Run Your Own Race

In a job search as in every day life, many of us (notice I included myself!) spend too much time thinking about other people's situation being better than our own. I would venture to say for most of us, we often compare ourselves to those we perceive as more fortunate than those less fortunate.

I heard a great metaphor for this tendency and how to deal with it from Tim Allen, who raced cars for 9 years. He said that in all areas of life, he tells himself to "Run His Own Race." As he explained it, in life as in racing cars, don't look at who is behind you, as you will not be looking forward. And, don't pay too much attention to who is in front of you, as it distracts from what you need to be doing. The concentration needs to be on yourself, and what you are doing!

In other words, "Run Your Own Race."

All the Best and "Always Be Careering",

Mark

We're Mad as Hell and We're Not Going to Take it Anymore!

I'm generally not political or an activist, but the unemployment and underemployment crisis in our country is receiving short shrift in both Washington and the media. We as citizens need to make some noise and let the politicians know how critical this issue is to us. And, the closer we get to the 2010 elections, the more they'll listen.

Let's take a snapshot of where we are right now:

Unemployment: 10.2%

Underemployment: 17.5%

Jobs eliminated since 12/07: 7.3 million

Unemployed over 6 months: 35.76%

Additional jobs needed to absorb new workers: 27.6 %

Unemployment ages 16-19: 27.6%

Average jobs available per job seeker: 1 in 6

Jobs created/saved by US Stimulus Package: 640,329 (Target is 2.5-3.0 million created)

President Obama recently said we need "swift and bold action" to address this issue. We need Washington and the media to prioritze and accentuate what is really important to our country--regardless of party lines or petty in-fighting on less worthy issues.

Let the politicians know that unless they start addressing this crisis and propose bold action, during the next election their jobs will be elininated!

To find out the website and contact information of your representative in Congress, go to:

http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.shtml

Write to your representative, and often. And, let's send a consistent message by ending each e-mail or letter with: "A job for me soon, or no job for you soon."

Best,

Mark

Constant Contact

In our current job market, it is estimated that candidates find up to 80% of job interviews through networking from list of contacts. No big surprise there, because anyone who has ventured out to look for work has been advised to network, network, and then...network.

The discouraging thing I hear from clients is that many feel they have "tapped out" their list of contacts. Well, that's probably not the case. A social network search of past employers, schools or other affiliations on LinkedIn, Classmates.com, etc. will jar your memory and bring to mind names of people you have not thought about in years! And, the longer you are around (I'm speaking about oldies but goodies like me right now!), the greater chance you have let some contacts fall between the cracks. I can barely remember what I ate for breakfast, so how am I supposed to remember some guy that sat in the cubicle next to me humming show tunes 15 years ago who is now an executive (still humming, I bet)

In reverse, if a name of a former colleague, alum or gym rat partner pops into your head and you can't locate him or her....Google or Bing! Not just his/her name but add any reference or subject you connect with him. I found a guy who lived across from me in my freshman college dorm who loved baseball...I found him working in the HQ of Sports Authority! I'm not kidding! It works.... Please...Keep at it...And, as always, A.B.C.: Always Be Careering!