Recession Briefing 7.15

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

More than half of executive-level job seekers think the recession has been good for their children, as a lesson that opportunity will not be handed to them. (Reuters)

Buoyed by some positive forecasts, Daniel Gross is ready to call an end to this whole recession thing. (Slate)

Marion Maneker wonders whether our culture of narcissism unleashed the boom — and thus the recession. (The Big Money)

Cabin Fever? Meet at the Apartment.

Even with the sun finally shining, starting the week alone in the city can be a drag. On the first Monday of every month, Meet at the Apartment, an uber-stylish meeting space in Soho, is hosting a day of workshops and hanging out for consultants, freelancers and job hunters.

Throughout the day, there will be interviews with entrepreneurs on how they launched their businesses, and a lesson on networking from One of Those People Who Knows Everybody. They’re throwing in free wifi, coffee, snacks and office supplies. Please don’t embarrass us by walking out with your pockets stuffed full of Post-It pads…

Sell Yourself Without Feeling Like a Jerk

The term “self promotion” often carries a negative connotation—and with good reason. No one enjoys dealing with someone whose solution to every problem starts—and ends—with “I.”

But in tough economic times, it’s more important than ever to make yourself memorable to employers, potential employers, clients, and business and networking associates. You might know what you do—and what you can do. That’s not the same as making sure other people know it.

So how do you advertise “you” to the world without earning Sir Lancelot’s “C’est moi” reputation? By communicating a value package of which you are one component—a fundamental one. Here are the three essentials:

1. Talk about the team

Conveying your abilities is more than providing a laundry list of education, skills training, and professional experience; you need to talk in terms of achievements and accomplishments. To do it without feeling like a braggart, remember that facts melded with humility are a powerful combination…

Job Seekers: Look at Me!

Why did the jobseeker put a shoe in his application? To get a foot in the door. Bah-dum-dum.

It’s come to this: The lingering downturn is turning the job market — and the lengths people will go for an interview — into a bad joke. In a recent CareerBuilder survey, one desperate applicant admitted to the shoe gag. But it wasn’t the worst approach, at least on the sliding scale of coming through desperate times with your dignity intact. Another applicant washed cars in a prospective employer’s parking lot to get noticed. Yet another baked a “business card” cake for an HR manager. And then there’s the guy who paid a CEO’s barber to talk him up during a haircut.

The Truth About Job Sites

I’ve done a lot of professional speaking on resume writing, and over the past eight years have talked to thousands of people. Every time, I ask the following question: “Has anyone gotten a job off of Monster.com?”

Eleven people have raised their hands.

There are hundreds—if not thousands—of job boards online, and they list millions of positions. Yet many of us have had this experience: You’re trolling job listings, clicking on openings in your target field, when you see The Dream Job. Your pulse starts racing. You look more closely. You are a perfect fit. You are such a perfect fit that it was like you had written the job description yourself. So you spend hours editing, proofing, tweaking and finessing your resume and cover letter. You hit “send” confident you’ll be contacted right away. You never hear a peep.

When it comes to job listing sites, there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes…

Recession Briefing 6.19

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Pop group New Kids on the Block are citing the global economic recession as a main reason for canceling their reunion tour. (OK!)

No land-lines, “virtual” swim meets and trayless cafeterias. Cost-cutting colleges and universities have come up with some smaller, quirkier economies that add up to big savings. (New York Times)

Could it be that companies will suddenly lose large numbers of their employees when the recession is over? A survey shows the majority of working Americans are planning to launch a job hunt when the economy turns around. (U.S. News & World Report)

Recession Briefing 6.18

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Want to hedge against the downturn by investing in precious metals? In Germany, shoppers will soon be able to buy gold from vending machines. (Daily Telegraph)

More than 40 communities across the country have canceled their Fourth of July fireworks, conceding that shooting off a colorful array of explosives is now a luxury that borders on wasteful. (Washington Post)

Cash-strapped and unemployed New Yorkers are meeting job contacts on the fly, in nontraditional settings, outside of their professional networks. (New York/Daily Intel)

Out on the Street: Smart or Lucky?

On Wednesday I had my second interview with a major US bank. And when I say interview with the bank, I mean I met everyone in the company. I was there for seven hours. I met the head of sales, the head of trading, the head of debt capital markets, the copy guy. You name them, I met them. Fingers crossed, but I think it went well—other than my meeting with Yuri, the 28-year old wunderkind trader.

Yuri made $30 million for the firm last year, his second year of trading, a fact he succeeded in mentioning within the first five minutes of our interview and at least twice more. If you extrapolate the astronomical growth rate of his investment return, he’s sure to make 300 billion gazillion dollars by the time he reaches my age. Just ask him— he’ll tell you.

Other than his periodic reminders of his success, the interview progressed with the familiar series of questions. He started with the soft “tell me about yourself” and moved on to my current views on markets. I had rehearsed my talking points and was sailing through until Yuri went off on a tangent…

Signs of the Recession: The Two-Word Resume

The feds say that 7 million people have lost their jobs in the recession—which means a hell of a lot of people cussing under their breath as they wrestle with their resumes. Should it be one page? Two? Chronological? Functional? Serif or sans serif?

Out on the Street: The Hardest Yard

Joe the Trader chronicles his experiences with life after Wall Street.

Sports is full of clichés about scoring or winning, and fans and analysts are obsessed with the notion of being clutch. In baseball the relief pitcher who comes in the ninth inning to seal the victory is the closer. In football quarterbacks are measured by their ability to negotiate the last twenty yards and how well they can guide their team in the last two minutes of a game. In soccer the forward who can score the goals is called a finisher.

I have never been any of those.

In soccer I played midfield and when I played rugby I was the fullback, the last line of defense.