you to hiring mangers and recruiters within an ALUMRISE profile

3. Understand companies you’d wish to work for, and try to develop access to their existing networks or online networks they create. ALUMRISE is building private platforms for companies to stay connected to former talent that live inside the broader ALUMRISE Universe .. Once a member of ALUMRISE you can request to join relevant networks related to your experience and skills … Stay tuned for more on that.

Whether or not you’re looking for a job or flexible position today, you’ve probably been a part of some conversation about online identity.

This is such a rich topic that one post can’t possibly do it justice, but I’ll throw out some themes and then dig deeper as I see responses.

I know personally I’ve had numerous discussions about a series of topics, like:

Should I post personal or family photos online, e.g. at Facebook?

I enjoy seeing others’ photos and feel its only fair to share. But I do worry about who’s looking at my photos online, and whether I’m being judged by a future business partner, employer or potential employee … More confusing: as business contacts join my personal Facebook site, will I need to segment? The more I need to “manage” convenient tools, the less they become convenient … so what does that mean as I comingle more and more?

Should I write a blog and if so, what’s the point of the blog… and uh-oh there’s Tweeting

My answer: I blog and tweet, but it’s organic … Haven’t quite gotten to a “strategy” really. Will get there eventually. I remind myself that I do need to pace myself. As a team we often talk about that – under-doing is so much better than much ado about nothing. If you are newly thinking of blogging, taking it slow may be a good approach. I won’t even get into Twitter… Still figuring that whole world out but finding it fun to stumble upon interesting user-sifted info (ps: A useful post from The Talent Buzz blog on how a targeted jobseeker might use a service like Twitter )

How should I be using LinkedIn or other networking tools?

I personally use these tools sparingly to understand who’s viewing me online, because it matters to my business. But then again, I am not what you’d call a power networker. I do think LinkedIn is a convenient rolodex manager, and the same is true of Plaxo or other networking tools. ALUMRISERS, do carefully manage activity and self promotion if you extend professional network use beyond simple rolodex management - it takes time investment to achieve success

With so much of professional and personal life moving online, here’s a personal bottom line fear/prediction: It’s already the wild, wild west of information and it’s only going to get more crowded and confusing as people put more about themselves out there. Sure, “Search” or “Sift” models like Google or Twitter help people find each other. But there’s a growing place for more controlled, private tools like ALUMRISE – we can help certain types of opportunity seekers stay targeted, simple, and focused on just the key end result (e.g. hire, employ, earn, succeed).

For What it’s Worth: My Advice to ALUMRISERS
1.  Segregate your employment world from your personal online, if you’re not ready to comingle
2. Keep it simple (less is more)
3. Keep it in control (Facebook vs. MySpace) and
4. Keep a sustainable pace (Tweet or blog to say something, not just to do it)
Please …. let us know if you have advice for us to share! 

A Recruting Guru’s take: Read a colleague’s thought for the day. I think John puts it nicely when he speaks about Social Media and he’s been following the online recruiting world for a whole lot longer than I have!