“I have the opportunity to do my best each day.”
“I would recommend the company as a good place to work to my friends.”
“Even though I work as hard as a dog, have no personal life and have not seen a raise in two years, I still love to come to work each day with a smile on my face.”

These survey items and others like them (OK, I made the last one up to make a point) are designed to measure something called Employee Engagement.  Typically on a scale of 1-5 the respondent is asked the degree to which they agree with the statement.

Employee Engagement is touted by any number of consulting firms as the Holy Grail to increased employee productivity. If employees are “engaged” they argue, customers are happier, profitability goes up and shareholder value improves (along with executive bonuses).  Engagement has even been linked to lower employee theft and lower heath care costs.

So when your employer starts sending around surveys on employee engagement you can bet that management is trying to figure out a way to improve any number of these metrics without improving costs. This is often bad news for middle managers because most research suggests that how employees feel about their direct manager usually is related to how engaged they feel about the company overall.

So of course what happens is that the survey results become part of your manager’s performance review plan. Mangers are quick to understand.  Have happy and engaged employees…or else.  

I have always been a little suspect of these correlations between employee engagement and company performance. Do happy employees improve profitability or does profitability make for happy employees?

When the financials are good, executives are happy, generous and usually leave you alone to do your job. This makes for a happy job. On the other hand, when the financials are bad, executives get unhappy, become Scrooge-like and meddle in the details of your work.  This makes for an unhappy job.  

But if you say you are unhappy and unengaged as a result company decisions and corporate micromanagement, it will still be your manager’s problem.  If employee engagement on their team is down, the manager is blamed – not the senior executives and their decisions.

This means that managers prefer employees who appear engaged to those who appear less engaged. From a career management perspective, this is important when decisions are being made as to who gets hired and, when there is a downsizing, who is let go.

So if you are unhappy and are at risk of being un-engaged should you fake happiness and engagement? You bet you should.

I once picked up a wise and clever little business book titled, “Beware of Those Who Ask for Feedback: And Other Organizational Constants” by Richard Moran.  The title said it all. Career smart people never show they are unhappy and unengaged in their work. They do not show it in their job interviews and they do not show it in their day-to-day interactions with their manager.

The problem of course, if you are like many people (including me), it is really hard to fake happiness while unhappy about a job or, during an interview, about unhappy jobs in the past. Manager’s need happy or more to the point, engaged employees – whether or not it is deserved.

So from a career perspective, the next time you are asked if you like(d) your job –  put on a happy face.

The hope of course is that openness will help land a job more quickly on the assumption that being picky is just plain stupid when bills need to be paid.

Sure, when the market is as tight as it has been, it is important to take a realistic assessment of your options. There was a time when people who worked in the slide rule industry knew their days were numbered at the advent of the pocket calculator. Know when your profession or your industry is truly dead and that it is time to move on to greener pastures.

The problem is that there is a point when being open actually closes doors and extends a search longer than if you stayed more focused and discriminating. Look for these signs that your search is so open that it hurts more than helps:

Applying for on-line long-shots. You see a job and think, “I could do that job.”  And you are probably right that as a reasonably smart person, you might be able to do a reasonably smart effort at doing the job well. The problem is that you are competing with others that have already demonstrated doing the job well. On-line job postings are widely available and generate a lot of applications. If you have 70% or more of the requirements, go for it. If it is less, skip it. If you really want to break into a new field, shift your focus to the hidden job market where the competition is less and the approach is more personal than an on-line application.

Unable to tell people clearly what type of job you want. When you say, “Well at this point I am open for anything”, you might as well say, “I am beyond help”.  People need to know what kind of employer would most value your skills. Sharpen up your message. The types of employers, the functional area and even the possible titles of the person who might be your future boss are essential pieces of your message to help people understand your objective.  For example, “I am a software engineer. The right employer for me would design and produce small electronics. I need to be talking to software engineering managers, program managers, product managers or project team leaders”.  Then give them a list of employers you have identified and ask them if they know of anyone who might know about them. Help them help you. If you are vague, you will get a vague response.

 Assuming you have to be open to a significant pay cut before you get an offer (or even start the search). This not only weakens your negotiating position it also hurts your search. It is depressing to look for a job assuming your next position will pay a lot less. Use this time to gather actual data about pay in your profession and industry.  Ask questions, gather facts. Be an expert on what people with your background and experience get paid in the marketplace.

Applying to positions you couldn’t or wouldn’t accept even if you did get an offer. You live in Seattle and the job is in Cincinnati and your spouse has their own business that cannot be moved. What are you thinking? What’s worse is how bad you will feel when you get rejected by jobs you weren’t interested in the first place.  (“The market is so bad I couldn’t even get a job I didn’t want.”) This is a waste of time and can become an emotional death spiral.

Stay focused on a clear objective with no more than three possible target positions assuming that some jobs may also have a number of different titles. In this market, a sharp laser like focus combined with a shift of effort to the unpublished or hidden job market will improves your chances to find the next perfect job as quickly as possible. Being too open to possibilities and applying to the easy to find positions increases the competition and the chance you will never find a job you like.

The ride first appeared, not at Disneyland but rather at the 1964 New York World’s Fair in the Pepsi Pavilion. The original plan was to have each section of the ride play a different national anthem but Walt Disney said he wanted one song. We can credit the Sherman Brothers, who wrote “It’s a Small World (After All)”. As a result of their creative efforts, the song is believed to be the most performed song ever without even counting the lyrics you are now listening to in your own head since I brought up this topic.

I can’t prove this, but I suspect one of the riders in 1964 Pepsi Pavilion ride was social psychologist Stanley Milgram (he did live in New York) as he is credited with the original experiment to establish how small the world really is, or more specifically, what is the average number of connections between you and anyone in the world.

This is called the “small world” problem. His conclusion as published in the first issue of Psychology Today in 1967 was “six” – thus the term, “six degrees of separation”. (If you really want to learn more about this check out Duncan Watts wonderful book, “Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age”.)

There have been a number of follow-up research pieces including using on-line social networking and the average still appears to be the same – six degrees. This of course the foundation of networking in the job search. Since there is an average of six connections to connect you to anyone with the power to hire you into your next job, networking would be a simple solution – right?

Well maybe. If you think about it the real problem for a job seeker is – which six?

This is the catch. Not all attempts to make the connection are successful. Most are dead-ends. The six degrees of separation only counts when calculating the steps it takes to make a successful connection.

If you are looking for a job this means your networking has to take into account the actual structure of social networks and how they operate. If you don’t, networking can make you feel lost in a huge random garden maze surrounded by very tall hedges.

So sharpen your networking to get better results to reduce the number of dead-ends:

Not all connections are equal. You will network with people that are darn near useless then meet with people who are gold mines of information. They are hard to make out at a distance but make sure you appreciate the gold mines when you find them.

People have to care about you to actually make the introduction to others. This seems obvious but the way some people treat networking contacts – like stepping stones, it is no wonder they never get very far in their networks. Enlist people in your mission to find your perfect job. Show that you care so that they will care.

People need to understand your objective. The more specific about your objective, the more likely they can be helpful. Help them help you by being clear about the job, the list of organizations that might use your skills and what type of hiring managers you need to meet who might value what you do.

Cluster jump. Social networks form in social clusters. Often people that know you also know each other. This can become a closed loop or closed cluster of connections. Therefore you must make efforts to jump out of your cluster. Tell people who are not obvious connections about your quest to find your next job. Introduce yourself to people who are experts in your target field not just people you know today. Work outside of your comfort zone a bit to get into the same network cluster your hiring manager might belong.

It is a small world but it can be overwhelming unless you have a systematic way to look at all those happy dolls to find the right one.

How does this happen?

Simple actually. These degree-less people happened to join the right company and because they were smart and capable and learned quickly, they were promoted to higher level positions.

This happened to a friend of mine as well as a number of my clients. Their stories are always similar. As they were climbing the career ladder they always intended to get a degree, it was just that they were too busy doing their job and raising families to set aside the time to get back to school. After 10-15 years of experience, the issue of the degree became somewhat mute.

That is, until they were laid off. After years of professional success, they are now competing degree-less in an open market against other, sometimes less experienced people with degrees.  Worse, they are automatically eliminated from even being considered for jobs because 15 years ago they didn’t graduate from college.

Some employers recognize the “School of Hard Knocks” as a substitute for a college education but right or wrong most do not. Therefore, for the job seeker, the lack of a degree must be rendered as irrelevant as possible in order to have a successful job search. Here are some strategies my clients have found to be successful to overcome the lack of a college degree:

Intensify the search towards the “hidden job market” and avoid over-reliance on published job listings. Published job postings in today’s economy will attract a lot of competition. Improve your competitive position and target the hidden market where the competition is less and leveraging a network connection who know the quality of your work pulls more weight.

If you did attend college but did not graduate, list the college on your resume anyway. List the school, its location and years attended. (You can drop the years if you want.) Indicate the subject you studied but of course do not claim you were awarded degree.  You do not need to mention how many credits you completed, or you that did not finish or provide any other excuses. Save it for the interview. That is, if you are even asked about it.

List other training, workshops and seminars you have taken that are relevant to the job. Anyone who has been in a career for any length of time has attended professional development classes, workshops and seminars. Too many to list and not enough room? Simply calculate the number of hours of any professional training you have had on any topic. On your resume say, “More than 500 hours of professional training on topics such as….”, and list topics relevant to the job. Skip mentioning the low level or basic skill classes such as Microsoft Office or sexual harassment training. The point here is to demonstrate the depth of your knowledge in your profession to offset the degree issue.

Use the “Feel-Felt-Found” technique to diffuse the issue when asked.  The best thing to do when dealing with a potential deal breaker in your background is to have a great strategy for handling the interviewers concern – in this case your lack of a degree – without sounding defensive.  In sales, the technique is called “Feel- Felt-Found”.  For the experienced degree-less professional it would go like this:  “I understand how you might feel it is important to have a degreed person for this job. In fact, I (or “others”) have felt the same way.  When hiring someone with more limited experience, I look for the degree as assurance a new hire can learn and grow in the job.  However, what I have found – and what my manager’s have found – is that the lack of a degree has never limited what I accomplish in a job.  Nor has the demand of raising a family ever detracted from my work. I am a safe bet and my experience has proven it.”

In every job search we will face some kind of objections. We might be too young, too old, from the wrong industry, have the wrong GPA or any other judgment that employers might have to take us out of the running.

Don’t be scared off. Stay in the race.

I saw it last weekend and as someone who spent 18 years witnessing thousands of people lose their jobs it was very hard to watch and riveting at the same time.

When it comes to the polished corporate message of job loss coupled with the employee’s deeply personal reaction as the news gradually sinks in, it was text book. And it was brutal.

The small touches made me catch my breath: the last minute change-of-plan crisis in the parking lot, cowering employees when the corporate terminators walked in the door and the near-empty offices decimated by waves of previous layoffs. I had seen it all before and it still hurt.

Director Jason Reitman (who also directed the Oscar-winning movie Juno) pulled no punches by adding interviews of actual victims of job loss describing their experience of being let go and out of work. As I watched the clips I knew in the moment they were actual people telling their first-hand and painful accounts. It couldn’t be an act, it was far too real.

My old colleagues at DBM, the outplacement firm where I spent 18 years, are quick to point out that outplacement companies never actually deliver the message and hand people their severance packages. That rotten job is typically handled by the manager and the employer’s human resources staff who then pass the disoriented employees to outplacement counselors.

But outplacement companies do train managers on how to deliver the message, plan notification logistics and help write notification scripts. Unfortunately, not all of my client companies were smart enough to ask for help with the tricky and sensitive notifications. I have seen some seriously botched separations during my career.

Some have suggested that on-line webcam notifications as portrayed by the movie would never happen.

Wanna bet? I have killed more than once that specific bright idea proposed by thoughtless managers in technology companies. Notifications over the phone, email and even via fax are common practice for companies too callused, too cheap or too spineless to care.

More importantly though the movie was a metaphor about being cut off from the ties that bind. Clooney’s character had successfully freed himself of all of the baggage of relationships and home. He only realizes what was lost when he too is set “up in the air” by being grounded when his job and life are disrupted by his company’s drive for better margins.

This modern parable of the polished brutality of corporate downsizing and a road warrior’s life surrounded by the paid sincereity of customer service agents , tells us the true ties that bind – home and the people we love – are what keep us grounded.

While some of the scenes might feel too personal for someone who has lost their job, this is a worthwhile movie. And if you were cut free from your job and your career is up in the air, take the message to heart.  Stay connected to those who really count.

I tried to talk him into trying networking for a while, but it was clear I was getting nowhere.

So OK, I said, just apply for posted jobs. This would have been fine of course except there were a couple big problems. First, there were very few jobs posted in his profession.  In fact it had been more than a month and a half since he had last seen a job opening in his area.  Relocation was out of the question unless he wanted to create a mess of his home life. A wife with a good job, two teenagers who were deeplyconnected to school and friends and a slightly underwater mortgage were absolute anchors to stay put.

He knew waiting for job postings would not get him a job in the foreseeable future.

He also wanted a job and was willing to do something about it. That is, if it made sense to him. If it was direct, logical and didn’t beat around the bush.

So I proposed “The Survey” approach.

First, a bit more about my client. He was an IT (Information Technology) professional. As a result, his experience was with a particular type of software and hardware. The survey approach works best with technical professions or professions where the right type of employer can be clearly defined. The Survey takes a little bit of preparation and a system to manage it but it is very straight forward. To implement the Survey, begin with …

The list – We made a list of companies that he suspected might have an IT department. This was based on their size and that the headquarters were located in town. He added to that list companies who were customers of a sales person who sold the very software he knew how to use. Whenever he could he tracked down the name of the IT manager – usually a Director or V.P of Information Systems.

The Survey – We came up with a few questions to ask the IT manager about their operation. What type of technical systems they had and whether they used the software applications my client knew. We also added a question asking if they had any hiring plans in the next quarter for their staff.

The Script – The decision to go to a conversation as opposed to email was a tough one. At the end of the day, we opted for the conversation. This is because a conversation demonstrated more commitment, and allowed a stronger connection. If that did not work, he could drop back to email or even snail mail. So he needed to know what to say. For example we started with, “Hello, my name is Bob and I am doing a quick survey of IT departments in town to learn what technical platforms they are on and the types of people they might need…” This script was refined to make it most comfortable to him as he used it but it pretty much stayed as is.

 He refined a set of answers for questions he anticipated but his goal was to check which IT departments would likely hire people with his skills. If they look like a good candidate, he asked if he could send them a resume. (I tried to get him to ask for a meeting but he thought that was too pushy for his style.)

The Result – He worked on this for almost two weeks solid on the survey. He made about 100 calls. He got through to about 40 people and it should be said it took an average of a little better than two tries each. Fifteen were “qualified” as potential employers because they used IT systems he knew. Almost all of them asked for a resume and three asked him to come in to meet with them. Only one was ready to hire and offered him a job.

I guess from a percentage standpoint, it can be argued that he had a success rate of 1% because 1 in a 100 calls resulted in an offer. (Although for several months he had a number of call backs from his survey after he had taken the position.)

But from a success standpoint, it was 3 weeks from beginning of the survey to the job offer.  That’s 100% in my book and a lot better than waiting and worrying. His family was relieved. He was thrilled.

The reasoning therefore, is to find organizations, that need your knowledge and skills and you will be well on your way to finding a job. Who needs people other than as a method to get to your job via networking?

Think again. We can get side-tracked when we restrict ourselves to an exploration of skills and knowledge. We miss the importance of people and the nature of our work relationships. People can be our true compass to finding the right job for us. Think of people not as a means to an end but rather as the goal within itself to achieve that ideal job and career.

To make this work, think of yourself in the center (is there any other place to be?) surrounded by all the people that depend on you as well as those that you depend on. Describe as best you can the characteristics of these people who would bring out the best in you. It is OK to be politically incorrect. This is just between you and you.

Bosses – What are their job titles? Do you prefer to work for someone who has done your job, understands your job and can tell you how to do your job so you can learn or maybe you would prefer them to be clueless? Are they clear or vague about objectives? Hands-on or hands-off? In your office so you have ready access or halfway around the world? Are they male or female? Younger or older? College educated or school of hard knocks?

Peers – Do they do the same job as you or different jobs? Are they amiable, competitive, smart, friendly or strictly professional? Is it important they share your political perspective? Will they need to depend on your expertise or will you need to depend on theirs? What is their level of education?

Customers – This might include internal or external customers. They might be called clients or stakeholders but they are the people who benefit directly from your work. Are they smart and capable or needy and in need of nourishment? Are they young or old? Privileged or underprivileged?  Business people or the general public? Ask yourself what types of problems or needs do you want to solve for them.

Subordinates – If you aspire to be a manager, describe your subordinates. Are they newbies with the need for structure and your mentorship or are they experienced hands needing you to find resources and open doors to get their job done? Are they technical or creative (or both)? Are they college educated or does it matter? Are they union or non-union? Under one roof or spread around the world?

There are two benefits to exploring this in depth. First, it will help you identify factors that will sharpen your job objective as well as highlight the most satisfying – and dissatisfying aspects of a job. These factors can change over time while skills stay the same.  For example, at one time I liked counseling juvenile delinquents. No more. Today I like counseling smart adults who want to make the most out of their career. The skills are similar, the “customers” are not.

The second benefit is that you have described the people with whom you should be networking. Each of these groups will know more about the types of organizations you should work for. One mistake job seekers make is to only network with professional peers. Think about everyone you would work with.

For example, let’s assume you want to work as a customer engineer for a software company. You have identified customers as including information technology managers. Asking them which companies they think provide the next best thing in software could give you the lead you are looking for.

If you are a teacher, ask a parent what they think of their children’s school.

If they recommend the school, (or the I.T. manager recommends the software company) call up the principle (technical support manager) and say you were referred to them by a happy parent (customer) and you want to work for a school who cares about what parents (customers)  think. There is a good chance they will meet with you to tell you about their organizations and learn more about you.

 You may still need to go through an application process but, this is a powerful and good first step to any job search to put yourself well ahead of the pack.

Who do you want to work with?

Why I should pick this book for Christmas Day is beyond me.  I have very little in common with Jamison (although I exuberantly loved her previous book, Exuberance, which, as it turns out, she was writing as he was dying).   I’m not bipolar (at least I don’t think so); I’m not dying (at least I hope not); I’m not married (that much I know for absolute sure).  And I’m not especially fond of bassett hounds (although their ears really are irresistible).  But still the poetic precision of the way she writes about discerning the difference between grief and depression is a transcendent journey into another person’s heart and mind and experience of loss.

So I did a little bit (a lot) of crying on Christmas Day.

As I was closing the book this morning at 5 a.m., I came upon a line that is actually brilliant advice for all of us. Especially these days:

“Keep away the ungenerous and unkind.”

That one sentence – among so many stingingly beautiful lines –  hit me right between the eyes. And I want to pass it on to you.

As I’m writing these words, I’m painfully aware that Dr. Jamison, or her publicists, might be reading this post (Google Alerts is a wonderful thing; but there’s no more writing in obscurity). And they are appalled at how I could have the gall to turn her message and journey into a blog posting on taking care of yourself when you’re on the job hunt.  So, first of all, my apologies to Dr. Jamison and all those who surround her with kind and generous love.

And now let’s get down to business.   You may have noticed, in your own passage from one job to the next, that some of those people who would be called your friends, well, aren’t. You’ve lost your job. You don’t know when the next one will show up. You’re grieving. You’re trying to find your footing again in a world that has found many interesting ways of implying that there’s no place for you among the busy, productive, respected, and the paid.

Some people in your closest circles will give you all the room and time you need to writhe and howl with the frustration you’re feeling. Others will fling false upbeat advice at you like pasta against a wall.  And then study their watch, tapping their feet, waiting for you to cheer up already. Still others will make you feel like you’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of disgrace and now you’re four inches tall – and they have suddenly soared in stature.

This is the time when your friends will divide themselves into two groups. The generous and the kind  in one group. And then, on the other side of the classroom will be gathered all those who fall under the category of “un.”

What does kindness and generosity look like to someone who is struggling to land their next job?

Kind and generous friends

• Don’t judge.
• Don’t change their opinions of you and your journey because they have arbitrarily assumed that you should be fill in the blank by now.
• Return your phone calls.
• Will ask you what you want; not tell you what you need.
• Make it easy for you to tap into their network.
• Make introductions and then get out of the way.
• Talk about you in the context of what you have to offer, not what you’ve lost.
• Keep their promises.
• Remind you of your gifts, talents, value when you’re feeling especially unwanted.
• Help you see things in a slightly different way.
• Help you keep your standards high.
• Listen.
• Include you in social gatherings and projects that have nothing to do with job hunting.
• Don’t judge you for false steps, unseemly behavior, embarrassing moments that arise from the stress you’re under.
• Tell the truth.
• Keep their  unsolicited opinions and “you shoulds”  to themselves.
• Let you make your own decisions.
• Keep a watchful eye out for your wellbeing but won’t meddle in trivialities.
• Will swoop in if you’ve truly lost your way or bearings.
• Will respect you no matter what.

As for the others, keep them at a very, very safe distance.  Preferably, as Jamison says, away.   Later, when you’re strong and stable again, you can consider the value of their friendship – or even acquaintance –  and see whether you want to keep them in your life for whatever reason.  I’m thinking that with the clarity that stability brings, you’ll come to some surprising conclusions about which friends to keep and which friends to cull.