Even as fault lines are beginning to appear around the issue of the causes of unemployment and what the appropriate political response should be to the problem of long-term unemployment, commentators from each side of the political spectrum have acknowledged unequivocally the difficult road that lays before America’s long-term unemployed. A statement which crystallizes this sentiment was made by Annie Lowrey of the Washington Independent. In her short article, which discusses a recent hearing on long-term unemployment held by the House Ways and Means Committee, as well as different policy responses to this issue, Lowrey concluded with the following thought with regard to what the appropriate political response should be to the issue of long-term unemployment: “There is no easy and cheap policy solution…In all likelihood, I fear, hundreds of thousands of workers — older workers in particular — will simply never find a proper, well-paying job again…”
Ostensibly fueling Lowrey’s words are the dual realizations that the unemployment rate might, at the close of this crisis, find a new higher bottom at 6.5 to 7.5 percent and, as Lowrey puts it, “the current unemployment crisis is due to structural unemployment,” creating the need for “those workers…to find different fields” or accept jobs they may not want. In addition to this, and even though some recruiters have, regrettably, taken steps to eliminate the long-term unemployed—or even just unemployed—applicants from the recruiting process, there seems to be a growing collective realization that pervasive long-term unemployment is…well…pervasive. Becoming aware of the fact that job seekers who have been unemployed for longer than 27 months are, by virtue of that fact, stuck in a rut. Bearing this in mind, and job retraining aside, there are things job seekers, whether short-term or long-term unemployed, can do to be more competitive in the hiring process.
G.L. Hoffman—entrepreneur and “venture investor/operator/incubator/mentor”— after his daughter applied unsuccessfully to a panoply of job opportunities and heard virtually nothing back began to question what it takes, precisely, to land a job. In his U.S. News article, “How to Turn a Job Application Into an Interview,” Hoffman provides some simple tips about how to catch a recruiter’s eye with your resume. One tip was to be selective about what you include on your resumes. Hoffman suggests that “most [hiring managers] want to know the answer to one question: How can this applicant help us right now?,” and explains that “[i]f your resume does not answer that question, or sufficiently tell a story about how you may be able to help, you won’t have a shot at the job in this market.” Naturally, to answer this question, one must “do some research on the company.”
Hoffman advises that job-seekers “[f]ind out everything [they] can about the organization, the department, the people, the products, markets, and the plans for the future.” In essence, you need to demonstrate to a recruiter not only that you are knowledgeable and experienced, but that you are precisely what they are looking for. Thus, while it might be painstaking if not grueling in the short-term, tailoring your resume to match the specific needs of the company for which you are applying to work is certainly worth it in the long-term.
In addition to this, joining networking sites such as LinkedIn, flipping through The Wall Street Journal to find out which sectors of the economy are growing, and digging up old contacts and reestablishing your professional network couldn’t hurt, either.
Liz Wolgemuth of U.S. News, looking to provide the long-term unemployed with a roadmap to re-employment, came up with a number of excellent suggestions, which attempt to provide out-of-work Americans with some direction. While her suggestions closely mirror many of those which can be found within this blog, perhaps the important revolve around the issue of hope and perseverance. Even if you have tried everything and still have yet to find a position, perseverance and remaining hopeful and positive—maintaining your sense of purpose, even though difficult, is key: your next application might not find its way onto the desk of a recruiter, then again, it might.
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