The Inside Job

If you're trying to get a handle on what works in today's job search environment—I highly advise you take a look at these top 10 job search tips from online marketing executive So Young Park. The advice is straight from the horse's mouth—Park embarked on a job hunt in the heart of the recession. She had an advantage in that she was employed while she was looking, but anyone who's capable of explaining their own successes for the benefit of others is to be treasured.

I recently chatted with Park for a story on the growing use of psychologists in interviews, and she spoke candidly about the lack of response she received when applying to openings at companies where she lacked a connection. "In this economy ...If I was relying on cold calling and just sending in my resume, I don't know how I would get a job," Park says.

If you suspected that you lacked the web savvy, the personal branding know-how, the interactive online resume, to get a job in these web 2.0 times—clearly there's a good chance that's not the case. As much as it mattered in previous decades—or perhaps even more than it mattered then—your network is still king. Your connections are most likely to solve your job problem.

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As if job seekers needed further proof that employers have the upper hand in this economy--city officials in Bozeman, Montana are asking applicants to list the various elements comprising their web presence (blogs, chat groups, Facebook or MySpace accounts, etc.) along with the passwords they use to access the sites.

The policy invites all sorts of privacy questions--the American Civil Liberties Union is no fan--but it also speaks to the challenges facing the unemployed in this market. A piece in the WSJ earlier this month--aptly titled "What Won't You Do For a Job?"--told how a Connecticut toymaker asks applicants to bring three years worth of W-2 forms to interviews, where they are put through a battery of simulated work tasks and surveys. The company describes its process as a bit "rough around the edges." This screening process seems pretty mild, however, compared with some of the other requests job seekers faced--such as supplying 12 references, or giving a business presentation half a dozen times in a day.

However painful for those looking to join a payroll, the fact is that employers can apparently afford to put these kinds of requirements on applicants when they're facing down piles of resumes for fewer openings--they're desperate for new methods to filter the potential hires. I recently wrote about the increased use of psychologists in job interviews--not just increased use of psychological tests but actual face time or telephone conversations with psychologists. It's not a new practice, but it's experiencing something of a revival.

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It's not like this stuff comes up in casual conversation. "So, Chuck, how do they calculate the unemployment rate each month? And, hey, pass the bottle of wine while you're thinking about it." But in the past 18 months, we've all started paying more attention to the Labor Department's monthly jobs report, so it's worth understanding what it represents. Here are a few common misconceptions:

Misconception: The unemployment rate is based on unemployment benefits data. Unemployment benefits are indeed collected by the unemployed, but the data for each month's much-quoted unemployment rate does not come from the same source as the data on benefits. After all, not all people out of work are collecting benefits. The unemployment rate is drawn from a monthly survey of about 60,000 households called the Current Population Survey.

Misconception: The unemployment rate and the monthly jobs numbers are based on the same data. You might think that the data used to calculate that 345,000 jobs were lost in May would be the same data used to calculate the unemployment rate, but you'd be wrong. The Labor Department uses two different surveys for the monthly employment situation report. The Household Survey is used to calculate the unemployment rate. The Establishment Survey is used to calculate the monthly change in payrolls.

Misconception: The unemployment rate is the percentage of Americans who are unemployed. Well, for one thing, the unemployment rate is just a portion of Americans age 16 and older who are in the labor force. Also, it doesn't measure the merely unemployed, it measures those individuals who are unemployed and have recently looked for work. Part-timers and unemployed workers who haven't searched for work within the previous four weeks are not included among the official unemployed. This is a rather contentious point. Some economists believe that the unemployment rate should be expanded to include people who are out of work but have given up looking for a job because they don't think they'll find one, as well as people who want full-time work but are working part-time.

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It's no secret that the average workweek has been shrinking over the course of this recession. Well, it's no secret to people who enjoy reading Labor Department news releases. There are plenty of workers who probably feel like they're working extra hours. But, the average work week dropped from 33.7 hours in May 2008 to 33.1 hours in May 2009.

The number of workers employed in part-time jobs has risen by more than 2 million in the past year, while the number who are working part-time involuntarily (meaning they'd rather be working full-time but had their hours cut or can't find full-time work) has jumped by 4.4 million over the course of the recession. (Is it fair to figure that some workers--older workers in particular--who would have been satisfied previously with part-time pay now need more income? Or, is this largely driven by employers cutting part-time jobs, then cutting full-time jobs down to part-time?)

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