Tips for the long-term unemployed
By Kate Lorenz on Jan 29, 2010 in Featured, Job Search, Mature Workers, Unemployment
Although there are signs the economy is healing, there are still 15.3 million unemployed workers in America according to the most recent BLS data. Among those unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) continued to trend up, reaching 6.1 million in December 2009. That means 4-in-10 unemployed workers have been jobless for 6 months or longer.
In addition, about 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force last December, an increase of more than half a million from the previous year. Marginally attached persons are defined as those individuals who were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed, however, because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Have they simply given up?
“Unemployed people are facing some historic numbers and formidable competition. However, they need to pinpoint those areas they may be able to change, make a difference and increase their chances for success. Despite the odds, people are still landing jobs every day. Job seekers need to continually make adjustments, learn to run a focused campaign and never give up,” said Bob Wilson, managing partner of OI Partners-High Potential Inc. in Chicago.
If you are feeling the stress of long-term unemployment, here are some tips from Wilson and his colleagues at OI Partners:
Double-check your references:
Be sure you are targeting the right industries:
Increase your face-to-face contact:
Use social networking Web sites to identify contacts within targeted companies and possible jobs that have not been posted or advertised:
Focus on the immediate value you can bring to an employer:
