“In the aftermath of a layoff, style is critical.”

So says the Wall Street Journal, which ran a story today on revamping your style and adjusting your attitude in the wake of a job loss. One interviewee, Michael Guarini a former president of the health division at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, says he ditched his usual business casual duds and now wears formal business suits to all networking meetings, even with long time acquaintances.

Why go fancy, you may ask. Shouldn’t your skills speak for themselves? Even the Journal admits that dressing up can cause some eye brow raises and a few “I hope you didn’t wear a suit for me.” comments. But ultimately, Guarini gets noticed. He is remembered for looking polished, professional, and serious. If you’re serious about your job search, you should look the part.

The author of the article, Christina Binkley, delves into the psychological aspects of the post lay-off makeover as well, urging the unemployed to hold their tongue and not bad-mouth their former employers in a reactive rage.  This is something we’ve emphasized in former blog posts and columns as well. But no matter how logical it may seem, Binkley points out that in a state of anger and emotional distress even the most collected business person can lose their cool.

How to avoid a meltdown before it happens? It seems Binkley’s only recommendation is to take some time off before jumping into the “dating pool,” likening a lay-off to a break up. She offers some post-meltdown suggestions and ways to keep your communication direct, but in terms of skipping the damage control, taking a vacation seems to be the best answer to the problem.

This advice is certainly smart and sounds like a logical way to let emotions melt away before contacting people about your job search. But is it really realistic? Not everyone can afford to just take a few weeks off. Not to mention if you’re suddenly unemployed, what are you taking time off from? I think this refers to the job search itself, networking, etc. However, with most job searches taking months these days, stalling the inevitable with a few weeks of down time seems counter intuitive.

Other suggestions for cooling off? Talk to your spouse, your loved ones, an old friend who has nothing to do with your industry. Avoid friends in the same line of work, because as Binkley does point out, many executives think they are venting to friends in the office and then their vented frustration turns into office gossip. Talking it out is healthy and talking to someone separated from the situation will offer a different perspective and allow you to see both side of the equation. That’s what friends and loved ones are for, right?

So, blow off that steam and dust off your suit and dress shoes. A whole new, happier, more stylish you is hitting the job market.

The latest in interesting career related news and media tidbits :

Job Hunt: We’ve been saying this for awhile, now Reuters agrees: Go Social! (Reuters)

Hired: How to negotiate a good salary despite the bad economy (WSJ)

Fired: 8% of US Companies Have Sacked Social Media Miscreants plus one major Facebook Faux Pas (Mashable)

Words of Wisdom: What’s the best advice Arianna Huffington ever received? She’ll tell you. VIDEO:(Fortune)

Small business: Etsy founders start a “tool for small businesses to market, listen, and respond to their customers using social media,” called Postling. (Mashable)

Media/Social Media: NBC’s new pilot is airing on Facebook first? (Huffington Post)

You’ve been doing everything you can to find a new job– scanning your Rolodex, going to networking events, revamping your resume, you even joined that Twitter thing. And finally you’ve got one! But before you get a chance to get your feet wet, the opportunity is swiped out from under you because of a hiring freeze or your start date is pushed back…indefinitely.

Having a job offer rescinded or withdrawn is becoming more and more common as the economy keeps flatlining. This not only is a major disappointment for anyone who thought their job search was finally over, but if you’re in a position of uncertainty, you might pass up other, safer opportunities while you’re waiting to see what happens. So what do you do?

Rachel Zupek wrote an article for Career Builder with some advice which includes:

Negotiating: “If you left an old job to work for a new company and your offer was retracted due to the economy, you can try to negotiate unemployment benefits or a severance package from the employer.”

Doing Your Homework: “Before accepting a job offer, it’s important to evaluate what’s been offered. Ask about the employer’s financial health and find out if the position is approved.”

Read the rest of her advice for this sticky situation here.

Everyone who doesn’t have a job, wants one. And everyone who has a job kind of wishes they didn’t have to go when the alarm goes off in the morning. But what would you do if you didn’t have one? The NY Times ran an interesting article with an even more interesting interactive graph on how different people spend their day. Some of the differences are obvious, but you might be surprised by some areas. Have a look for yourself.

A few months ago, I posted a book review taken from the Wall Street Journal on Alain de Botton’s latest book, The Pleasures and Sorrow of Work. For the book, the author interviewed people from a variety of careers and closely examined the ideas behind one of the most crucial parts of our lives as human beings: our job, our vocation, or purpose. In this video below from TED, de Botton gives a very witty speech on these same ideas focusing in on failure and success and how we define these concepts. He’s an interesting speaker with a great sense of humor.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran of your industry or returning to the game after many years away, the same job finding techniques ring true. Sue Shellenbarger wrote an interesting piece for the Wall Street Journal yesterday that focused on mother’s returning to the work force after a child-rearing hiatus. Take a look at the article here.

Among the strategies the women in the article use to get their feet wet in a new (or old) industry, are group sessions while their kids play for practicing interviewing skills and sharing resume tips, volunteering at non profit organizations to build new skills and keep old ones sharp, doing pro-bono work to re-create a name for oneself and get back into the swing of things, and settling for lower wages and titles than in previous positions.

These sacrifices and techniques have helped the women featured to get back to work, even in the down economy. But what’s interesting is that these savvy ladies are using the same types of tricks and strategies that those who never left the business world are employing due to lay offs. Volunteering and interning are more popular than ever for professionals who are used to a pay check, whether it be for networking purposes or acquiring new skills. Once out of a job, role-playing to prepare for interviews is an essential part of job search preparation. And of course, many, many executives have been forced to take on lower salaries and less prestigious positions.

Interestingly, though, is how one woman in the article was chosen for a position because she was knew to the field and brought a fresh perspective untainted by traditions or other companies’ methods. The article also notes that after a haitus, only 39% of employees return to their original career, suggesting looking into new options and new industries might be a wise route to take.

So, while you might have never left your field and have been a faithful employee for years and years, if you find yourself laid off during these hard times, it might be wise to take a note from these mom’s who are stepping back into the fray after years of time off and finding success through trying something new, through giving back, and through diligence of course.

By Beverly Weinstein

Start with securing your contacts before you’re in the job market. Part of your value as a potential candidate to any employer is your professional relationships. Those relationships are also an essential tool in looking for a job. Don’t take them for granted, don’t stop building them, and don’t underestimate new technology in helping you with the task.

I’ll be exploring the importance of using professional social networking in this column. Other job search basics will be covered in the coming weeks.

Where Are You Storing Business Contacts?

If you’re old enough, you probably had a Rolodex, the old office staple, perched somewhere on your desk. When you left your job, it was something you usually boxed up and took with you. Then enterprise messaging platforms (like MS Outlook) started and contacts went on your computer and your company’s corporate server which, in turn, allowed for seamless transfer to your company-issued PDA. Whether you should back up your Outlook is certainly a consideration, but I’ve found a surprising number of people that don’t.

So even if you have hundreds of names in your business contact files don’t assume they will always be available. Parting company with your job means parting company with your computer and your mobile device, along with all the information contained in both.

It’s time to take a close look at the importance of the professional social-networking sites, not as a substitute for Outlook but as another contact resource.

Secure Your Contacts

If you haven’t started using a professional social network like LinkedIn, what are you waiting for? If you have hundreds of Outlook contacts and 30 LinkedIn contacts, you’ve got it backwards. Linked In is a click away, and one of the great perks of social networking is that you never have to worry about it disappearing if your hard drive crashes, if you’re away from your computer, or if you leave a job. It’s always floating around the Internet waiting for you to hop on.

Some Easy Building Blocks

LinkedIn enables you to upload contacts from commonly used email services, including, Yahoo, Gmail and AOL or by uploading a spreadsheet of them. This only takes moments, no matter how large your network is.

You can keep adding to your network. If you’re a PC Outlook user, a tool is available to make connecting even easier. Every time you get a new email, it allows you to automatically invite the sender. You don’t even need to go to LinkedIn, because the site is”linked in” to your Outlook.  For step-by-step installment instructions, stay tuned on www.dearbev.com for a post with all you need to know.

Other Benefits

OK, you may be thinking: I’ve backed up my Outlook, why do you need to do any more?

• It’s easier to keep track of your contacts, and you don’t have to do the work. On Outlook and other address books, you make the changes, but on LinkedIn, the contacts do it for you and you receive notifications of changes your connections make, such as new jobs, new titles, new locations.
• It’s faster to send a blast email or message letting people know you’re in the job market. You can send individual notes, too, with the guarantee that the recipient will receive a notification from LinkedIn. If you’re contacting someone you haven’t spoken to in some time, you need not worry about falling into their spam box.
• Finally, more and more individuals, as well as recruiters,are using LinkedIn to communicate job openings and search for candidates. So what are you waiting for? Start connecting.

This is just the start of your job hunt. First, you need to gather and nurture your connections and contacts. Next, I’ll look at how to make them work for you.

This is a question most  job seekers are asking these days. Even with professionally written resumes, taking in coverletter and resume writing seminars, designing an online CV and portfolio, and all of the other resources and strategies available to make an application stand out, the majority of job seekers who apply to jobs online never hear back, not even a rejection letter. It’s frustrating, some might say rude, and ultimately deflating to never hear boo from a hiring manager. This weekend’s New York Times featured an article on this topic with a few reminders about what those hiring managers are facing  (i.e. thousands of applications for a single job, many of which are unqualified) and some tips on how to go above and beyond the application process to try and get some response or at least get noticed.

“First, the Internet has made it absurdly easy to apply for jobs. This means that unqualified people are clogging the system with their wing-and-a-prayer applications,” writes Phyllis Korkki, the author of the article.

“Then add rising numbers of unemployed people. More job seekers — qualified, unqualified and desperate — are hitting the send button. Acknowledgments are going by the wayside as recruiters confront hundreds of applications for a single job.

In fact, organizations received 75 percent more applications, on average, in the first half of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008, according to a survey by the Corporate Executive Board, a network of executives and a research company. Todd Safferstone, managing director of the company’s Recruiting Roundtable, said that one business advertised for a lawyer and received responses from 1,000 applicants — half of whom did not even have law degrees.”

The question remains, “But how do you make your highly qualified presence known without looking like a pest?”

“The best job seekers “take control of their application’s destiny,” said Kelly Renz, vice president for client services and human resources at Pinstripe, a recruitment outsourcing firm.

That means working hard to find a contact at the company who can be your advocate — or at least a conduit to the hiring manager. If you know someone at the company personally, ask him or her to forward your application to the right person.

If you don’t know anyone at the company, ask your friends and relatives if they do. If you have a Facebook page, post a polite plea there.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the hiring manager’s name is not readily available. Often that is a corporate ploy — a way to prevent an avalanche of follow-up inquiries about online job postings.

But do some research. Look on the company’s Web site or do an Internet search for a name. Call the human resources department and ask the receptionist if he or she knows who is in charge of hiring.

Ms. Renz suggested another way to get a name: Go on LinkedIn and look for someone who works in the same department as the posted job. Contact that person: ask whether he or she knows who is hiring, and how that individual can be reached. You might also ask for more information about the job, Ms. Renz said.

Don’t ask new contacts to vouch for you; that’s not fair. Just make use of the information they can give you. If it’s the e-mail address of a hiring manager, resend your application and state that you remain very interested in the position and briefly reiterate your qualifications.

Obtaining an employee referral is a good move, as far as it goes. There is just one problem: Nowadays “the referral channel is jammed in the same way that other channels are jammed,” Mr. Safferstone said.

To break through, you may need to leave the online world behind and make an old-fashioned direct phone call to whomever is doing the hiring. But wield this call wisely.

Some managers may be annoyed if you call them, though others will see it as a sign of initiative. Daryl Pigat, manager of the Manhattan branch of OfficeTeam, the administrative division of Robert Half International, says that when he receives a phone call, it often causes him to pluck the person’s résumé out of the multitudes, because it’s a sign of a serious applicant. But wait at least a few days to give the company time to review applications, Mr. Pigat said.

When you do call, ask if you can take any further steps. But after that conversation, don’t call back unless you are told to do so. That would be venturing into pest territory.”

Korkki’s advice implies striking a delicate balance between enthusiastic and annoying is the way to make yourself seen. Bottom line, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? Just don’t squeak too much!

Art by Chris Reed via the New York Times.

Read the article at the New York Times online.

Being in the business of spouting career advice, I find that one of the best sources of advice for job seekers is sometimes overlooked and that’s those who have in fact accomplished this insurmountable feat, those who have found a job in these impossible times.

Not only do their stories give us insight into what it takes but they are inspiring and shed some positive light on the daunting matter at hand. The New York Times profiled one lucky victim of the recession who spent 6 months unemployed, but in the end came out on top and not just with any job, with a job he created for himself. Have a look…

By Joe Kroog As told to Patricia R. Olsen.

Photo by Kevin Moloney for The New York Times

LAST November, I was laid off from a database marketing company in Louisville, Colo., a Denver suburb, for economic reasons. Six months later, I found another position, at Kutenda, a provider of online marketing tools for small businesses, in Broomfield, Colo., also near Denver.

After a six-month job search — and some soul-searching — Joe Kroog, 36, is senior director of product management for Kutenda in Broomfield, Colo.

Several things about my job hunt surprised me, including its length. I thought it would only take a couple of weeks to find a new job, or at most two months. I never expected to be out of work six months.

Other people would probably say that six months doesn’t sound bad at all, but it was to me. Even though the news media played up the job losses and how bad the economy was, I wasn’t worried. I had been a technical product manager, and I thought I had good qualifications.

My wife, Jill, was supportive of my job hunt. She’s a stay-at-home mom and entrepreneur who gives seminars to new mothers on achieving balance in their lives. She kept reassuring me that something would come along and that I shouldn’t feel overwhelmed as the main provider.

We have two boys under the age of 6, and I wasn’t financially prepared for such a long layoff. We were going through our savings, and we started discussing whether Jill should go back to work full time, or perhaps find a part-time job with benefits. We decided that she’d need a salary of at least $50,000 if we were to put the boys in day care. She took a full-time job until I was hired and now works as a marketing consultant.

Now that I’ve settled into my new company, I’m of two minds about that period of unemployment. On one hand, I still think that my expectation wasn’tunrealistic. I honestly felt that I stood a better chance than many other candidates. It’s my competitive nature.

On the other hand, I’ve talked to a number of executives in a business organization I belong to — vice presidents, chief information officers and chief financial officers — who were out of work much longer than I was.

I followed the standard advice, and I think I did everything a job coach would have told me to do. I tapped into a network of colleagues and friends and told everyone I was job hunting. I got a few leads, but the job possibilities all fizzled.

That motivated me to try to build a bigger network, but after a while I decided that this wasn’t the best approach. I was spending too much time having to explain what I did as a product manager in the software industry. The role can differ, depending on the company and the industry.

I scoured the job boards and set up a search agent, which automatically sent job openings to me via e-mail. But nothing came of that, either. I looked for job leads on Facebook, too. Then I thought that Twitter might help. I tried following companies I had submitted a résumé to, and those I had heard were hiring. The volume of messages was overwhelming, however, and most of what I read had nothing to do with job leads.

Next, I set up a Google alert for job titles to see which companies were hiring, and I applied to them. That didn’t turn up any interviews, either. I decided instead to try to learn more about the companies that were posting the jobs.

Once, I ended up helping a company president define the position he wanted to fill. He kept mentioning the title of product manager, but I told him that the company needed someone who was concerned about future product strategy, too. I explained that in my experience, small technology companies often start with a good idea, assemble a development team, build the product and start marketing it. At the same time, they need to design a plan that considers their customers and addresses the future of the product.

That conversation made me do some soul-searching. I decided that I wanted to do more of what I had described to that executive. I wanted to be a product marketing manager, more customer- and market-focused than in my former product-manager position, which was an operations role and more technical.

I visualized what I wanted this position to be like and wrote a list of bullet items about the job and my ideal company.

I wanted to lead a team in a technology company and be responsible for a product line, and I wanted the opportunity for advancement. I also wanted to be involved in online marketing, which I believe is the way of the future.

I LEARNED about Kutenda when a contact in a business marketing association said her company had a marketing position available. The role was marketing coordinator, which was too junior for me. But I had read about the company and was interested in its technology. Kutenda manages Web sites, pay-per-click advertising campaigns and e-mail campaigns.

I told the contact from the association that if the company needed help in determining future product features, I was good at that. She talked to the C.E.O., and I interviewed with him.

When the two of us sat down together, I told him my ideas, he liked what I had to say and he hired me. I had never talked myself into a role in a company before.

I’m working on product strategy and market plans, and I’m developing ideas for new products. I feel that I’m perfectly suited for the job.

See the story at the New York Times.

Since the recession began, many companies have turned to furloughs to cut costs while avoiding lay offs. These unpaid days off were originally welcomed by many employees who would rather take the cut than be unemployed. But as the months have ticked by, many workers have been cashing their smaller pay checks without seeing that reduction in hours.

Yesterday’s New York Times uncovered this issue of less pay for the same work or, really, no pay for the same work, seeing as how these employees are missing out on entire days worth of pay but are still clocking in the hours.

“Some people take the time off but feel bad about doing so, out of loyalty to bosses and colleagues left to carry the workload. Others work quietly — and sometimes openly — through furloughs, because they fear for the long-term safety of their positions and hope their self-sacrifice impresses the management.

And some say the message from the management is unclear, leaving employees wondering: Is this real time off?”

“I think it’s a joke,” said Roland Becht, who works at the California Department of Motor Vehicles in San Diego. (More than 200,000 state employees are supposed to have two furlough days each month.) “I’ve tried to schedule furlough time and was denied because we’re short-staffed.”

“American workers are finding themselves at a new frontier, and the rules are being written on the fly. Some companies have strict policies forbidding work during furloughs, or close down for days at a time. Others simply tell workers, however unrealistically, to squeeze in furlough time when they can.”

A very interesting topic that I feel gets overlooked. With clubs, websites, support groups, and resources galore for the laid off, what happens to those that are working harder than ever but not getting paid? After all, they’re not volunteers.

“It’s not doing what it was designed to do. We were imagining three-day weekends,” a DMV worker in California told the Times. “There was some optimism. It was a trade-off for sure, but people were O.K. The mood now, I would say, is down. People are working in fear because they don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Read the article.