The Reality of Job Postings

If you are a jobhunter focused on internet job postings, you might be feeling frustrated by the lack of "deal flow" -- i.e., responses, interviews, offers.  Here's why.  Scope this infographic from The Wall Street Journal in a story today on Your Resume vs. Oblivion. 

Thus, when outplacement firms and campus career office expound the gospel of personal relationships and networking as a means to finding a new opportunity, it is a message to heed!  Get in there and sell yourself to a company before a position is formalized and posted to the world!

In a down market, the glut of resumes submitted for jobs posted accelerates. It doesn't mean that all applicants are 100% qualified for the job. But it means the selection process becomes cumbersome. And, with automation as a solution on the hiring side, the process also becomes less personal.


Large companies with significant talent needs at the non-executive level have built hiring machines that rival military invasions.  They have invested millions in systems that rely on sorting and key word searches.  They have leverage in negotiating for better pricing to post jobs in various on-line venues and spider consolidaters, not to mention their own websites.

Entrepreneurs and middle market companies have a greater challenge when going to market for talent.  They typically have no dedicated HR resource with up-to-date hiring savvy and budgetary prowess.  It is not cost-effective to do so when you are hiring in fewer numbers. 

Yet a wrong hire in a smaller company has a bigger impact.  The downturn has a double-edge impact.  Just because there is an abundance of talent doesn't mean that it's easy to find The Perfect Fit.
Front-end targeting, planning and messaging will dramatically and favorably influence the result -- whether
the hiring decisionmaker uses a search firm or takes the do-it-yourself path. 

Who can help smaller enterprises navigate?  Watch for a new breed of expert:  The Talent Concierge. 

Kind of a middleware service offering.  Less investment/commitment than a full premium-priced retained search.  Empowering improved results from lower-cost contingency firms who operate on speed and volume -- by providing specific input/criteria/messaging that is customized for you.  Or enabling low-cost/no-cost do-it-yourself, with a spin of strategy and savvy.

WSJ: Should you Relocate Before you have a Job?

I am featured in The Wall Street Journal in an article entitled The Next Best Career Move:  Actually Moving.  Writer Liz Garone did an outstanding job illustrating the premise with success stories of people who have put the cart before the horse, i.e., moving before they have a job.

It takes targeting, strategy, research -- and guts.  But if you are in a geography that is lackluster in career opportunities -- with a glut of talent competing for few slots -- it makes all the sense in the world to reposition and catapult yourself into a more robust, career-enhancing economy. 

Look at the cumulative boost in earnings that could accrue throughout your career.  More is better than less in terms of what you will need to fund retirement.  And opportunity breeds opportunity.

Some excerpts from the WSJ piece:

So far the trend is visible at either end of the job spectrum: from senior-level job seekers who have a financial cushion to weather the costs of the move and the following transition period to more junior-level job seekers, who have fewer fixed expenses and can move easily.

Nancy Keene, a director in the Dallas office of executive search firm Stanton Chase, calls it the "act local/be local" phenomenon, in which job hunters are doing whatever they can to appear to be—or become—part of a community. It's a career move that—if executed right—can be a good investment. "People are looking to reposition for the next phase of their career," she says. "If you're going somewhere with a robust and diversified economy, it's a pretty safe bet." 

Some who can't afford to make the move are giving the illusion of being local by renting a mailbox, getting a local cellphone number, and staying with friends and family nearby to attend networking and industry events, Ms. Keene says.

I speak from personal experience.  Moving to Texas at a time when the Rust Belt was struggling was a smart and strategic move that dramatically changed life for the better.  Both of my sisters followed me to Dallas where they also launched successful careers.  Here is a link that describes my own relocation in D Magazine's Why We Love Dallas cover story.

Here are some tips to forge your own path-to-prosperity:

1. Thoroughly research companies in your sector.
2. Monitor corporate news in the local media and business publications of your target location.
3. Get your resume into the databases of executive search firms as a form of ''passive marketing.''
4. Reach out to your networks of college alumni and former work colleagues for insider perspectives, referrals and introductions.     
5. Make the most of in-market visits.  Stay with family or friends.  Have a full schedule of meetings, interviews and networking activities.
6. Be sure that your social media listings (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.) are consistent with how you are presenting yourself, location-wise.
7. Select a realtor who is well-rooted in the market for information on transitional, rental and even housesitting possibilities.

Other excellent resources:

• Best/Worst states for employment -- from DailyBeast.com
• Inbound migration statistics
• North Texas growth metrics -- from the brilliant Michael Cox, director of SMU's O'Neil Center for Global Markets and Freedom

I am a big fan of the brilliant author and thought leader Marshall Goldsmith.  In his new book Mojo, he dedicates an entire chapter to the topic That Job is Gone! Many people are hoping to wait out the return of the market, but many of the jobs and industries are gone for good.

If you are weighing the possibilities of undertaking a relocation on your own, Marshall offers inspirational tools and metrics, balanced with the splash of cold water reality that can help in your decisionmaking process.