Commongood Careers

Stories from the Recession: Hired in ‘09

The recession that began in December 2007 has grown into the longest stretch of high unemployment in the past quarter century.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ November 2009 data shows that nearly 8 million jobs have been lost during the recession.  However, the total number of unemployed persons, and the unemployment rate, are edging downward. 

There has been much discussion about the face of unemployment in America, but there has been little attention paid to successful job seekers.  What set them apart?  What did they do differently?

Here are four profiles of professionals, each at a different stage in their career, who have successfully secured new positions during the recession.  Together, they share some strategies that you can implement today in your own job search.

Networking Her Way to Success

When Jen Porter started her job search in April 2009, she had a safety net that few could boast – fall 2009 acceptances to several MBA programs.  One even offered deferred enrollment until fall 2011.  However, Jen wanted to gain real-world experience before business school.  With those acceptances in her back pocket, she set off to find a position in finance or micro credit. 

Through networking, Jen was able to find her position with New Profit, Inc. in under three months.  What was the secret to her success?  “[I was] focused.  I knew what I wanted and did not go for the mass approach.  I only applied to jobs through networking.”

According to Jen, her position is the ideal match for her, “[because] … it is where I want to be in terms of the non-profit space … Second, it is a good culture fit – a smaller, more entrepreneurial environment that will challenge me as I prepare myself for my next step, which will be business school in 2011.”

Jen suggests a few tips for effective networking:

• Network continually: Don’t wait until you are looking for a job
• Follow-up: Email 1-2 days after your first introduction
• Make meaningful connections:  Seek learning opportunities, not just contacts

Seeking Advice from Peers and Mentors

In December 2008, Kristin Wright realized that while she loved her job, there was minimal opportunity for growth.  With that knowledge, Kristin started researching organizations with child-centric missions and setting up strategic informational interviews within her network.  As a result, she found an ideal opportunity.  By May 2009, she was working in her new position with Youth Villages.  This position offered her the chance to create systemic societal changes for children and families, while allowing her to stay in the Greater Boston area. 

Kristin feels that her new position is the right match for her because, “… it offered exciting opportunities to grow professionally [and] to fine tune and utilize my skills in a new way.  First and foremost, it was the mission and the people.  Beyond that, it was knowing that I could contribute to something great.” 

When participating in informational interviews, Kristin follows these best practices:

• Ask professionals, at the same level as the position you are interviewing for, how to position yourself
• Ask mentors to identify your transferable skills
• Interview the company while they interview you – Do they meet your needs?

Marketing Transferable Skills, Especially When Switching Sectors

Since graduating from business school in 2005, Amy Fannon has had a dynamic career path.  Business school led to management consulting, which led to a small start-up.  But, in May 2009, Amy realized she needed to find a new position when the start-up’s funding fell short.  She received an offer from Playworks a few months later.  Amy reflected on her job search, saying, “I was super fortunate to come upon the opportunity at Playworks early on in my searching, so I luckily did not feel like I exhausted the options of what was available.”

As someone who recently made the transition from the corporate to the non-profit world, Amy reflected on what makes this position the right one for her, “I am doing meaningful work … But it also goes back to the fact that the requirements for the position played so well to my strengths.  It makes it more exciting.”

Amy has the following advice for sector switchers:

• Before you start your job search, work with someone to define your strengths
• When transitioning into a new field, address how you would leverage your past experiences and skills
• Always keep your career direction in mind, even when you aren’t job hunting

Exploring New Career Horizons

By January 2009, the economy had significantly changed his current organization’s goals.  Instead of growing, the organization was now focusing on sustaining.  That was difficult for Matt Colburn, who was the “new project guy.”  With the full support of his boss, Matt started a job search and secured his position with KIPP Delta by June 2009.

It had been almost a decade since Matt’s last job search, and a lot had changed.  “I was finding organizations and jobs that I did not know existed.  I fell in love with a lot of these.”  However, this sometimes led to disappointment, “I found that if I didn’t know anyone in the organization my application would go into an applicant black hole.”

During his search, Matt opened himself up to new areas of focus – like education reform.  He also started looking in outside of Washington, DC to smaller cities across the country.  His position with KIPP Delta is a fit for him because, “… it’s a great combination of hands-on operational tasks and strategic management [and] that translates into focused variety.  I have always been drawn to organizations that are growing and I enjoy building systems to bring those operations to scale.” 

When embarking on a job search after a number of years, Matt suggests the following tips:

• Enthusiasm counts! You must show how excited you are about the job
• Draw on your entire contact network during your search and leverage it to open doors and increase your network size
• Keep your resume updated with your current roles and accomplishments

Successful job seekers, like the ones profiled here, know how important it is to do their research, analyze their strengths and weaknesses, seek the advice of mentors and peers, and prepare a strategy before they even write a cover letter.  Approaching your job search with a clear strategy will maximize your time and effort and eventually lead to success.