Employment
One silver lining: It's much more common these days
Eight Ways To Find A Job to find people out of work for long periods of time. So
Luisa Kroll, 07.11.03, 12:00 PM ET companies are more accepting--as long as applicants
have the right qualifications and can show that
NEW YORK - Finding a job is taking more people they've made good use of their time off. "People may
longer. Last week the U.S. Department of Labor think they don't have a good chance. But if they have
announced that the country's unemployment rate had taken initiative to keep their skills fresh and even
hit a nine-year high of 6.4%. One in five of all enhanced by taking a course, volunteering or
unemployed have been out of work for more than six consulting, then we'll consider them," says Kristen P.
months. The number of long-term unemployed Roby, director of recruiting at Microsoft (nasdaq:
(defined as people out of work for 27 weeks or more) MSFT - news - people ). The Redmond-Wash.-based
has been rising steadily, with an increase of 353,000 company has several thousand open positions, for
in the first six months of 2003 to a recent 2,036,000. which it receives 30,000 to 40,000 résumés per
The average duration of unemployment is now a month.
seasonally adjusted 19.8 weeks, a 19-year high,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The wait Rank the eight job-hunting tips strikes you as the
is even longer for white-collar workers: People in most useful. 1 meaning the most useful and 8 is the
management, professional and related occupations least useful.
are out of work an average of 22 weeks.
___ Keep busy
The job situation doesn't look like it's getting much
better. Indeed, another 360,000 people joined the ___ Expand your network
ranks of the unemployed in June. Some companies
are still announcing massive layoffs. FedEx (nyse: ___ Switch industries
FDX - news - people ) recently said it was offering
voluntary early retirement or severance packages to ___ Ask for help
14,000 employees, or 7.6% of its workforce.
Electronic Data Systems (nyse: EDS - news - ___ Try many tactics
people ) announced it was cutting 2,700 employees,
or 2% of its workforce. ___ Lower expectations
___ Address the gap on your resume
While being out of a job is rarely fun, it is often ___ Stay positive
hardest on those who have been unemployed for an
extended period of time. Ironically, the longer
someone is unemployed, the harder it is for him to 1. What is the average time a person is
find work. It's not just that severance or outplacement “between jobs”
packages run out, or that unemployment benefits a. 1 week
end. Psychologically, it becomes difficult to stay b. almost 20 weeks
optimistic. If 2002 is the last date on your résumé, c. 27 weeks
flags go up, says John A. Challenger, chief d. 6 months
executive of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas. Companies wonder why someone hasn't 2. Why do you think professional people and
hired you and question your motivation. "You have to management average longer periods of out
keep your attitude together and stay upbeat, even of work than the average occupations?
when you are feeling in the dumps," says Challenger.
3. Why is it more difficult to find employment the
Job hunters have to be flexible these days. According longer an employee has been out of work?
to New York-based outplacement firm DBM, which
conducts an annual poll among job seekers, 85% of
executives who landed new jobs in 2002 switched 4. Why is it important to always to keep an
industries and 50% switched job functions. The best updated resume` on hand?
opportunities appear to be in such areas as health
care, education, defense and security, as well as in 5. What industries have the best job
the federal government. Companies that are hiring opportunities? Why?
include Johnson & Johnson (nyse: JNJ - news -
people ) and Unisys (nyse: UIS - news - people ).