Introduction To Todays Job Market

Introduction to Today’s Job Market

Presented by LaunchPad Careers

© 2009 LaunchPad Careers, Inc.

Overview

• Understand the job market of the past: GDP drivers, hiring trends, and the workforce.

• Analyze the changes in the market and workplace.

• Learn how these changes affect you and your job search.

• Position yourself to take advantage of recent technological advances: personal branding, social networking, and searching and applying for jobs.


“For tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

– African Proverb


Basic Facts About the Job Market

• Unemployment is currently at 8.9% nationwide and at 11.3% in California.

• Employment is a trailing indicator of economy.• Globalization and trade impacts the job market.• The US economy of today is a service and

financially driven economy.


Who Moved the Cheese?

• Learn to adapt to change.• Learn to anticipate change.• Don’t get complacent as you

move along your career path.• Continually seek out new

opportunities.


“If you do not change, you can become extinct.”

−Spencer Johnson, M.D.

The Job Market of the Past


Job Market of the Past

• Economy of yesterday was built on goods we grew, manufactured, exported, etc.

• Wealth creation was based on tangible ownership.

• The educational system developed employees.

• Companies and businesses had defined benefit plans.


Current GDP Drivers

1.2

1.9

4.4

11.7

12.32.9 4.2

20.4

12.2

7.93.712.62

Agribusiness

Mining

Utilities

Construction

Manufacturing

Trade

Transportation

I.T.

Finance

Services

Education & Healthcare

Entertainment

Govt.


GDP Drivers

• Manufacturing output has continued to decrease as a percentage of the GDP.

• Economy increasingly reliant on finance related industries and the service sector.

• Current recession is directly related to a natural deleveraging of the economy and was caused by a collapse of the financial sector.

• Globalization has shifted our competitive advantage.


Approach to Hiring

• Economy more self-contained.

• Businesses hired unskilled workers and trained them.

• Companies provided more benefits and sought to cultivate employee loyalty.

• Unions formed to protect workers’ rights and ensure a measure of safety.


• The 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s brought a wave of company consolidations.

• Conglomerates emerged.• $2 trillion worth of corp. assets

changed hands from 1993-1999.• Consolidations were often fueled

by cheap and easy money. Junk Bonds Easy Credit Inflated Stock Market

Industry Consolidation


Famous Too Big to Fails(The Past)


Famous Too Big to Fails(The Present)


The Crash

Bernard Ebbers CEO of WorldCom

Ken Lay, CEO of Enron

Dennis Kozlowski CEO of Tyco


Causes and Effects of ConsolidationsCauses

• Business seek larger market share

• More opportunity to buy competition

• Seek to reduce costs through leveraging efficiencies

Effects• Productivity gains • Cost savings• Higher prices for

products or services• Elimination of

redundancies cause reduction in workforce


Not the Great Depression

Historical Unemployment Rate


Effects on the Workforce• Businesses viewed

employees as valuable “human capital.”

• During consolidations, companies look for cost savings from combining operations. Human capital is service

industry’s biggest overhead. Layoffs fastest way to reduce

overhead costs.


Human Capital

• Human capital is a measure of the economic value of an employee’s skill set.

• The term was coined by economist Theodore Schultz in the 1960s.

• Service-oriented economy requires companies to continually improve human capital and leverage it to enhance productivity gains.

• Not always considered a real asset.


Contingent Workforce

• Contingent worker is someone who works for a staffing company or as a 1099 contractor.

• This workforce has seen significant growth over past 20 years.

• Started with large companies and moved to small businesses.


New Working World Order


Old World New World

Large corporations were stable, provided longevity and great benefits.

Too big to fail just failed. Layoffs are used to maintain shareholder value.

Companies provided training and a path for career growth.

Companies use human capital just as other resources. Just in time.

People placed an emphasis on stability and loyalty over personal growth and development.

Companies are loyal to their shareholders and “worker-preneurs” are loyal to their personal goals.

Employees worked hard and were rewarded for that hard work.

Employees work hard, but will continue to look for greener pastures.

Career path was well defined.Career path may change numerous times, and is not defined by the corporation.

Job duties had a narrow and defined focus.Job description is undefined, and will change often and at times without notice.

How These Changes AffectYou and Your Job Search


How This Affects You

• Career Mapping and Planning• Industries and Professions• Personal Branding and Marketing• Resume and CV Writing• Identifying Opportunities• Networking• Pursuing Opportunities and Applying• Interviewing


Career Mapping and Planning

• Past: Paradigm of having long career with one company no longer exists.

• Present: Likely you will work at 3-5 companies over 15 years.

• Future: Expect to work for dozens of companies, and to change specializations a couple of times.


“As organizations reshape themselves to survive and compete in a global economy, the familiar employee-employer contract

has been broken. The drastically changing world of work demands a new social

contract–one that says we are all self-employed whether we work inside or

outside of the organization.”

– Cliff HakimWe Are All Self-

Employed© 2009 LaunchPad Careers, Inc.

The “Worker-preneur”

• Contingent worker, 1099 contractor or business owner who provides specialized services to one or multiple companies at a time.

• Focused on increasing their value to companies.

• Invests in education and knowledge to stay competitive.

• Specialized and flexible.


Industries and Professions

• Low-skilled manufacturing careers outsourced.

• Professions related to outdated industries phased out.

• Expansion of highly-skilled and global careers.

• Explosion of green jobs.


Slowing Industries

Source: “Eight Endangered Industries,” by Ernest Beck


Growing Industries

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics


The Future Is Green

• Potential for the next boom.• Cuts across many industries: Agriculture Automotive

Construction Finance Manufacturing

• Green innovation could attract private and public investment.

• More difficult to outsource.


Modernizing Healthcare

• Congress is preparing to overhaul the healthcare system.

• Aging population of “Baby Boomers.”

• Control costs through modernization and Health IT.

• More difficult to outsource.


Personal Branding

• Past: Job seekers didn’t need to create or promote their brand.

• Present and Future: Job seekers need to tailor skills to fit needs of employers.

• Wider reach through technology. Web 2.0


Resumes Version 1.0

• 1-2 pages

• Standard white paper

• Emailed, faxed or hand delivered

• Standard formats Experience and positions listed

chronologically

• Generic, not targeted


Resume Version 2.0

• Incorporates Web 2.0 features Graphs, charts Photos, video, audio

• Resides on the Internet

• Is a “living” document

• Directly links to websites and blogs


Searching for Jobs

• Web 2.0 has changed the way we look for jobs.

• Online job boards have replaced newspaper ads and taken the job search global.

• Many creative tools are freely available.

• Networking is still best way to find jobs.


Networking

• Fundamentals are still the same.

• Creates more value in relationships.

• Technology enables you to build fast and vast networks.

• New ways to communicate with your business or social networks, i.e. Twitter.


The Glass Ceiling

• Fewer social barriers to success than ever before.

• Businesses are looking to diversity products and services through human capital.

• “Old boys” network got old.

• Not about where you are from, it’s about what you can do!


Applying for Jobs

• More companies are taking the entire application process online.

• Advantage: You have the ability to apply to more jobs, faster.

• Disadvantage: Greater competition for same jobs, places onus on personal branding and marketing.

• Sophisticated screening technologies.

• More personality-based screening.

• Companies are tracking applicants digitally.


Interviewing

• Performance, competency based interviews replacing traditional approaches of asking about strengths and weaknesses.

• More intrusive screening and background checks.

• Technological advantage goes to the better informed.

• Success will depend less on I.Q. and more on E.Q.


Summary• Job market reflects changes in the economy as it relates

to innovation, technology, and globalization.• Your success depends on an ability to adapt to changes.• Industry merger mania, consolidation, and globalization

led to evolution in today’s workforce.• From company, career-employee to “worker-preneur.”• Marketing and advertising not just for companies.

Personal brand will increase your human capital value.• Throw away generic resume. Develop targeted resume.• Network to leverage relationships and opportunities.


Any Questions?
