December 26, 2004

Searching for a job is always a challenge, but those looking for work in recent years have found themselves facing more of an uphill battle than before, and 2004 was no different. But there are plenty of success stories around the country as people find jobs using a combination of new and old methods. In order to face the continued challenges of a job search, job seekers have to be prepared and must learn from their mistakes. With that in mind, here are some thoughts from several CareerBuilder.com experts on the lessons they learned in 2004:

"You must be your strongest advocate during the job search process. While it is nice to believe that references from previous employers and co-workers are going to do the trick, you must remain your most ardent supporter. Most job seekers fail to promote themselves properly, instead relying on their resume and references to carry the load. A well-crafted resume and good references are only part of the overall picture for job seekers. Job seekers must be able to execute under the pressure of the interview process."
Bill Werksman, managing partner for Resource Partners, Las Vegas

"The hard lesson of 2004 is that many people will need to create jobs for themselves. Employers are finding ways to avoid growing their payrolls, so many people are finding that they need to become accidental entrepreneurs. The continuing layoffs and scandals of 2004 reinforced the lesson that corporate America is no longer a place of job security. Owning your own successful business has become the new American dream. The good news is that 2004 demonstrated that it's never been easier to start your own business. The Internet has made it possible for solo businesses to get up and going with minimal start-up costs."
Bruce Judson, author of "Go It Alone! The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own" (HarperBusiness, $23.95)

"Job seekers realized that we are now living in a technology-based economy where skills and technology are not only marketable for technology-based jobs, but for all positions, such as marketing manager, operations manager, etc. Networking was the key to gaining access to the hidden job market. Some companies were leery of posting open positions while at the same time laying off a huge number of people in other divisions or departments."
John Karras, director of graduate and Web-based career services at DeVry University, Chicago

"The job market is slightly better. It was still a buyers' market. Clients were consistently reporting to me that companies were offering them 20 percent lower than they thought they'd get - a sign companies were trying to control costs. I didn't necessarily recommend they take the lower offer - sometimes they didn't. Sometimes they pushed back for more, and sometimes that job offer disappeared. IT was coming back a bit, even as outsourcing raged. Companies had to have liaisons between here and Bombay. Other companies finally got off the dime about needing programmers."
Rose Jonas, Ph.D., author of "Can I Lie on My Resume? Strategies that Win the Career Game" (EFG, $14.99)

"Retool, retrain or go in a different direction if the direction you are taking is no longer working. No longer could you wait for jobs to come to you, you had to be bold and go to them. This year, the accounting and homeland security industries brought a lot of jobs. Look for smaller companies. When larger companies have job freezes, go to smaller and mid-sized companies that do not. Many experts said technology was dead, yet gadgets and devices aimed toward consumers had high growth."
Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, a career and mentor coaching company in East Moriches, N.Y

"The students we work with are often surprised by the combination of methods needed to locate, apply for, and secure a position. I think this is a tough lesson to learn for younger job seekers who often apply for literally hundreds of positions before they start to wonder why they haven't received an interview. There are no shortcuts in the job search. While many job seekers start the search thinking their job is just waiting to be found on-line, the truth is that most job seekers find positions through a combination of hard work and good old fashioned networking."
Paula Quenoy, associate director for career services at Loyola University, New Orleans

"We hired a lot (for a company of our size) of people in 2004. Because my responsibilities include some HR duties, I read literally hundreds of resumes and I learned that the majority of talented folks out there already have jobs. I received resumes filled with typos and resumes that were applicable to an entirely different industry. Most folks who applied for a job were unable to follow our simple instructions."
Erin Mitchell, group director for RLM PR in New York
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