When an animal displays a high level of intelligence and sociability, biologists and nature lovers praise the creature for its almost human qualities.  The inference is that human beings possess the most highly evolved brains of all the life forms on Planet Earth.  However, there is much that we can learn from the animal kingdom, particularly those of us who seek gainful employment in this lean economy.

Consider and contrast the ostrich and the chimpanzee.  The ostrich, at the first sign of danger, takes the most expedient route by burying her head in the sand.  While this strategy protects the most vital organ, the brain, it leaves the rest of the animal exposed to an untoward fate. It also effectively cuts her off from the rest of the herd (there is indeed safety in numbers).

The chimp is another tale.  A thriving member of his tribe, he is keenly aware of his environment, for it must sustain him as well as his family.  He senses every nuance of change in sound, light, odor, taste, touch, and temperature.  Interpreting change as potential danger, he explores outlying areas for safety as well as an abundance of resources that will enable him and his family to survive.  Once the new region tests positive, he gets the heck out of Dodge (or at least, the forest),

If the winds of change are blowing throughout your company, which animal will you emulate?  Rumors of downsizing, a merger, or change management and signs of decreased business equate, in your world, to modifications in the chimpanzee’s.   Most of us don’t enjoy change; it shakes us out of our comfort zones and shifts us onto an uncharted course.  Triggering our genetically encoded “flight or fight” response, your first reaction may be to bury your head in the sand and pray that the danger passes.  You may rationalize that you are one of the company’s oldest and most loyal employees, and may convince yourself that you are irreplaceable.  In this economy, the reality is that no one is irreplaceable.  Your safest bet, therefore, is to imitate the chimp.  Remain within the tribe and prepare proactively for change.

Your tribe consists of other business professionals with whom you must network to get wind of job openings.  Be creative and industrious, for contacts are virtually everywhere.  They are not only on major and industry-related job boards; they are on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.  They are your fellow college alumni and professors, and your former co-workers and bosses.  They are your local librarian, members of your Chamber of Commerce, your stockbroker, your banker, your hair stylist, and the group of volunteers with whom you erected that nice new house via Habitat for Humanity.  As the detective once told his protégé, “Someone, somewhere, at some time, heard or saw something.”  The more people you inform of your job hunt, the greater your chances of hearing about an opportunity.

Proactive preparation for an employment search includes an honest self-evaluation of your skills, strengths, weaknesses, achievements, and career-related likes and dislikes.  This knowledge will enable you to craft at least two different resumes and two basic but different cover letters. One set will target your industry; design the other to facilitate your entry into another field where your general abilities will have value.   With so many doors closing on job hopefuls, find a way to open others.

Maximize exposure of your skills and accomplishments.  Post your documents onto large, traditional Internet boards such as Monster and CareerBuilder.  Don’t neglect to post, also, on industry-specific boards as well as actual company (employer) websites.

If danger threatens to come calling in the form of a pink slip, rub the sand out of your eyes.   Be the intelligent problem-solver that always aims for higher ground. 

Commanding officers and enlisted service people in every branch of our military often strategize and live by an interesting and sound concept whose adage advises, “If you want to eat an elephant, eat it one bite at a time.”  Unless stranded on the African veldt or the jungles of India with the barest of supplies, our armed forces are not advocating initiating a giant barbeque featuring a pachyderm as the main menu item.  Rather, the United States military recommends that, when confronted with an enormous task, one should break it down logically and methodically into manageable parts and then tackle each portion one step at a time.

Thrust into this plummeting economy, job seekers can derive genuine benefit as well as emotional relief from this military strategy.  The task of job-hunting, when viewed in its entirety, appears overwhelming and even insurmountable.  When it becomes patently clear that the search for a new position is itself a full time job, many applicants press the panic button.  They immobilize themselves with fear, making little progress toward their goal or worse, running on an ever-spinning hamster wheel by approaching their search via tried and no longer always true methods.  If you number among the swelling ranks of the unemployed or soon to be unemployed, consider that these counterproductive methods include leaping directly into the job market the way that a person who cannot swim may jump into the deep end of the pool.

Viewed systemically and logically, the proper steps that you will wish to take in your job search include the following:

• A genuine, unbiased evaluation of one’s background and skills
• Understanding that your career has been marked with accomplishments, even if you were a member of a large team striving toward common objectives
• A true understanding of the state of the industry in which you may have maneuvered for many years
• Creatively assessing how and where your existing overall skills and strengths can dovetail and have true value via a new job title or a different industry
• Deciding upon the direction or directions of your search; meaning, knowing where you would like to see yourself
• Resolving what you will and will not do in order to achieve placement in a new job.  Will you pull up stakes and move to another State?  Will you accept a position that you may have held prior to your latest promotion(s )? Will you perform the same or similar functions of your last job for a notably lower rate of pay if the salary is bolstered by the provision of benefits, which you may have lost when your former job went away?
• Designing and preparing the strongest resume, cover letter, and follow up letter that you can either craft yourself or contract a well-established professional resume writing service to generate
• Networking, networking, and networking through every viable source, even the ones that you may feel uncomfortable, at first, accessing.  Networking opportunities include the following -
  - Internet job boards both massive (highly generalized) and niche (industry-specific or company-specific)
  - Business networking sites such as LinkedIn
  - Independent, recruitment-oriented sites
  - Social networking sites, including Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace
  - Expanding the scope of all potential leads by joining a charitable organization, connecting with former schoolmates and faculty at alumni events and whenever possible, employment-oriented meetings, and becoming a member of pertinent industry associations.
  - Alerting virtually everyone you know that you are seeking a new position. This includes vendors to whom you give regular business, as well as your priest, deacon, minister, or rabbi, your neighbors, and the parents of your children’s friends, to name a few.

Approaching your job search by way of this manageable, step by step approach, you will not only ingest the elephant more easily, you will see better results, and more of them, faster than you would have if you view the pachyderm as “biting off more than you can chew.”

Although Taylor’s public pep talk underscored both his devotion to his music and his commitment to landing a lucrative record contract, it also presented a dichotomy.  The kind of music that swept commercial radio represented a calculated, formulaic route too narrow to allow the undeniably talented and diverse, albeit unknown, artist to set off on a path of his own making.  Taylor understood that in order to get his foot in the door, he had to reinvent or repackage himself, balancing the primal need to remain true to his musical roots with the necessity to market himself to a broader audience.  As demonstrated by his song choices and as demanded by the judges throughout the Idol process, these were the decisions that informed Taylor’s strategy.

Although the three judges rarely achieved total consensus during the competition, they all emphasized that it was vital for each contestant to tell his or her unique story, to stand out artistically on the stage, to be memorable.  Interspersing the selections of older masters such as Sam Cooke with that of a gifted and little-known 21st century songwriter Ray LaMontagne, as well as widespread favorites such as Elvis and The Beatles, Taylor built a repertoire of soulful, emotional songs.  Over the weeks, they told the story of the type of music that he had moved him from the age of nine, when the pain and beauty of soul music compelled him to “liberate” an old Otis Redding LP from a friend’s parents’ collection.

Compressing three and four-minute radio-format songs into the two-minute offerings necessitated by Idol, he rearranged (“Taylorized”) each of the songs’ endings himself.  Telling his story in this manner, Taylor Hicks appealed to the broadest possible audience while maintaining the integrity of his musicality.  His eponymous, first post-Idol CD was fabricated on the premise of what he termed Modern Whomp:  a sound that honored the past while embracing more current forms of music.  With his newest CD “The Distance” sailing under the flag of his own Modern Whomp label, Taylor evolves his rich mélange, spinning the story of where he has been and where he is headed musically.  Integrating the sounds of yesteryear’s soul-blues luminaries with more contemporary genres, Taylor Hicks continues to reinvent himself, opening the widest possible markets for his genius and laying the foundation for continued success.

In this economic environment, employees, particularly older workers, would be wise to take a page out of the Idol winner’s book.  Instead of entering the job market like a singer walking cold into an audition, define and execute a strategy that will position you in the spotlight when reinventing yourself for potential employers.  Consider honestly the skills that you have acquired and honed over the life of your career, including both discernible and not so obvious abilities.  Proficiency in creating MS PowerPoint presentations, coordination of administrative aspects of clinical trials, and management of a medical office are examples of more palpable skills.  Not as obvious but no less valuable are, for instance, the ability to negotiate positive change with management, identify more efficient means of accomplishing departmental functions, and reduce overhead without cutting quality.  Viewing your skills in this manner will enable you to broaden your view of how you might best transition into a new industry or division.  And, this perspective will facilitate the telling of your own unique story.

In narrating your tale, do not neglect to bring to light some of your achievements.  As Einstein taught us, all things are relative; in order to illuminate your successes, you must first relate them as problems.  Explain the crux of the problem, how you perceived it, and how you turned it around.  If feasible, indicate measurable results (i.e., “Improved processing time by 20% over the previous system.”).

Bullet points on a resume are more effective than paragraphs for ease of digestion, but abbreviated bullet points cannot tell a story.  If this advice has you wondering if you need to write a book, you don’t.  The key is to encapsulate your story, using a reverse-chronological, functional (skills-based), or hybrid style of resume.  For most applicants, a two-page career synopsis is not only acceptable, it also enables narration of the salient factors that we have discussed above.

It is human nature to remember stories better than facts, so use this to your advantage when crafting your own memorable resume.  And don’t forget the importance of a cover letter.  As the precursor of the resume, the cover letter lends itself to writing a strong, succinct introduction.  By weaving a compelling story, you will prompt employers to schedule interviews during which you will have the opportunity to tell, in the words of the late, great Paul Harvey, “the rest of the story.”

In an ailing economy, a rigorous job search can be can frustrating and intimidating, particularly as some sources state that as many as 85% of available jobs never appear in newspapers or Internet job boards.  While the statistics vary, the truth underlying this certainty has long been known among astute job seekers.  Candidates hoping to expand their opportunities by way of this hidden job market need to identify its most viable points of access.

Every serious candidate is aware of the significance of networking through direct contacts in the business world.  By attrition, however, the swelling ranks of applicants either unemployed or confronting imminent unemployment has diminished the potential openings available via this avenue of traditional career networking.  Consider using different approaches to yield greater results.

One such approach is cultivating new contacts via participation in volunteer efforts.  Philanthropic and other organizations provide an opportunity for you to work with others sharing common goals and interests.  Affiliation in such organizations enables job seekers to widen their circle of contacts and create references who can vouch honestly for the work ethic and commitment of the applicant.

The addition of volunteer work also enhances the content and quality of one’s resume as it speaks of the candidate’s dedication to others and more.  Interviewers will often ask prospective employees to explain intervals between jobs.  Memberships in volunteer organizations allow candidates to initiate meaningful dialogues beyond the usual response of, “I was looking for a job.”  Volunteer work presents an opportunity to demonstrate allegiance to a worthy cause as well as to highlight one’s duties, including the communication, negotiation, organizational, and problem-solving skills that also have value in the business arena.  Such traits and community service are attractive to potential employers.

Another means of accessing the hidden job market is both obvious and often overlooked: the general media and the business press.  The most cursory, daily perusal of any Internet browser’s home page will reveal news of companies launching new products or services, entering into previously untapped markets, or instituting new management at the executive level.  These scenarios indicate firms undergoing transitions that may equate to employment opportunities.  The same may be said of organizations that appear to be increasing their advertising in broadcast or print media.  Seeking to create new consumers and elevate sales, these employers may require staff skilled in a broad array of job functions to support those initiatives.

Other business publications provide potential access points into the hidden job market.  Across diversified industries, most business publications compile lists as well as information concerning the largest and/or most rapidly growing companies in their area.  On an annual basis, this data will appear in books or catalogues of lists that serve as useful reference tools for serious job seekers.

Social groups present yet another career networking opportunity.  Should the group be affiliated with a specific profession or field, part of its mission is to disseminate knowledge of emerging industry trends; knowledge that is not only practical, it is often vital in one’s job search.  Although many such groups do meet face-to-face, virtual networking is increasing in popularity, bringing individuals together for the sake of common, non-job related interests.  Once formed in cyberspace, friendships often transcend the anonymous nature of Internet boards to coalesce into genuine, supportive relationships that can broaden one’s network of potential opportunities in the hidden job market.

In addition to the usual electronic job boards, recruiters accessing the Internet broaden their own search for viable candidates through sites such as LinkedIn, a resource that uses postings from a job aggregator known as SimplyHired.  Through these sites, applicants can create and revise profiles that can be viewed by recruiters, both internal and external to employers.  Obviously, serious job seekers will wish to establish and maintain profiles that portray them as professional and reliable.

On resumes, active memberships in general-professional or industry-related organizations indicate candidates’ desires to continue to hone their skills and build upon their existing base of knowledge:  mindsets focused on professional excellence and appealing to hiring managers.  In addition to the obvious, direct-networking benefits of professional or industry affiliations, employers sometimes conduct on-line searches of applicants by using such affiliations as part of their search criteria.

Through capitalization of schools’ career centers as well as direct contact with one’s old classmates, alumni associations also provide job seekers with a means of expanding their networking opportunities into the hidden job market.  However, alumni associations are not limited to institutions of higher learning; employer alumni associations are exactly what they sound like:  groups of people who once worked for the same company and who may be able to assist the serious job seeker with potential leads.

As with most things in life, one must strive for balance.  In desiring assistance from others to access the hidden job market, seek to return the favor.  Considerate response to your colleagues’ own needs is not only “the right thing to do;” it can also assist in maintaining and even expanding the networking lifelines that many find indispensable in advancing their careers.

In the 1978 blockbuster motion picture Superman, Lois Lane falls from a rooftop in New York City.  Recognizing her peril, the “Man of Steel” swoops down to catch the falling Lane.  “Easy, Miss. I’ve got you,” he says with his trademark grin.  “You, you’ve got me? Who’s got you?” replies Lane, looking down over his arms to the sidewalk hundreds of feet below.

In works of fiction, it seems that most all of the “good guys/gals” portrayed have a guardian or safety net protecting them from the direst consequences that life may present.  How about you?  In your life and, most particularly, your career, do you have a safety net?

For those employees, like corporate CEO’s and professional athletes, contract provisions negotiated by attorneys, agents, and/or the individuals themselves often contain clauses protecting them from losses of income due to illness, termination, or other misfortunes.  The “Golden Parachutes” and excesses of corporate executives are currently hot topics, as our American economy appears to be collapsing from greed and poor executive decision-making.  Pillars of the financial sector including Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, American International Group (AIG), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac are all stark reminders that any organization, regardless of its size, assets, or reputation, can be virtually bankrupted overnight.  If true of large, well-capitalized organizations, this fact applies even more so to less well-capitalized organizations and small businesses.

As an employee or entrepreneur, are you prepared for the possible loss of your source of income?  What would you do if the unthinkable happened?

It is a sad fact that few people today have savings that can carry them for an extended period.  And so, faced with prospects of losing their jobs or businesses, most people would be compelled to find other employment.  Many would reach the point of desperation, when they would accept employment out of their area of expertise, at significantly lower compensation, or both.

In fact, it has been projected that more than 80% of all people will experience a significant disruption at some point in their careers.  Of course, these disruptions usually occur when those affected least expect it and are most vulnerable.

How, then, might you prepare for such an eventuality?  As in virtually all areas of life, the antidote to potential career disruptions encompasses heightened awareness, planning, and preparation.

First, you must keep abreast of the performance and health of the company at which you are employed.  Ignorance is not blissful when your source of income is its subject.

Second, you must force yourself to put away money for that proverbial rainy day.  If you live long enough, it will almost certainly arrive at some point in your future.

Third, you need to cultivate and maintain a network of contacts relating to your business and career.  Should the day arrive when you are seeking employment, these people will be invaluable.

Fourth, you need to develop and maintain a resume that articulately, effectively positions and promotes you for potential employment.  And, the time to prepare that resume is now!

If you take heed and follow these recommendations, you will have built yourself a productive plan of action and safety net against potential career disruptions.  Then, you won’t find yourself in the position of waiting for “Superman” to rescue you.

Once family obligations have been fulfilled and you prepare for serious reentry into the job market, the solution to the employer’s preconceived notions is to alter those perceptions.  How do you accomplish this?  Depending upon the nature of the position you are seeking, you may be able to demonstrate during an interview that your absence from the workforce did not mean that you allowed valuable skills to lay dormant.

Start by listing and reviewing your exact duties in caring for your parents.  Then, assess their value in transitioning these skills to the workplace.  Did you speak with health care providers, serving as interface between physicians of diverse specialties in order to facilitate delivery of the best possible care?  Did you ensure that your parents took the correct medications and dosages at the proper times?  If so, you have demonstrated strong communicative abilities, meticulous follow-up, and a quality-oriented focus.  Did you schedule and/or transport your loved ones to medical appointments or diagnostic tests; did you get them there on time?  “Yes” proves that you possess the organizational and multi-tasking skills that employers appreciate.

Did you monitor your parents’ food supplies and other staples; did you purchase them?  Considering that the odds are high that they are on a fixed, if not restricted income, you must have shopped for the highest quality items at the lowest possible prices.  These abilities attest that you have sound analytical and decision-making skills.

What about your parents’ finances?  If you paid their bills, did their banking, managed their investments, and allocated their spending money, you are good at balancing payables against receivables to assure that financial obligations are met in a timely manner, budgets are maintained, and assets are preserved.

By understanding that your contributions were productive, and by articulating this in an interview, you will turn the interviewer’s negative perceptions into positives.  Considering you resourceful and responsible, he/she will view you as a valuable potential asset to his/her team.

When presenting resumes for government employment, however, you have no such “play,” since the requirements and duties for government jobs are very carefully circumscribed – allowing no deviation on resumes for federal positions.  Thus, your resume must either be targeted to the specific position, or you must otherwise ensure that the specific positions for which you submit your resume for federal employment match your qualifications and skills sets exactly.

With respect to the requirements for submission of government resumes and other qualifying information, federal hiring authorities often stipulate that you submit written responses outlining Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (otherwise known as KSA’s) along with your resume for government employment.  Written in response to specific questions, such as “How did you use written and verbal communication skills to meet your objectives in your prior employment?”, KSA’s are actually essays, varying in length from a single, meaty paragraph to one-half page or more.  When required to provide KSA’s accompanying your resume for federal career opportunities, know that you will be asked to submit answers to as few as four or five questions, or perhaps more dependent upon the position.  Your responses to these questions supplementary to your federal resume are critical in securing an interview.  If the preparation of KSA’s appears daunting to your mission of writing a resume for a federal position, please visit our “Government Resumes” page on this Website, as we are well versed in preparing KSA’s as well as writing resumes for government employment.

When applying for a federal position with your completed government resume and KSA’s, you will utilize the USAJobs.gov Website,  the Federal Government’s official jobs Site.  Once you have accessed this Website, you may search available opportunities and select those to which you wish to apply – submitting your federal resume and KSA’s as per the instructions provided.  As the process of submitting resumes for government careers will include a number of steps, perhaps more than you are accustomed in your private sector career submissions, be sure to allow ample time to complete the online process.

Once USAJobs.gov has accepted your resume for federal employment and/or KSA’s, the governmental agency to which you have applied will review your submitted materials and assess your qualifications.  Candidates who meet the minimum criteria will be ranked in order of score established for their submitted materials.  Some candidates, veterans for example will receive a preference value added to their scores.  Those who meet the basic requirements of the position to which they have submitted will then be referred to an individual with the authority to hire.  Should you fail to meet the requirements for the job that you have selected, the branch of government to which you have applied will notify you of this.

Expect to wait weeks for a response.  Every candidate considered for a federal position must undergo a background investigation, and this will take time.  Once you have received an offer of employment, expect an even longer delay if the position is linked to national security, for a job of that nature will demand a more in-depth background check.

To learn more about the process of preparing and submitting government resumes, you may wish to view other available resources.  The Veterans Career Network section of Military.com is an excellent resource for both veterans and non-veterans.  You might also look at our “Resources” page for other job-hunting tools not limited to government resumes.

The English poet John Donne expressed this sentiment almost four hundred years ago.  Yet, it seems particularly appropriate today.  Bad economic news abounds across the globe.  And, since domestic business in every nation is dependent upon global markets for significant portions of their revenues, the American sub-prime mortgage crisis has spawned a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions.

Recently, in the U.S., CitiBank announced plans to lay off more than 50,000 employees nationwide while senior executives of the three major domestic automobile manufacturers pleaded their cases before Federal legislators, desperate to obtain funding that would enable their corporations to stay afloat.  Added to the unprecedented federal bailouts of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, and AIG, these more recent developments indicate that as the “bell tolls” signaling layoffs and unemployment for millions of Americans, it also “tolls” an alarm for the rest of us who are still employed.

As the value of stocks plummet and consumers curtail all but the most vital spending, the axe continues to fall on the American workforce.  How solid is the company in which you are employed?   How safe is your job?

Like the early bird that catches the worm, the proactive job seeker stands a greater chance of securing employment than those who adopt a “wait and see” approach.   Armed for a targeted job search, a current resume and persuasive cover letter will enable you to get a head start on your competition.

As the economy spirals downward, don’t despair, act!  Develop a resume and cover letter that will maximize your strengths and entice potential employers to grant you interviews.  In that way, if the “bell tolls” for you, you will be prepared.