CRACKING THE NEW JOB MARKET American Management Association / www.amanet.org This page intentionally left blank Cracking the New Job Market The 7 Rules for Getting Hired in Any Economy R. WILLIAM HOLLAND FOREWORD BY BARBARA EHRENREICH AMERICAN MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION New York ◗ Atlanta ◗ Brussels ◗ Chicago ◗ Mexico City San Francisco ◗ Shanghai ◗ Tokyo ◗ Toronto ◗ Washington, D.C. American Management Association / www.amanet.org Bulk discounts available. For details visit: www.amacombooks.org/go/specialsales Or contact special sales: Phone: 800-250-5308 E-mail: [email protected] View all the AMACOM titles at: www.amacombooks.org This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the ser- vices of a competent professional person should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Holland, R. William. Cracking the new job market : the 7 rules for getting hired in any economy / R. William Holland. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-1734-8 (pbk.) ISBN-10: 0-8144-1734-5 (pbk.) 1. Job hunting—United States. 2. White collar workers—Employment—United States. 3. Professional employees—United States. 4. Labor market—United States. 5. Career develop- ment—United States. I. Title. HF5382.75.U6H65 2012 650.14—dc22 2011003880 © 2012 R. William Holland All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 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Printing number 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 American Management Association / www.amanet.org TO THE FUTURE Kasey, Sebastian, Leila, Preston, and Gabriela American Management Association / www.amanet.org This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Foreword by Barbara Ehrenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IX Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . XIII RULE #1 Always Demonstrate Your Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 RULE #2 Your Résumé: It’s About the Value You Create. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 RULE #3 Use Social Media and Other Sites for Job Leads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 RULE #4 Interviews: They’re About the Value You Demonstrate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 RULE #5 You Get What You Negotiate, Not What You Deserve. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 RULE #6 Career Choice Is More Than Following Your Passion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 RULE #7 The Best Way to Reenter the Job Market Is to Never Leave It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 American Management Association / www.amanet.org VIII CONTENTS Appendix A:Helicopter Parenting Is a Good Thing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Appendix B:Financial Planning for New Career Realities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Appendix C:Applying the Job-Search Rules to Worldwide Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 Appendix D:Example of a Functional Résumé. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 American Management Association / www.amanet.org FOREWORD I first met Bill Holland in 2005, in Chicago, at a book signing for Bait and Switch— my attempt to understand and explain why otherwise perfectly qualified profes- sionals were having difficulty finding work. Corporate downsizing was churning out tens of thousands of white-collar workers every year, but the resources available to people to help with the reemployment process didn’t make a lot of sense. It seemed to me that most of the coaching, networking groups, and the unemploy- ment industry in general were part and parcel of one gigantic “bait and switch” scheme that too often did everything but help those who needed it the most. Unemployed white-collar workers had become a market for a host of dubious schemes, scams, and unhelpful self-help books and DVDs. By the time my tour reached Chicago, it was clear that the themes of Bait and Switchresonated with substantial numbers of people who otherwise had no outlet for their concerns. Back then, no one wanted to believe that white-collar profession- als were facing the same economic pressures more common to hourly workers. As I talked to different groups around the country, I began to ask who in the audience might be interested in organizing for purposes of giving voice to a new class of dis- affected workers—white-collar America. That’s when United Professionals (UP) was born and Bill Holland stepped forward to become its chairman of the board. Between 2006 and late 2010, UP reached out and touched thousands of people, many of whom shared their stories with us. Some had lost their homes, retirement savings, and any hope things would eventually get better. Most of the younger ones were laboring under more student debt than they could pay back in a lifetime. Many had given up on their professional careers and landed in low-paid service American Management Association / www.amanet.org