War wreaks more havoc on U.S. unemployment - expert advocates job hunters operate as interim entrepreneurs.
With war in Iraq, compounded by terrorist threats and an already poor employment market, it will be a long time before America's job market will grow again, according to Niels Nielsen, founder of Princeton Management Consultants.
According to Nielsen, traditional job hunting methods are not working in today's tough employment climate. He recommends that job seekers instead operate as interim entrepreneurs to energize their job hunt.
Nielsen is the author of Princeton Management Consultants Guide to Your New Job ($16.95; John Wiley & Sons) available online at and in bookstores.
Job hunters should create a full-fledged business plan the same way a start-up company does, says Nielsen. The only difference in the process is that a start-up is looking for many customers; the job seeker only wants one, an employer. Job hunters should reinvent themselves just the way companies change their business models to keep ahead of the market and the competition.
Nielsen offers these tips from his book:
* Set up for business in a dedicated home office
* Stay focused, motivated and disciplined
* Define a job-seeking business plan
* Consider changing your business model, that is, career
* Create a catalog of service offerings
* Determine a marketing strategy
* Define pricing policies (expected base pay, incentives, benefits, executive compensation) and negotiate the best deal
* Prepare professional quality advertising materials (cover
letter, resume, e-mail newsletter, and web site)
* Launch a sales campaign including your sales presentation (interview)
* Close the deal by asking for the job
Companies don't like uncertainty, says Nielsen. They are not thinking about investing in new equipment or hiring people until they see that the global economy and their business are starting to grow. When business does pick up, employers will start by using overtime before adding employees.
The current unemployment situation is largely structural. Much of the downturn in our economy relates to the after-effects of the dot.com boom and bust, and its ramifications. The war with Iraq is making a bad situation worse and it is not likely that lost jobs will come back when peace is restored.
Defense spending, homeland security, and rebuilding Iraq will not help to stimulate our economy and won't create any significant number of jobs in the U.S., says Nielsen.
The war in Iraq is being fought with equipment that is already in service. Even if defense outlays do eventually stimulate demand, it would take an impossibly large increase to make a dent in the current total of 9 million unemployed workers.
Job creation for homeland security is also not a panacea for high unemployment. There are currently only 170,000 people working for the Department of Homeland Security. Even doubling or tripling that number is not going to solve the unemployment problem. Moreover, the kinds of jobs that will be added are either highly specialized or semi-skilled.
Rebuilding Iraq will divert huge amounts of scarce resources from our own economy, without creating many jobs here, says Nielsen.
Expert advice for surviving war torn job front.
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