Issue Number 18, Winter 2008

Taking Aim At The Job Market
Job hunting needs a clear strategy, not a scattergun approach. By Wendy Taylor

WHEN Simon Philpot hit his early 40s, he found himself asking the question typical of people this age who have reached the top in their field. ‘‘Do I want to sit here for another 10 years or do I get out and try something else?’’

Mr Philpot had joined the staff of a public hospital as an assistant accountant 19 years earlier and several hospitals and promotions later had achieved the role of the chief financial officer at Western Health. ‘‘I really enjoyed working in public health but I had achieved as much as I could in that system,’’ he says. ‘‘I wanted to get into the private sector to work on the other side. I was really looking forward to doing something completely different.’’

Hoping to make the transition in one easy move, he began flicking through the job ads and talking to recruitment agencies — which is where he hit a barrier he hadn’t anticipated.  ‘‘Because I had a health background, I was pigeon-holed,’’ he says. ‘‘It didn’t matter how often I met with people and said, ‘I’m looking for something different, I have these transferable skills’, the feedback was ‘you have good skills and experience but you fall short because you have been in health all your life’.’’  Unclear on where he wanted to go and frustrated by the knock backs, he sought advice from a career management firm.

The consultant told him to be more strategic in his job-hunting and warned him that moving from the public to private sector and changing industries in a single leap was unrealistic, a message he admits he was slow to hear.  “Frank (the consultant) said to look at the raft of fringe companies in the private sector that related to health; the private hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, private medical services and suppliers. He said that (a job in one of these areas) would be a stepping stone and get me private sector experience.’’

He took the consultant’s advice and accepted a three-month contract as the financial controller of a private medical service provider, which has since become a permanent role. Eighteen months down the track, he sees his next move also within the private health sector.  ‘‘I have accounting skills but I also have a really in-depth knowledge of how hospitals work, which is of great value to these people’’.

According to Scott Spaulding, chief operating officer and a senior consultant at C-F-S Career Management, his clients have often struggled to find a new job because of poor job hunting skills and the tendency to undersell themselves, rather than through lack of skills and experience.  And while recruiters are crying out that ‘‘it’s a candidate’s market’’, this isn’t the experience of all job seekers.

‘‘People in the over 45 category always find it harder than younger job hunters but they’re not the only ones,’’ Mr Spaulding says. ‘‘The biggest challenges are faced by people in the public sector trying to break into the private sector, expats returning to Australia after more than two years abroad who have lost contact with their networks, people with an eclectic background with no real depth of experience in a particular industry and people who are trying to return to corporate life after a stint in self employment.

‘‘The company also helps many people who have taken a significant break between taking a redundancy and looking for work again.’’  Agency clients are mostly professionals and executives aged from 30 to 50 who lack career direction or have been unsuccessful applying for positions. ‘‘Far too many people put more planning into their renovation or holidays than they do their careers,’’ Mr Spaulding says.

‘‘The constant among successful professionals is that they always plan ahead, they have good networks, exceptional self awareness and marketing skills and they always have an exit strategy. Conversely, those who struggle wait until a situation becomes unbearable or they lose control through a forced redundancy. They then go straight into their job hunting unprepared and end up targeting the wrong areas. They compete in the most competitive markets, that is, they apply for jobs in the paper, on the internet or they go to (recruitment) agencies.

From our observations, people have to fit quite neatly into the box to get past recruitment consultants, though it might be easier now than it was a few years ago.’’  A job hunting strategy starts with the development of greater self awareness through analysing skills, knowledge, values, attitudes and accomplishments. A step, Mr Spaulding says, that also restores job hunters’ confidence and ensures they present better in networking discussions and at interviews.

Career managers also help their clients explore new career options, research industries and identify specific organisations within an industry or market segment on which to focus a marketing campaign. ‘‘The best way to break-in is to research companies and the best way to do that is to try and speak with people in these companies and to try to develop networks inside them. They may learn about specific jobs, career paths or options they may want to consider and so they become more focused,’’ he says.
‘‘Given that 77 per cent of jobs are not advertised, it’s really important that people work all the job channels available, not just rely on newspapers and the internet.’’

Source: THE AGE, 180306 


Jobs Change

When I started my career my job title was Personnel Manager. I have seen that title evolve and become Human Resources Manager and most recently, Director of People & Culture. With every title change there has been a greater expectation placed upon the incumbent in terms of responsibilities and the level at which the role operates has placed an increased demand on individuals to perform at a higher level and develop skills previously not required in the role.

Jobs change, we all know that. It is the response individuals have to that change that is driving organisational retention strategies and creating a dilemma for employers in terms of matching employee perceptions, motivation and desires.

Suzanne Gagnon, a consultant for DDI, has examined the inconsistency between the perceptions of the needs of employees in the workplace. She has stated that, “The war for talent hinges on employers closing the gap between their perceptions and employee realities.”1 Clearly this isn’t happening quickly enough for many individuals.

And People Change Jobs

As an active or passive job seeker you need to give yourself the best possible chance of success. At HRSolutions we are uniquely placed to bridge the gap between the individual’s key drivers and the key performance indicators by which recruiters, headhunters and employers assess prospective applicants.

Reasons for working in a particular position, the accuracy of résumés and cover letters, and the motivation of employees are the few aspects of employment over which job seekers and recruiters hold different opinions.

As Bruce Gregory, CEO and advocate of the hidden job market comments, “At HRSolutions we are headhunters in reverse in that we work on behalf of job seekers, in partnership, to secure the career objective that meets the individual’s needs. We are also backed by a team of experienced senior consultants who have enjoyed phenomenal success helping individuals make a successful and fulfilling job change.”

1 Sourced from Human Resources Magazine February 2008


In Brief

Marketing for Maturity
Grace Johnston of ‘Working Connections’ has identified that the major cause of concern for mature age workers is how to address their transferable skills and the ‘intangibles that come with maturity’.1 HRSolutions has been particularly successful in addressing the needs of mature age clients, specialising in coaching and mentoring individuals to identify their key skills, how they are transferred and how to best market these skills to prospective employers.

1 Sourced From ‘The Best Years are Ahead’, The Age 10.05.08

What Not to Wear
Many job-applicants underestimate the impact that first impressions create on the mindset of prospective employers. Many recruiters have commented on the impact that good or bad grooming can have on men and women. For women it was recommended by career professionals to stay away from over-the-top makeup, low cut tops and short skirts. Men were often guilty of having un-ironed shirts, casual clothing and in general, a scruffy appearance.

Sourced From ‘What not to Wear to an Interview’, The Age 10.05.08

Planning for a Change in your Career
HRSolutions facilitates the strategic planning of your career, a process that many individuals fail to recognise as the key to achieving job satisfaction and professional development. Greg Smith of Lloyd Morgan stated that ‘people must take positive steps to influence, manage and direct the controllable elements of their careers’. Creating direction in your career is often a challenge and as a result, many individuals lose focus of their career goals, preferring to leave their career to chance. Greg Lloyd has noted that employers admire a business plan and a career with direction, as it shows the ability to analyse associated risks and changes in demand for employment. 1
It is important to commit to a business plan, and with the expert guidance of a Senior Consultant, you can start planning and achieving your goals today.

1 Sourced From ‘Careers by design: Planning Ahead’, The Age 10.05.08