How To Get A Job In A Recession is a new book aimed at the rising number of credit crunch job seekers by Harry Freedman. Harry Freedman is Chief Executive of Career Energy. The businessman and author appeared on BBC’s Breakfast show this morning to offer some advice on the title of his book, how to get a job in a recession.
The first bit of advice on how to get a job in a recession by Harry Freedman was to be proactive. Jobs will not come to you, you have to go out, be proactive, get your name out and about by talking to people, and generally be visible. Harry said that waiting for job adverts in the paper was very passive and that jobs advertised in this manner were few and far between. The reason he gave was that companies had started to shun traditional paper advertising of jobs and increasingly rely on word of mouth – this method is far cheaper and more reliable from the employer’s point of view.
How to get a job in a recession is also about going back to basics according to Harry Freedman – look at everyone you know and think about how they can help you. For instance, calling people to tell them that you are considering a job in their industry, that you need to speak to various people and asking for introductions to the right people if possible. According to Harry the key to finding a new job in this recession is first increasing your contact list, after which point more avenues start to open up.
According to latest figures competition for jobs in the current climate is fierce, with around 10-12 people competing for any 1 job. Harry emphasised the positive fact that recessions always come to an end. He also said that confidence and positivity were key attributes of any successful job interviewee. Harry emphasised the importance of having a unique selling point – in today’s world many people are competing for the same jobs and have very similar CV’s. He said that as a prospective job candidate you need to work out what it is you offer that other candidates don’t or can’t offer, and make sure your prospective employer knows about it.
If you were in a particularly hard-hit industry and jobs in that sector are virtually non-existent, Harry would suggest you look at moving industries, but if you do this be sure to look for the ones you can transfer some of your existing skills to. For instance, if you used to work in a hard-hit by the recession customer services role, you should look at other industries which are likely to be doing better in this environment, for example supermarkets, defensive industries or home entertainment, or look at industries which are likely to flourish over the coming years such as green technology or manufacturing.
Harry Freedman’s new book How To Get A Job In A Recession is available now at a very reasonable £4.99.
Click here to buy How To Get A Job In A Recession by Harry Freedman as seen on the BBC’s Breakfast programme
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