Even as the economy shows signs of improvement, a new survey shows that job seekers are more uncertain about their prospects than a year ago, when the employment situation was at its bleakest. Nearly half of the callers to a job-search advice hotline were unsure about when they might find a new position, while one in six callers thought it would take a more than a year.
The survey was conducted among approximately 500 callers during the 24th annual two-day free job search advice call-in held December 28 and 29 by global outplacement and executive coaching consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Overall, more than 1,000 job seekers took advantage of the public service.
Eighty-one percent of this year’s callers were unemployed, up from 76 percent a year earlier. In 2007, 55 percent of callers were out of work at the time of the call-in.
The overall confidence among job-seeking callers was much lower than a year ago. Only 12.4 percent felt they would be able to find a job in one to three months, down from 27 percent in 2008. The percentage of callers who thought it would take four to seven months to find employment dropped from 31 percent to 12.2 percent. The 15.5 percent who felt the job search would take more than 12 months far out numbered the 5.5 percent who were than pessimistic a year ago.
Along with the lack of optimism, there was a considerable amount of uncertainty. Forty-eight percent of callers this year were unsure about how long their job search might take, compared to 25 percent in 2008.
“The economy may officially be in recovery, but there are scant signs of a revival in the job market. Employers are still shedding workers, albeit at a much lower pace, and hiring has yet to accelerate. Hiring is expected to pick up in the new year, but for those who have been jobless for an extended period, it is easy to become discouraged,” said John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
The Challenger call-in attracted many job seekers who have experienced prolonged unemployment. In fact, the median length of joblessness among callers was approximately one year. Nationally, the median length of unemployment stood at 20.5 weeks as of December, according to government data. That is the longest duration of joblessness in Bureau of Labor Statistics data going back to 1967.
“However, the situation usually is the darkest before the dawn. There is a good chance that the recovery that has been building in the overall economy over the last half of 2009 will begin trickling down to the job market this year. We should see increased hiring by mid-year. It may not be heavy enough to significantly impact the unemployment rate, but it will at least move us in a positive direction,” said Challenger.
“This doesn’t mean that job seekers should postpone their searches until the middle of year. The fact is companies are hiring now, to the tune of about four million new workers each month, on average. There are a lot of things people can do to improve their chances of being among those four million new hires. The one thing they should not do is simply sit at a computer all day, responding to online help-wanted ads,” Challenger advised.
“Answering online ads is just one part of the job search; a part that can be done at night. During the day, job seekers should be out meeting people, whether it’s in a job interview or a lunch meeting with someone who can provide advice and/or names of other people to meet. Most jobs are going to be found through networking. This is true whether you are a senior vice president of a Fortune 500 corporation or a welder,” he added.
According to the callers surveyed by Challenger, the hardest part of the job search is obtaining interviews.
“Unfortunately, most people are going about it the wrong way. They are answering ads and then waiting by the phone for someone to call about an interview,” said Challenger.
“Getting an interview takes a lot of leg work, persistence and branching out through your network. You may meet with 10 people who are not hiring, before you get in front of a decision maker who is ‘interviewing’ for an open position. This more proactive approach to obtaining interviews is not necessarily easier – in fact, it is much more difficult – but it will be more successful in the long run,” said Challenger.
The second biggest challenge cited by job seekers is the lack of work. This is indeed a tight job market. Statistics show that there are four million workers hired each month, but there are about 15 million people vying for those openings.
“Nearly half of the callers said they would take a position for less pay. This may expand the number of potential opportunities, but job seekers should also consider expanding their searches to include a wider variety of industries or look in different parts of the country. Some even expand their searches by looking overseas,” said Challenger.
“Adding new skills and knowledge through continuing education could lead to more job opportunities. However, more than half of the callers were unwilling to return to school, with most citing the cost as the primary deterrent. The government may want to examine ways to continuing education more affordable,” he concluded.
