Micro Careers

The common view has been that we have one career. Typically, it was defined by both our occupational field-we are an attorney, a salesperson or a logistics professional-and our employer-we work at IBM or at Coca- Cola. Although we were often told otherwise, many of us believed that we would spend our entire career working for that one or, at most, two or three different organizations. In other words, we were convinced our careers would be relatively stable and long lasting.

While that was probably not true in the past, it is definitely not true today. This Great Recession has changed the nature of our careers forever. I know you don’t want to hear that. It’s hard enough to find a job in the current economic environment without some putz telling you that the rules of the game have now changed. But they have. And sticking our heads in the sand won’t undo what has been done.

On the other hand, if we can learn the new rules quickly-if we can get our arms around them and figure out how to play by and win with them-we can turn today’s difficult situation into a much better one. We can capture the upside in a down economy. We can put these new rules to work for us so we can find the work we want and hang onto it.

So, what are these new rules? They are a response to the traumatic and wrenching devastation of business now underway in this country and around the world. From GM to Citigroup, from Hertz to Microsoft, employers are shedding jobs and the workers who held them. These are not, however, your father’s or mother’s layoffs. They are not reductions in force that will eventually be replaced by rehiring in force. They are, instead, reductions in structure. The American employer is becoming leaner and determined to stay that way.

This shift in organizational philosophy holds several implications for those of us in the workforce.

First, there will be far fewer permanent jobs available to us. Companies will shrink down to a relatively small number of core roles and hire very selectively to fill them. Gone are the days of offering a position to a qualified applicant. Today and for many tomorrows to come, only the best qualified candidate for each opening will get the nod.

Second, employers will increase their hiring for “defined outcome positions.” Unlike traditional contract or project work, these situations will have the look and feel of permanent jobs, but have a fixed duration determined by the accomplishment of a specific objective established by the employer. Defined outcome positions will have the same organizational prestige and seniority as core jobs, but without the commitment to long term employment.

Third, employers will attempt to be much more nimble and quick acting. The competitive dynamics of a highly integrated, global marketplace have shortened the life cycle of products and services, sales and marketing strategies, and the organizational staffing requirements that flow from them. The kinds of talent required to execute an organization’s business plan last year or the year before may be-indeed, often will be-entirely different than those it needs today or tomorrow.If those are the new rules, how do we play them?

The answer is as simple as it is challenging. We will have to shift our own employment philosophy. We must change the way we think about our careers. We have to accept that they are no longer relatively stable or long lasting. From now on, our careers will be episodic and short. They will be “micro careers.”

Micro careers are defined by two kinds of impermanence:

Instead of working for one or two employers over the course of a thirty year career, we will now be employed by 10-15 organizations over the course of a fifty year career. We are living longer even as the staffing needs of employers grow shorter and less enduring.

Instead of working in a single occupational field, you will work in 3-5 different professions. They may all draw on a common foundation of expertise, but each will require a specific and additional set of knowledge, skills and abilities.This continuous changing means that we can no longer aspire to be complete and fully formed workers. The old industrial era paradigm of moving from novice to journeyman to master is over. In today’s knowledge-based economy, only masters survive. So, our new strategy must be to act as “masters-in-progress.” We must never stop moving toward a better, more capable, more effective version of our best selves.

Now, I acknowledge that such incessant self renewal is a new and potentially uncomfortable way of working for some, maybe even many of us. We worked hard to get to a certain point in our careers, and now, we would like to coast. We would like to sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor. And that’s no longer possible. In the 21st Century workplace, managing a successful career is like riding a bicycle. We can coast for a short period of time, but we’re going to have to peddle and sometimes peddle very hard if we want to keep from crashing.

While that may be difficult to accept, there are some advantages to this situation. It enables us to escape from the imprisonment of dull jobs and dead end employers. No employment situation is forever and as long as we keep preparing ourselves for what’s ahead, each new job is a chance to move on and up. We get to start fresh on a regular basis, so mistakes are less harmful to our progress and risk is less dangerous. We have, in short, more freedom and opportunity than we have ever had. That’s the key point we should remember. Because that’s the power and the promise of micro careers.

And then there are those who literally have nothing. Zero. No job, the cushion bank account is gone. No house. Soon no car. Families moving in together, out of state, out of country. For those who have tapped every network, every connection, applied to every job and still ending up with nothing…well it is mighty tough to stay optimistic. But that is what I want to talk about. Optimism. If your back is pushed right up against the wall and there is nowhere to go, one of two things happens. You survive. Or you don’t. And the human animal has an incredible will to survive. So, let’s, for a second, imagine that you are that 45 year old, 50 plusser, 65 and counting, and you know in your gut that you likely will not get your next job. What the heck do you do? Most of us don’t die. We don’t choose to die. We choose to survive. And in that moment of the back up against the wall, in that spirit of survival, comes a spark of something. Creativity. Inventiveness. Determination. Call it what you will, but underneath it all is the optimism of survival. The knowledge that if you just keep on putting one foot in front of the other, you will actually end up somewhere.

I’m so inundated by email, I don’t usually read my “Oprah” e-newsletter, but today, a headline caught my interest and I hopped over to the personal finance page.  And darned if there weren’t some good tips and pointers there that got MY juices flowing.

I started my own business because I knew that I would need to, one day. And every day, as I build that business, I feel optimistic, that it will continue to grow, as long as I keep moving in the right direction. So I understand, deeply and sincerely, every letter that I get from someone who finds themselves at the end of their employment rope — either knowing they will lose their job, or realizing that now they HAVE lost their job, the odds of finding another one are more than challenging right now.

My business wears two hats — one is consulting for small business. The other is a growing pet care business. The consulting lets me see where businesses WILL spend money right now. The pet care business shows me who is working really long hours to hold onto their jobs, who is travelling, and how people are vacationing. From the grass roots hill where I sit, I can feel the tinglings of the coming together of the Obama plan. Even though my own credit card company lowered the limit on one of my cards for no reason I can see (I have a top FICO score) and pay on time, in other areas credit is starting to loosen up. A house around the corner from me just sold. Another leased out. Both at fair market values.  Clients are starting to travel again…not internationally, but regionally and even nationally.  Housekeepers that were let go are showing up again.  As well as small home renovations.  

What goes down has to come back up again, just as what went up came crashing down.  No one, no expert, really knows how to deal with all this mess.  But putting one foot in front of the other, whether in a straight line, a zigzag or a curve, as long as you keep moving in a somewhat forward motion, you’ll get there.  If you aren’t sure how to get that first step going, then see if you can pick up a few tidbits from this one article… a recession rescue plan from the always exciting,and almost eternally optimistic Suze Orman.   

It is impossible for me to look out over my garden and see spring blossoming all around me without feeling the optimism of growth. In my book, true value lies in relationship, not wealth. An optimistic outlook brings family and friends together, gets the creative juices flowing, helps with networking and with opening the window on all potential.  And putting your back into it, giving your future a good hard day’s work — either to secure your job, find your new job, or start a new business (and really — it doesn’t matter if you were an exec and have now started a company washing windows…green is green), feels very good, even if your goal keeps eluding you.

I guess I had an Oprah day.

What does that mean for California?  Well, for one, some people are just going to leave — move back to families in Minnesota, and White Plains, and Tuscon, where they’ll be able to recoup slowly while moving back in with parents, siblings, aunts, old friends.

When there is a severely stressful event or period of time, there are two types of stress that affect us.  There is unproductive stress — that is the type of stress that causes night sweats, anxiety attacks, heart palpitations and feelings of being completely overwhelmed.  We all know those.  In this crisis, this type of stress over a period of time (like we are experiencing now) can be destructive.  It erodes self confidence and zaps creativity.  People can be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness.

The other kind of stress is productive stress which causes a discomfort.  This productive discomfort has the opposite impact on us.  It provokes creativity and it can produce profound innovation.  

The difference between the two is a very, very thin line.  If you are an optimist by nature, then you might stay more on the productive side.  If a pessimist, it may not take much to push you to an anxiety attack. 

In this economy, which will continue to fallout for many, many months and years to come (likely to the end of 2010), the challenge is to push pride away.  If you are not embarrassed by your plight, then it becomes easier to seek innovative solutions.  It is a hard fall to be in your 50′s and be unable to find a job.  It is tough.  No doubt.  May take one or two years to find employment.  Possibly.  Probably.  However, if the jobseeker can push pride aside, it opens the door to conversations with everyone.  And if you can have a conversation with everyone you meet about your job search, then it is possible that someone will know someone who has a job opening for you to apply to. 

I spoke with someone the other day who didn’t believe in resources like Twitter or Linked In or Facebook.  The reality is that these communication vehicles exist and denying their power just limits your own abilities to connect with others worldwide.  In the Great Depression, people no longer greeted each other with “Hello, how are you?”  Instead they asked, “Are you working?”  Over the past few months, every conversation with friends now usually starts with “How’s your business doing?” or “Is your job secure?” and more often than not the answer isn’t very good. 

I suspect that within the next few months friends will start sharing innovative ideas that have arisen out of their productive discomfort and then we’ll see new businesses starting, that, as they grow, will start hiring the 11.2 or 12.6% unemployed.  The strength of the United States has always been with small business innovation.  It is just that the big guys got greedy.  But as that equalizes, I imagine great innovation surfacing.

Yes, it can be a very discouraging time for jobseekers, especially those in “youth”-centric fields, such as marketing, sales, creative …even retail.  If you spent your career climbing to the top of a sales ladder, or becoming a marketing maven and find yourself out of a job right now, well, you are in a big bind. 

There are just too many jobseekers vying for the limited number of available jobs.  However, no matter how tough, it is really important to stay encouraged, motivated and optimistic.  There are only a few ways to get a job.  The first is through a connection.  Most open jobs never even make it to a job posting.  So if there is a company you are interested in, do your best to find someone who knows someone at that company and try to make a connection in the department you are interested in.  If you keep in touch, then when a job opening comes up, you might be top of mind.

Early bird catches the worm.  Almost always.  With so many candidates vying for each opportunity, you need to get your resume in as close to first as possible.  While a recruiter is fresh, you might stand out in the pile, rather than when they are looking through the 200th resume.

Stand out.  If you are a Boomer or 50 Plusser, forget trying to showcase all your talents.  First reaction will be that you are…yup…overqualified.  Trim your resume to minimum best.  That means quantifiable accomplishments over the past 10 years.  Unless something directly relates to the job you are applying for from before that time frame, then really streamline or even ignore it on your “marketing” resume.

Be aware of the behavioral approach to interview.  You are likely used to the “tell me about yourself” type of interview.  Recruiters may now be including behavioral questions as a pre-qualifier to an interview — either in an emailable or online application, or on the first phone interview.  They are looking for content, not fluff.  And they’ll want honest, thoughtful answers.  If you are asked 3 questions, answer all three.  If they want a general answer, give a general answer.  If you are asked something specific (like, what are your 3 favorite things to do on a free day?), then be specific.  Don’t say too little, and don’t say too much.  But make sure that what you say is the best you can answer.

You are no longer competing against top dogs.  You are competing against every Boomer, every 50 Plusser, every college grad, every job seeker in their mid-twenties and thirties.  It is expected that you will have computer skills, know how to pull together a PowerPoint presentation, create an Excel spreadsheet, find info on the web.  So if you aren’t computer savvy, you must get savvy, no matter what level position you are looking for. 

That way when you are one of the 10,000 jobseekers showing up at a job fair, you have a chance of catching someone’s attention.

I’m bursting with emotion and thoughts today, so better grab your home-brewed cup of coffee (sorry Starbucks, but you’ve been off my list of daily expenditure for about a year now!) or caffeine-free tea before reading on.  It’s a long one.

The March unemployment rate was just released.  8.5%.  And April is predicted to be higher.  Because unemployment is the end result of an economic downturn (not the precursor), the fallout isn’t even close to settling.

To put this all in a microcosmic perspective,  as many of you know, I’m a small business owner after a 20 year corporate executive career.  In addition to business consulting, I own a pet care company, Pooch Buddies.  And even with slower economic times, I have to add in one person to my team — because those who do have jobs are worker harder and longer to keep their jobs.  The job I’m looking to fill is part time, with entry level pay, and when I’ve looked for hires in the past, my free ad on Craig’s List brings me about 15 good candidates over a few days. 

I placed an ad yesterday morning, and by the end of the day, had over 70 applications.  70 applications for one tiny, part time position.  If you were a small business owner,  imagine that your company has just placed an ad for onefull time (with benefits) opening.  How many resumes do you expect you’d receive?  I’ll tell you.  Likely up to one thousand.  For one position.

As a jobseeker, how would you stand out? 

Let me go back to my microcosm again.  Out of the 70 applications (so far), about 10 of them did not fill in all of the info I’d asked for on my feedback form.  They are disqualified right away.  About 3 gave far too much information.  They are out.  About 10 applicants live too far away.  They are out.  So out of 70, I’m now down to 47. 

Those 47 are all pretty similar.  They all answered my questions with care and interest.  All live in the geography that I service.  About 20 of the 47 give a very similar answer.  Almost word for word.  Nothing to make them stand out. 

So that takes me down to 27 interesting applicants (because I want the best I can get.)  Out of the 27 a few have a few time conflicts.  Some prefer only daytime work, some only evenings and weekends.  Means more work for me.  Out.  So now I’m down to 20.  Out of those 20, I’ll choose the 10 that appeal to me most.  Once I call them, I’ll interview the 7 best and choose 2 to background  and reference check.  If I don’t like either of those 2, then I’ll go back to my bigger pool and review the candidates I put aside from the “good” pool.

But for a minute, let’s look at the 4 candidates that stood out.  They emailed or called me directly in addition to submitting an application.  One is a definite no.  She was so concerned with her own needs and was so rude that there is no way I’d ever want to have her on my team.  (Knowing what not to do is just as important as knowing what TO do.)

Two were very genuine in their approach with backgrounds in animal care and a true love of animals (well, at least on the phone). 

And one called and emailed me before I’d ever put in an ad.  She found my site, called me twice, has a background with animals and coincidentally got in touch just a few days before I was planning on sending out the job posting. 

Now consider the job search efforts of 25 million.  Each job they apply to likely has close to 1000 applicants.  That is like throwing an online resume into an electronic puddle.  How the heck is a candidate going to stand out?  Especially when most jobs are filled through knowing someone who knows someone, who knows someone.  And most of  the someones you know are unemployed, about to be unemployed or work for companies that aren’t hiring.

It is critical to remember that even though so many are unemployed, there are still a lot of people employed.  There are not an excess of companies hiring…but there are SOME companies hiring.  This means any jobseeker must become a job detective or employment investigator.  Which brings me to an interesting concept put out in a book I just read, called “The Hourglass Solution: A Boomer’s Guide to the Rest of Your Life,”  by, Jeff Johnson and Paula Forman, both PhD’s.   Imagine our lives pictured as an hourglass.  Our midlife is the “waist” of the hourglass.  The concept is that at this pass-through point, we can get stuck.  The sand cannot pass through from the top of the hourglass to the bottom of the hourglass.  This especially rings true in this current job crisis.  Everyone desires and needs to work.  We’re all lumped together and now, effectively clogged up to get through this mid-point.  And unfortunately, the solution is NOT going to come from outside.  Especially for the Boomer and 50 Plusser, the solution is going to have to come from incredible creativity and ingenuity generated from a lifetime of accumulated experience, in order to find a job opening, get a job, or start a small business.  One of my guest writers, Corinne Copnick, read and reviewed the book for Gen Plus.  You’ll enjoy her viewpoint.  I think the concept is correct and certainly familiar. 

Bottom line is that we aren’t at the bottom line yet.  Unemployment will climb even higher.  New job generation will not be there for some time to come.  Even though there are some glimmerings of activity and hopefulness in the economy, the situation is still pretty bad.  My tax accountant did not ask me this year what I was putting away in my IRA.  He asked me if I was holding onto my house.  Same question he was asking all his clients this year.

 The reality is that we all have friends who are one week away from homelessness.  Some of you may be one week away from homelessness.  They…you…are all talented, incredible assets to a company that can hire them.   

These times of GREAT stress, call for GREAT ingenuity.  GREAT community and GREAT communal thinking and energy.  Remember the old adage: “United we stand, divided we fall.”  Our families and friends have moved across countries and continents over the past decades.  That era is ending.  Families are living together, again.  Sharing homes, sharing income, sharing creativity and business models.  OK.  So we’re at 8.5%.  We’ll go to 10% or even higher.  But maybe…just maybe…we’ll rediscover our internal resources rather than counting on external influences to keep us strong.

As far as product goes, sales may be starting as early as today.  You cannot get any information online, but if you have a Circuit City near you, you may want to see if you can get it to pick up the electronic you’ve been waiting for.  I’m suspecting that lines will be next to impossible today.  Circuit City liquidators expect to have all inventory sold and final doors closed by March.  Here is the official announcement:  http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html

My heart goes out to the employees and families of Circuit City…a retailer who after 60 years in business can’t get through this crisis, either.