Reasons for Changing Jobs

An online survey of why people change jobs conducted by Right Management received 1,308 responses, indicating:

• Slightly more than half changed jobs involuntarily due to downsizing or restructuring
• 30% opted to switch employers because they craved something new
• 18% made career moves to boost their incomes

Big Pharma Layoffs

It’s the era of layoffs in Big Pharma, with nearly every major player cutting thousands of jobs. In the past few months alone, Merck, Schering Plough and Wyeth have all announced cuts.

But most of the people losing their jobs seem to be landing on their feet, according to a survey of 1,282 pharma folks who lost their jobs in the Northeast between January 2007 and March ‘08.

• About 73% of the employees found jobs at the same or higher pay level.


• 84% found work without having to relocate, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.


• The most common way to find a new job was through networking, which worked for 43% of the respondents.


• 15% percent used Internet listings


• 12% used job search firms


• 8% sent their resume directly to a company, the article says.

The survey was conducted by Right Management, which has been hired by companies in the region to provide outplacement assistance to workers who lose their jobs.

Tough Job Market for New Graduates

This year's college graduates face an even tougher job market than last year's. Career coaches advise jobless grads not to get distressed, but to adjust their searches:

• Focus on smaller companies


• Be willing to move


• Network aggressively

Poor Job Market for Teenagers this Summer

The 2008 summer job market is shaping up as the weakest in more than half a century for teenagers looking for summer work, according to labor economists, government data and companies that hire young people.

This deterioration is jeopardizing what many experts consider a crucial beginning stage of working life, one that gives young people experience and confidence along with pocket money.

Little more than one-third of the 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States are likely to be employed this summer, the smallest share since the government began tracking teenage work in 1948, according to a research paper published by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston. That is a sharp drop from the 45 percent level of teenage employment reached in 2000.

The rates among minority young people have been particularly low, with only 21 percent of African-Americans and 31 percent of Hispanics from the ages of 16 to 19 employed last summer, according to the Labor Department.

Toughest Summer Job this Year is Finding One

Strengthening Relationships and Building Networks with Thank You Notes

I am a strong believer in showing appreciation to co-workers, friends, family, and acquaintances who help and support you along the way.

Strengthen relationships that are critical to your career success by taking the time to express sincere gratitude whenever you receive help, says Robert Thompson, author of "The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable" (Jossey-Bass, 2008). It's a simple way to garner your peers' respect and ensure their future support. For instance, if your colleague stays late to help you with an important presentation, say thanks in a handwritten note, he suggests.

So few people take the time to say thank you and it can reap huge rewards.

For help with writing thank you notes visit Thank You Notes

Fewer Mass Layoffs

U.S. employers took 1,308 mass layoff actions in April -- 263 fewer than in March -- seasonally adjusted, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Industries most involved include:

• Temporary help services
• School and employee bus transportation
• Automobile manufacturing
• Food-service contracting
• Tax-preparation services.

Meanwhile, for the week ending May 17, initial unemployment claims dropped by 9,000 to 365,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to a separate announcement from the Labor Department.

Don't Waste Too Much Time on the Internet

Exploring job opportunities on Internet Job Boards is easier and less effective than networking your way into a job. Thousands of people are responding to jobs posted on the Internet. Instead of blasting your resume to posted jobs, you can:

• Plan to make 3, 5, or 10 telephone calls a day to professional contacts, business associates, people who would be your immediate boss at companies that you are interested in and have researched on the Internet.


• Keep your resume in front of you when you conduct your phone calls and be prepared with a 1 minute enticing description of yourself (including skills and abilities).


• Always speak in terms of what you can contribute to, not what you hope to get from an employer.


• Send out 3-5 resumes a day (or a goal that works best for you) to the person who would be your immediate boss at targeted companies for which you believe that you are the perfect fit; don't send out hundreds of resumes blindly.


• When you can, send a hard copy of your resume after you send an e-mailed Microsoft Word attachment, ASCII file, and / or PDF file.


• Follow-up with a phone call within a week after sending the resume.


• Send thank you notes to anyone who is or has helped you with your job search and ocassionally follow up with phone calls.

Getting a job is a job but if you put forth the effort you may achieve faster and better responses and gain the position you hope to secure more rapidly.

Try LinkedIn JobsInsider To Help You With Your Job Search

LinkedIN JobsInsider downloads in to Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox browsers. After you download it you can:

• Go to some of the top job boards, access a job, and find contacts from you LinkedIN network who work for the company


• Contact those people for informational interviews


• Find out more about the employer and the company culture


• Bypass the Human Resource Department


• Network your way to the hiring manager

You can find a link at the bottom of your LinkedIn home page that will provide you with the information needed to load the Insider widget into your browser.

The icon will be near your tool bar.

LinkedIN JobsInsider currently supports CareerBuilder, Monster, Hotjobs, Dice, CraigsList, SimplyHired, and Vault. When you go to these sites, a sidebar will open and any relevant connections will be viewed.

You are invited to join my network at http://www.linkedin.com/ or contact me at aresume@roadrunner.com and I will send you an invitation.
Arlene Schwartz Personalized Resume Service

America's Top 10 Recession Proof Cities

Some cities have lower unemployment; strong and affordable housing markets; and industries that are continuing to grow, improving, or holding steady. Forbes top 10 recession proof cities are:

1. Oklahoma City, OK

2. San Antonio, TX

3. Austin, TX

4. San Jose, CA

5. Raleigh, NC

6. Salt Lake City, UT

7. Houston, TX

8. Seattle, WA

9. Charlotte, NC

10. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX



Forbes.com examined the country's 50 largest metros and looked at several key measures:

• Unemployment data supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending in February 2008 to see which areas are most adding or subtracting jobs.


• BLS data on job growth in non-farm payrolls, through February 2008, for construction, education and health services, financial activities, information, leisure and hospitality, manufacturing, natural resources and mining, professional and business services, trade, transportation and utilities, and the BLS's catch-all category, "other services."


• Median home price data from the National Association of Realtors--from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the fourth quarter of 2007--to see which areas posted the largest annual gains. This data doesn't account for the impact of declining sales in the first several months of this year.


• Rankings were adjusted using data from a November 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis," by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. It lists each city's estimated gross metropolitan product growth by projecting how rising foreclosures and falling home prices would affect overall levels of productivity in local economies

10 Tips for Being Selected for a Leadership Position

If you are interested in advancing your career and being seen as having great leadership qualities you might want to develop and enhance the following skills and attributes:

1. Listening and communicating effectively
2. Exuding energy and enthusiasm
3. Remaining calm under pressure
4. Taking responsibility for your actions
5. Acknowledging the contributions of others
6. Being comfortable outside your area of expertise
7. Showing willingness to take risks
8. Building coalitions and teamwork
9. Influencing others
10. Reflecting comfortably on your strengths and weaknesses
11. Adapting effectively to change

When employers see these characteristics in you, they will be more inclined to select you for grooming for leadership positions.