Frustrated? Its not you, believe me!

Don't let it get you down! It's not you. It's the economy.

Remember, that what's happening in commerce and the world of employment in general, is a reflection of the overall slow economy and the safe measures being taken to reduce economic exposure and commercial risk. It's not a criticism or a commentary on you and your specific qualifications. You cannot stop the world going around each day, even if sometimes we get a bit dizzy from it. Don't take it personally.

Lots of highly qualified people are available on the job market and aren't getting responses to their résumés or callbacks for interviews, let alone job offers. It's not because you lack experience, good sense and credentials. It's not because you're doing something intrinsically wrong. It's the economy, so beating yourself up over the lack of progress you're making in your job search, is not going to help. In fact it will erode your confidence further.

Revitalize, don't reinvent. Job seekers may not need to "reinvent" themselves for today's job market. They may only need to "repackage" themself. A much more agreeable and achievable task.

Forget about the instant makeovers. These are for people who have something to hide. Companies need the experience and accomplishments you have earned over time. Leverage what you already have and focus on it, instead of what you fear you may lack.

This will go a long way toward helping you feel more confident about your experience, rather than makimg you feel old, tired and out-of-touch. (passed it and passed over)

Beware of getting suckered in by personality tuners and career coaches. When times get tough, the tough can be assailed by hype. There are good consultants out there that can offer to revise your résumé', put you in touch with the 'hidden job market' or coach you to become a newer, more marketable you but be cautious and keep your wallet closed.

Not all career coaches as snake-oil salesmen. They provide a worthwhile service, especially to people who have not been in the market for some time and need help with their communication and marketing skills. Good consultants' customers will vouch for them.

There is an old adage that says; Seduction trumps selling. The tight job market has made some job seekers overly aggressive. They think they need to hunt down and beat prospective employers over the head with their qualifications, and can resort to telling hiring managers that they are the "perfect candidate" rather than letting their experience speak for itself.

In business as in love, infatuation rarely develops into a long lasting relationship from being pushy or gushing out a soft schmoo routine. By all means explain and align, but resist the urge to exclaim and alarm. Let people reach their own conclusions about whether you are a potential world class employee or not, they will whether you like it or not.

Yes, by all means be different from the crowd. Stand out at the selection process but remember there is a narrow line between; very attentive and stalking, great enthusiasm and desperation, highly confidence and arrogance. As with meeting new friends and potential mates, do not be afraid to show some aspect of your vulnerable side and I don't mean walk with a limp.

Another big dilemma the job seeker faces is whether to take a lesser job that's a temporary fix, a stopgap. Some wil urge you to choose your next job wisely and not take stop-gap measures. In the real world, life and bills go on. People need to pay their mortgages and feed their families. I will cover some of this discussion in my next blog.

Expanding your career in a shrinking market

It is the aim and nature of all professional people to develop themselves to the maximum. The mantra states; we must maximize our potential and grow our careers.

To do that you have to achieve better results than those around you and without 'over' achieving. Although, this last point is more a problem for older more mature employees.

Remember there is a tiger at the door; So you are in direct competition with everyone else in your company

Consider some simple techniques to help you get more recognition and better results for your efforts.

1) When the bell rings, come out fighting.

• Be the first to arrive and the last to leave.
  
• Be sure to be caught working all the time you are at work.
  
• Start the day with the most important, onerous or the most difficult tasks.
  
• Do not surf the Internet, make personal calls, read the newspaper or make small talk with the 'losers'.
  
• Check your list of activities for the day,
  
• Focus on establishing priorities and get on with it.
  
• Start knocking down those skittles!
  

2) Fill your day with achievements.

• Always be the one that contributes positively at meetings and in face-to-face interaction.
• Ask your boss and yourself, what you can do to provide the greatest contribution to the organisation.
  
• Let everyone know that you are willing to go the extra mile or kilometre.
  
• Do more than the basic minimum, more than you are paid to do.
  
• Be seen to be the one that puts in more effort than the others.
  
• Look for solutions, methods or tools that will allow you and therefore the organisation, to be more effective.
  

3) Set a scorching pace.

• Your career is not a quick sprint or dash across the hurdles.
• It is more enduring like a marathon:
  
• Some runners sprint off at the beginning and get out way ahead of the pack.
  
• Most will be happier running with the pack, safe in the middle, un-noticed, unseen
  
• There are many who are less fit and not really motivated. They are content to be in the race at all but they are clearly seen to be struggling and lagging behind the pack.
  
• Your place is up amongst the leaders, being in the right place at the right time. Excel in hitting targets, achieving goals and milestones.

Take control of your life, your day and yourself. Start each working day with a list of planned activities carried over from the previous day. These will be organised by their priority, so you can address each task as the priorities dictate.

This is a life discipline not just an office routine and will make you more efficient, targetted and better directed as a person. This, in itself will make you stand out from the ambling, gasping crowd and when all around are losing their's, your career will soar.

If you are looking for promotion, assume the position

Downsizing Checklist

The Layoff Checklist

Staff movement and layoffs are a fact of life, whether you are in a large or a small organization. The downsizing process is never simple and often unpleasant, especially if it is badly planned, managed and implemented. Your local HR department will have the most relevant experience and knowledge on how to do this, in the most professional and humane manner. The short checklist provided here is more concerned about the methodology rather than the reasons behind it. The checklist covers the main topics that every manager should know and understand prior to terminating one or more employee(s).

The CHECKLIST

□ If its possible, communicate with and prepare your staff for the possibility of layoffs in advance. No termination should come as a complete surprise to an employee under any circumstances. They need time to consider or imagine the possibility.

□ Put your rationale in writing as well as explaining your decisions to upper management if necessary. Puting it in writing provides clarity and negates ambiguity and doubt.

□ On a practical level, establish a detailed plan for handling the workload after the layoffs have occurred, given that there will often be a period of low morale and disruptions.

□ Make a list of key files any employee may have, and arrange for their transfer.

□ HR are your touchstone, so check with them often. There will be defined procedures to follow; get the paperwork right, collect keys and badges, etc. HR people can give you helpful advice on dealing with the more emotional aspects of a layoff, and often provide supportive techniques for delivering the bad news and dealing with the reaction..

□ Keep everything on a safe legal footing. There may be specific things that you must, or must not, say. It is a time when you can easily leave yourself and the company open to litigation.

□ Put in place IT & Security policies to cancel access privileges immediately (within a few seconds) after terminating anyone. Angry or disgruntled ex-employees can and will, do significant damage to your systems the moment they return to their desks. Do not underestimate the impact of this. There are many documented cases of this happening.

□ Establish, in advance with all parties concerned, what will happen before, during and after the termination interview, e.g. who will escort employees back to their work space, how long the laid-off employees will have to gather personal belongings and who will collect keys and badges, etc. Normally security will play a role here. They are less 'involved' with the staff than the management and can be very professional and objective.

□ Managing the guilt and emotional reactions of the “survivors” as early as possible, is essential. Arrange to meet with them to communicate what has happened and why. Then explain the new work plans, address their fears and answer their questions, no matter how difficult

□ Do not forget your own feelings and emotions in all this and seek some good advice from your HR department. They will be best placed to tell you how to deal with what is happening. You are also one of the 'survivors' and you will be expected to do more with less, once the downsizing operation is complete.

Reduced Security

An urgent demand for talent in several areas is eclipsing broad, knee-jerk reactions to greatly reduce budgets and cut staffing levels, projects and fixed asset purchases, without thinking carefully about the consequences and future requirements.

Undeniably employers made mistakes in past downturns, huge miscalculations founded in the white hot heat of cost-cutting that wounded them badly later on. It limited their ability to respond quickly and when the smoke cleared and the rebuilding started, they were left floundering.

It just shows how little IT management has learned since last time. Managers have not learned the lesson that it's not just about cutting spending, it's about managing the risks and being smart within their spending limitations. Know your boundaries and work within them.

One of the worst instancies if this in the IT security field. Current economic conditions are having a negative impact on the majority of security budgets. Many companies have initiated a hiring freeze or staff reduction exercise, necessary measures due to the financial crisis.

Security-decision makers in over 100 companies have been asked about their spending plans for the coming year and to gauge the impact current economic conditions are having on budgets. Of 159 respondents, 64 percent indicted that the economy was having a negative impact on security spending. Another 19 percent said the economy currently had no impact. Just 6 percent said the crisis was having a positive impact on their organization's security budget.

Security budgets will decrease for 35 percent of respondents and remain the same for 42 percent. Just 23 percent thought spending would increase in the coming year. Those numbers are a switch from last year, when more companies expected to increase security spending. In 2008, 38 percent of companies planned to increase their security budget and just 24 percent expected to see a decrease in spending.

One firm is actually in the minority and plans to spend more on security in the coming 12 months. "We are increasing from previous years. I would have to say the increase is around regulatory issues as well as general responsible security program expansion."

Security spending is often driven by compliance and policy decisions. This falls in line with what other companies also said, with a majority indicating that policy and compliance are the main justifications for security spending.

Security decision-makers were asked if they planned to increase or decrease spending in the following areas: Business Continuity/disaster recovery, data loss prevention, identity management, compliance and regulations, outsourced security systems, physical security, policy and risk management, and staff.

In all but one category, more than half of respondents expected spending to remain at similar levels.

However, when it comes to spending on staff, 41 percent expect to see a decrease in spending. Close to 60 percent have either implemented, or plan to implement, a hiring freeze.

Additionally, 35 percent of companies asked, indicated they have had to go beyond a hiring freeze and have actually reduced security staff, or plan to reduce headcount in the next 6 months. It will be interesting how this affects security in the coming months and whether we will see more outsourcing of protective measures. A dangerous path to walk and one that can only increase the threat to organisations.

Let's hope we soon see an end to these 'interesting times'

Caution! - Downsizing ahead

Are you a Target?

1. You're being left out of important meetings.
Challenge the fact that you're not being invited to important meetings. Your omission may simply be an honest mistake (unlikely). Explain what is missing in their approach e.g. new insight or important perspective. Stress that you will bring added value to the meeting and assure the 'leader' that you will strengthen his position by supporting him, given the opportunity.

2. Your span of control is shrinking.
Be proactive. No one is going to give you anything.

• Hunt down and capture new responsibilities on your own initiative.
• Research possible new product lines.
  
• Propose strategies and tactics to fend off the competitors.
  
• Conduct in-depth analysis of competitors and expose possible weaknesses.
  
• Make your presence known by attending voluntary meetings and corporate outings.
• Volunteer to organise events that demonstrate your wide range of under-utilised talents.

3. Your projects are getting cancelled.
Check that you, your boss and company's priorities are properly aligned. Find the key project that's aligned with corporate goals and get on board. See previous paragraph for finding new projects. Even if it is outwith your job title. Be 'flexible'. Your company is going through difficult changes. Show your willigness to change and grow with it.

4. You have a new boss.
You made the old boss look good so, make the new boss look better. If you demonstrate to them that you're there to make them look good and can achieve their goals, they won't want to let you go, immediately. Not until they find someone faster/cheaper/younger and better connected.

5. Your company's financial statements are bleeding red ink.
Wake up and smell the Java, the company is struggling you and your peers could get laid off no matter what. Start networking now, get your résumé into shape, start blogging and look for a new job.

You will find that your old friends and colleagues will be only too happy to hear from you, because they will be facing similar issues. A bit like rats congregating to jump onto the iceberg before the ship hits it.

• Make your presence felt.
• Raise your Profile.
  
• Be clear in your goals, don't be invisible

Whereas all deceptions requires secrecy, all secrecy is not deception