A recent survey by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (CG&C) showed that 16% of respondents felt that their job searches will take more than one year. The survey was conducted among approximately 500 callers during their 24th annual two-day free job search advice call-in held December 28 and 29. According to the callers surveyed by Challenger, the hardest part of the job search is obtaining interviews.
Also shared by the CG&C survey were:
1. The overall confidence among job-seeking callers was much lower than a year ago. Only 12.4 percent felt they would be able to find a job in one to three months, down from 27 percent in 2008. The percentage of callers who thought it would take four to seven months to find employment dropped from 31 percent to 12.2 percent. The 15.5 percent who felt the job search would take more than 12 months far out numbered the 5.5 percent who were than pessimistic a year ago.
2. Along with the lack of optimism, there was a considerable amount of uncertainty. Forty-eight percent of callers this year were unsure about how long their job search might take, compared to 25 percent in 2008.
3. Many job seekers who have experienced prolonged unemployment. In fact, the median length of joblessness among callers was approximately one year. Nationally, the median length of unemployment stood at 20.5 weeks as of December, according to government data. That is the longest duration of joblessness in Bureau of Labor Statistics data going back to 1967.
4. Statistics show that there are four million workers hired each month, but there are about 15 million people vying for those openings.
5. Nearly 50% of the callers surveyed said they would take a position for less pay. This may expand the number of potential opportunities, but job seekers should also consider expanding their searches to include a wider variety of industries or look in different parts of the country.
Unfortunately, this all points to a systemic problem that I have experienced. That is most job seekers are approaching their job search the wrong way. They may send a lot of resumes both blindly and even to ads, but they have not come to realize the mantra that I espouse, “resumes don’t get you hired, you do!” What I mean by that is a resume most times will only get you screened out. Instead I recommend networking to land your next job. Please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/interview-preparation-tips/index.php and click on both #2 and #3 for more details. The essence of what I teach in those two videos is to not just work hard, but work smart! That includes finding creative ways to meet key decision makers during your networking process in order to generate interviews. Please watch and digest both videos, which will provide a lot of helpful tips to assisting you in landing your next interview.
