In the past two years in the Human Resources (HR) industry, I have observed this phenomena. When the economic wave was strong, people rode that wave with confidence and insouciance. But when that wave crashed and the economic scene no longer fueled it, people became worried about security. This sounds terribly kindergarten level in terms of an analysis, but nevertheless it needs to be said. Recruiters and HR people such as myself, watched a cultural meltdown take place last year, in the faces of people walking into our office. We didn’t have to look at a single statistic or listen to CNN or any local station to know the nuances of the job market. People walking through our doors revealed the zeitgeist of society in just a few brief moments with them. Their anxiety, their concern for job security was enough to tell us what then followed. I observed countless many top level executive and industrial men and women of every field who could not now find a job whereas months before the jobs were there.
There is a wave in society, it’s a sort of cultural booms and depressions syndrome phenomena. It’s called by other names “recessions” and “depressions” but in fact, cultures are living breathing entities and they have their ups and downs and of course that is reflected in the work force.
One suggestion I want to make, after now having interviewed many top level professional people who suddenly found themselves without a job in a job market that was far scarcer than they had possibly known in decades –
- Don’t give up looking
- This is a time to focus on what you WANT. Goal orientation, not money motivation, should be part of your search criteria. If you just want a job to make money, then cast your sails and hope for the best, but that is like throwing yourself to the wind and counting on lady luck to bail you out. Unfortunately that gal can be a great disappointment. But if you want real security, sit down and ask yourself where do you want to be in the next ten or twenty years. Figure out what you want to accomplish in your life, and my suggestion is do NOT base it on money. Money is cheap. Goals and purposes are far more important in the long run. People who are following their goals usually have no problem with money, and if they do, they could care less because they are happy.
- Start building step by step towards either finding the job that fits those goals or starting your own business if that fits your goal-scenario better. NOW is the time to invest in you and your plans.
When the culture slips, as it is doing now, one has to fall back on oneself much more so than on “the system”. If the system continues to falter, you have to count on YOU to pull through. So find out what “YOU” want to accomplish and start building towards that. If you’re panicking about money, then focus harder on what you want to do, and how to accomplish it. Panic never made any money and it certainly never fed any stomachs and at the end of your life you won’t be remembering your paycheck, you’ll be thinking about “what did I accomplish in my life and did I accomplish what I wanted?”
A decent recruiter and HR man, or woman, will tell you the same thing. Figure out your goals, then charge the ramparts, and to hell with everything else.