Archive for August, 2009

Outside the Workforce? Think Differently About Your Job Hunt

August 12th, 2009
Posted by Aassia
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A recent post I read in the “Business of Management” Blog confirmed for me that a long-held passion to create a service for those outside the workforce was right on. It’s a market that needs to be served differently from the “employed” professional market. The post shares that recruiters and companies are most likely to try to target and employ the so-called “passive candidate” that’s working at a competitor, even today, with a growing number of skilled but unemployed professionals seeking work. This appears to hold true even when the out-of-work are willing to accept lower compensation than those that are employed and jumping positions. Counter intuitive? Probably so. But organizational, recruiter and corporate behavior changes slowly and companies are loath to take risk.

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.

Posted in ALUMRISE, ALUMRISE Founder/CEO, ALUMRISER, Guest Blog, Uncategorized