Cracking a tough job marketGetty Images/iStockphoto/Getty Images/iStockphoto
The past year has been frustrating for many Canadians in the job market, and it isn't likely to end soon. A new report from Manpower predicts that employers will remain cautious about hiring in 2012, as they wait to see whether the economy has truly turned the corner.
This is a good time for a reality check, experts say. If you're searching for a new position, you need to readjust your focus, and your approach to the career hunt, based on definite trends:
Postings are rare: Move quickly
Being well connected, both in your business network and in social media, is crucial because more positions are being filled by word-of-mouth referrals or online searches, rather than job postings, said Warren Lundy, partner with executive search firm Feldman-Daxon Partners Inc. in Toronto.
"Openings that do get posted are being filled much more quickly. Where it would have been eight weeks in the 1990s between a job posting and a hiring, it's now sometimes only a week," Mr. Lundy said. "And employers may get hundreds of applicants to choose from."
Because of the sheer volume of interviews involved, most hiring managers are doing initial contacts by phone, or on Skype, he said. So it important for applicants to practice sounding confident on the phone and groom their online presence.
Employers are cautious
Hiring managers have become more fastidious, said Geoff Bagg, president of the Bagg Group, a Toronto-based staffing and recruiting company. "The days when hiring managers may have willingly taken a chance on a diamond in the rough, or been open to gambling on a person's potential, are over," he said.
"A wrong hire is costly ... Companies would rather leave the position vacant than fill it with someone who is not a good fit."
This means candidates must address the hiring manager's fears directly, he said. Get ready for the interview by asking yourself the same questions the person behind the desk will ask: "Prepare to answer, with hard evidence, questions such as: What would the employer consider risky about hiring me? How can they be sure I will deliver? How can they be reassured I will fit with the team?"
Middle management is shrinking.
Many middle managers have been searching, and waiting, for the perfect job and the premium salary, said Sharon Graham, president of Toronto-based consultancy Graham Management. But that's a dangerous approach.
"There is a real risk in holding out for that perfect job that may no longer exist because organizations are still streamlining, and not replacing jobs that have gone vacant, particularly in middle management," she said.
"If you're having difficulty finding the job you want, you may have to swallow your pride and take a position with a lesser title or lower pay just to keep yourself going."
She added that it is better to have a job while searching for something else, because "recruiters are more attracted to employed people than to unemployed."
There is a risk, of course, in aiming for a job for which you are overqualified: The employer may be concerned that you're only taking it as an interim job. "You must make it clear in discussions with the employer that you're taking a position you believe will let you excel in your goals and move up when the opportunity arises," Ms. Graham said.
Your job is your classroom
Organizations are offering fewer options for professional development to enhance your skills and marketability. Opportunities to take outside training courses or to further your education with an MBA are declining, said Liane Davey, a principal with Knightsbridge in Toronto.
"Employers have become less willing to pay for [such programs]and have fewer resources to replace you while you're away for training," she explained.
So in the coming year, she said, you should think less about classroom learning and more about taking on stretch assignments and gaining knowledge from mentoring in your workplace. And consider volunteering to be involved in solving "the messy, dirty challenges that are facing your business."
Flexibility pays off
In this job market you should be more open to possibilities for contract opportunities, because they can be stepping stones to more permanent positions, said Franca Salvador, managing director of executive recruiter Pathway Management Solutions in Toronto.
Many organizations are facing immediate challenges because of a reorganization or a new line of business, but may not be ready to hire staff on a long-term basis. Contract work offers an opportunity for companies and workers to each test drive the other and decide whether they want to make a permanent commitment. "In a contract experience," Mr. Salvador said, "you can showcase your skill set – and you become an insider."
THE HIRING ALTERNATIVE
What's one of the fastest-growing fields of work for people aged 18 to 24, and those over 55?
According to Deborah Sweeney, owner of Los Angeles-based MyCorporation Business Services, it's self-employment.
Ms. Sweeney, whose company has offices in Canada, predicts that hiring won't show real signs of shaking off the recession until at least the end of 2012. And even when Canadian companies start hiring again in earnest, opportunities won't be the same as in the past.
That's because employers have learned that it can be less expensive to contract work to consultants than to hire full-time specialists.
The biggest opportunities for self-employment will be in Web-based businesses, consulting and sales, she said. These types of businesses "have low barriers to setting up, and being on the Web extends your potential client base globally."