By Fernando Espinosa

This year has forced us to witness the negative impact of the recession on an enormous amount of people from individual contributors to senior executives in both the US and Mexico.  Most every industry and functional group has been hammered with the terrible news of layoffs, downsizings, rightsizings and operational shut downs.

Despite the news of escalating unemployment rates, we have continued to get search engagements from client companies; albeit at a much reduced rate over 2007 and 2008 – we have continued to make placements and we are continuing to observe companies making critical hires even amidst the recession.  As 2009 is drawing to a close we are also seeing a slight uptick in new companies making contact with us and making plans to begin hiring and selection processes for the new year.

We are seeing some encouraging signs.  We are cautiously optimistic that some of the opportunities that will arise in the first half of 2010 will hopefully absorb a significant number of the unemployed back into all levels of the workforce.  This of course would be a great next step in improving both the U.S. and Mexican economies.

The problem we see is that many people at all levels both employed and unemployed are still not properly prepared for what is emerging as a very different job market.  This is especially true in Mexico.  We are still encountering many candidates that are lacking a good, solid job search strategy. We know because we have seen an inordinate amount of these people in the past 18 months and most of them are still in shock after reality had affected them in the form of a pink slip (lay-off).

We have received thousands of resumes from technical and staff personnel, Managers, Directors, VP’s and C- level executives in Mexico and very few of those send their information with a specific plan in place that would allow us to understand how we can assist them in their job search.

The overwhelming number of unemployed (or those in danger of being unemployed) that send us their resumes work in the Maquiladora industry or are coming from major construction companies.  We have also received a significant number of candidates coming from Mexican national manufacturers, financial services, retail, oil and gas, consumer products, alternative energy and many others that have been forced to downsize.  This ultimately translates into increased competition for the new positions that will be coming online in 2010.

Our recommendation to job seekers in 2010 is that before you engage in the exercise of sending the same resume everywhere for all kinds of positions available in the market, it would be better to spend some time in finding out who you are, what you do best and what you want to do with your life.  If you haven’t taken the time to create a life and career plan, there is no better time than while you are unemployed.

You need to know what your technical competencies, experience, education and skills mean in terms of current market conditions.  Forget what market conditions told you five years ago.  This is 2010 and things are changing faster than ever which means you need to be conscious of what your “value-add” or “unique selling proposition (USP)” is.  If you don’t know what your value is to an organization or what you do better than others, then you aren’t going to be able to sell it or yourself effectively.

Most career professionals have several sources of information at their disposal to learn more about their value-add.  If you have significant work history, then you can always review your past performance evaluations. These are usually filled with tremendous amounts of data points and more importantly the opinions of “your most important client” – your boss.  Your boss’ opinions will reflect his/her opinions on your qualifications along with your strengths and weaknesses.

Another good source of information would be getting a feedback on how you are perceived as a professional by your current or previous peers and subordinates.

If you have ever taken an accredited personality assessment such as a Myers-Briggs (MBTI) or DISC, then you can refer to the results of that assessment to refresh yourself with what your strengths are.  If you have never taken such an assessment, now may be the time to invest in taking one.  You just want to ensure that you are taking an accredited assessment and not something that an amateur industrial psychologist has devised as “their own assessment”.  There are many accredited assessments on the market and many that cost as little as $150 to get at the kind of information that many professionals are simply not conscious of.

With your “value-add” information in hand, your next step is to research and narrow down your market niche very precisely.  You need to decide what kinds of companies, industry sectors, functions and titles that could benefit from your expertise and qualifications.  Select those tracks that you know you will have the most impact and get the most career satisfaction from and eliminate those that look less promising or interesting.

The next criteria you need to use to define this decision is to look for “employability”.  You need to look for those companies that are in a better position to offer you the opportunity to acquire skill sets that can leverage your profile and provide you with growth opportunities or will allow you to develop more marketable skills and experience for other companies in the job market.

Once you are conscious of your “value add” and you have identified and narrowed down your market niche and are certain to obtain “employability” out of those companies you will be applying for, your next step is to brand yourself and prepare a sales and marketing strategy for your profile.

The first step in branding yourself is to ensure that you have all the information needed to prepare one or more resumes to present to your target companies.  Start preparing those resumes to match the needs of those companies on your list that have vacant positions.  It is important to understand that it is not the same to try to sell your profile to someone that isn’t currently hiring versus someone that is currently actively looking for talent.

You need to make sure that your resume has a “Summary of Qualifications” highlighting your unique value proposition; followed by a chronological outline of your Professional Experience.  Briefly describe the companies you have worked for with special care to highlight your achievements while working there.  No hiring manager wants to see a resume that reads like a job description.  They want to know what you accomplished while you were in the role. 

It should go without saying that you should ensure that all you have in your resume is true and you should be fully prepared to prove it.  That being said, we have seen an increase in outright exaggerations and lies on resumes during this economic downturn due to the increased pressure facing many of the unemployed.

The next step is to make sure that your resume functions as a support document in your job search. Your resume should never lead your job search, it simply opens the door for you to the hiring manager.  In today’s economy, you can easily supplement your resume and begin a long term personal branding strategy by creating your own website. 

We are encouraging many professionals to purchase a domain name using their name (example - http://www.fernandoespinosa.com/).  Domain names are very inexpensive now. 

If you are fortunate enough to have a friend or family member that is a web designer then you most definitely cannot afford to go into 2010 without making this small investment toward building your professional brand.
Utilizing a personal website in a strategic manner alongside LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter is a topic that is more complex and detailed than this article will allow.  Feel free to make contact with me for more information on this topic or stay tuned for a future article on this topic.

The items and exercises I’ve mentioned are just a small piece of the many options at your disposal to promote “Your Brand” and enable potential employers to understand what your value proposition is.  In today’s rapidly changing talent market, recruiting and executive search consultants and employers expect to be able to find you within professional networks such as LinkedIn and if you have additional supplemental information on your own professionally created website connected to your LinkedIn profile, then you have gained even greater brand awareness of yourself. 

The Internet continues to produce even more excellent search tools for recruiters and employers.  Don’t you want to stand out and get noticed – even if you aren’t in the job market?  Don’t you want the employer whose looking 12 months into the future to see who you are?  It’s your brand and it’s your life, we encourage you to make the most of it!

We wish everyone the utmost in health, happiness and career success in 2010!!!

Fernando Espinosa is an Executive Recruiter in Qualifind, Inc. and is Mexico’s only member of the prestigious Pinnacle Society.  He can be reached at (619) 421-7134 or  fespinosa@quali-find.com  for questions and comments.

Qualifind, Inc. provides professional and executive search services for specific disciplines and industries throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We are a U.S. based firm with our corporate offices in San Diego, California. We have branch offices and recruiting staff in the U.S. (i.e Chicago, Austin) and Mexico (i.e. Monterrey,  Mexico City).