How to Move Forward When You're Out of Work and Feeling Lost

a post by Tazeem Weljie for the Tiny Buddha blog



“My attitude has always been, if you fall flat on your face, at least you’re moving forward. All you have to do is get back up and try again.” ~Richard Branson

Let’s face it, losing a job sucks! Over the last couple of months, I have been chatting with friends who have recently been affected by organizational changes resulting in being out of work involuntarily. This is a situation all too familiar to millions of people, frequently through no fault of their own. Often it’s a result of an economic downturn, restructuring, acquisitions, and cost savings.

A couple of years ago, while I was on a business trip, I found out my role would be coming to an end. It wasn’t completely unexpected, and I was actually relieved. However, as an expat it was overwhelming.

Would I have to move back to my home country? Would I have to leave the place where I’d started to build a life? What about my volunteer commitments? This and so much more spun around my head.

Thank goodness for re-runs of How I Met Your Mother. Upon finding out the news, I spent hours obsessed with the saga of Ted and Robin while indulging in cookies and ice cream. After a few days, (and before my jeans got too tight), I picked myself up and started moving forward. I was reminded of some valuable lessons along the way.

Continue reading to find out about those lessons and whether you can apply them to your life situation.
As an ex employment adviser I found a couple of new ideas which I think, however, probably only apply to more professional roles.

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Attachment Avoidance and Attachment Anxiety as Individual Characteristics Affecting Job Search Behavior

an article by Monique V. E. Leenders (University of Groningen, the Netherlands and University of Applied Sciences Drechtsteden, Dordrecht, the Netherlands), Abraham P. Buunk (University of Groningen, the Netherlands) and Kène Henkens (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, the Hague; University of Amsterdam; University Medical Center Groningen) published in Journal of Career Development Volume 46 Issue 5 (October 2019)

Abstract

In this study, the relationship was investigated between attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety on the one hand, and job search intention, job search self-efficacy, job search self-esteem, and job search attitude on the other hand.

Our sample consisted of 180 employees from an international industrial organization in the Netherlands.

Results showed that attachment avoidance had a larger impact on the job search process than attachment anxiety. More avoidantly attached people had lower job search intentions, lower job search self-efficacy, and more negative job search attitudes. Attachment avoidance had an effect on job search intentions through job search self-efficacy and job search attitude but not through job search self-esteem.

Attachment anxiety had no effect on job search intention through job search self-efficacy, job search self-esteem, and job search attitude. Attachment style is discussed as individual characteristic that impacts the job search process.

Full text (PDF 15pp)

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How ‘local’ are local labour markets?

Paper No. CEPCP523: published in CentrePiece Volume 23 Number 1 (Spring 2018)

If we want to create jobs in disadvantaged local areas, the idea of ‘local’ needs to be revisited.

Alan Manning (LSE, London, UK) and Barbara Petrongolo (Queen Mary University of London, UK) explain the problem of thinking of geographical space as non-overlapping single labour markets. Their study, which draws on evidence from job openings in London ahead of the 2012 Olympics, provides a useful toolkit to understand the likely impact of place-based policies.

JEL Classification: J61, J63, J64, R12

Full text (PDF 3pp)

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Using Storytelling as a Job-Search Strategy

an article by Karl L. Smart and Jerry DiMaria (Central Michigan University, USA) published in Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Volume 81 Issue 2 (2018)

Abstract

This article demonstrates and reinforces the role that well-told stories play in the success of the job-search process. Building on narrative theory, impression management, and an increased use of behavioral-based questions in interviews, well-crafted stories about work and educational experiences demonstrate skills applicants possess and convey them to interviewers in memorable ways.

The article shows how to construct stories based on an applicant’s experiences and shaped to the needs of a potential employer.

Additionally, the article demonstrates how a job seeker can create a collection of personal stories that can be adapted to varying job interview situations.

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Unemployment and vacancy dynamics with imperfect financial markets

an article by Carlos Carrillo-Tudela (University of Essex, CEPR, CESifo and IZA, Colchester, UK), Michael Graber (University College London, IFS, and Statistics Norway) and Klaus Waelde (Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, University of Mainz and CESifo, Germany) published in Labour Economics Volume 50 (March 2018)

Highlights

• We analyse the transitional dynamics of unemployment and vacancies under a frictional labour market and a monopolistically competitive banking sector.
• The transition path of unemployment and vacancies is given by a per period financial resource constraint which has a closed form solution.
• The transition path crucially depends on the degree of wage rigidity.
• Our calibration suggests that the lack of an improvement in the financial sector played a crucial role in the slow recovery of the labour market in the US.

Abstract

This paper proposes a simple general equilibrium model with labour market frictions and an imperfect financial market. The aim of the paper is to analyse the transitional dynamics of unemployment and vacancies when financial constraints are in place.

We model the financial sector as a monopolistically competitive banking sector that intermediates financial capital between firms. This structure implies a per period financial resource constraint which has a closed form solution and describes the transition path of unemployment and vacancies to their steady state values.

We show that the transition path crucially depends on the degree of wage flexibility. When wages do not depend on the unemployment rate the transition path is always downward sloping.

This implies unemployment and vacancies adjust in opposite directions as observed in the data.

When calibrating the model to the Great Recession and its aftermath we find that the lack of an improvement in the financial sector's effectiveness to intermediate resources played a crucial role in the slow recovery of the labour market.

JEL classification: J63, J64, G10

Full text (HTML)

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Labor market reforms and unemployment dynamics

an article by Fabrice Murtin (OECD, Statistics Directorate, France; Sciences Po, France) and Jean-Marc Robin (Sciences Po, France; University College London, UK) published in Labour Economics Volume 50 (March 2018)

Abstract

We quantify the contribution of labor market reforms to unemployment dynamics in nine OECD countries (Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK, US).
We estimate a dynamic stochastic search-matching model with heterogeneous workers and aggregate productivity shocks. The heterogeneous-worker mechanism proposed by Robin (2011) explains unemployment volatility by productivity shocks well in all countries.

Placement and employment services, UI benefit reduction and product market deregulation are found to be the most prominent policy levers for unemployment reduction.

Business cycle shocks and LMPs explain about the same share of unemployment volatility (except for Japan, Portugal and the US).

JEL classification: E24, E32, J21

Full text (HTML)

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Job Seekers with Musculoskeletal or Sensory Disabilities: Barriers and Facilitators of Job Search

an article by Hugh T. J. Bainbridge (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia) and Yuka Fujimoto (Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) published in British Journal of Management Volume 29 Issue 1 (January 2018)

Abstract

Drawing on interviews with job seekers and expert informants, we outline a model of the job search experience of people with disabilities.

This model specifies the sequence of events involved in the pursuit of paid work and the contextual features that inhibit or facilitate job search attitudes, behaviours, intermediate search outcomes and employment outcomes.

By contrasting the experiences of job seekers with musculoskeletal and sensory disabilities, and outlining the influence of major stakeholders in the form of employment agencies and family members, our model provides the basis for a more nuanced understanding of the job search process.

Finally, we recommend points of intervention that are grounded in data for improving job search outcomes for people with disabilities in general, and for job seekers with musculoskeletal or sensory disabilities specifically.

Full text (PDF 17pp)

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How Your Job Hunt May Be Harming Your Privacy

a post by James Frew for the MakeUseOf blog

NOTE: You will quickly discover that this piece is written from an American viewpoint but that does not, I believe, mean that in the UK your personal information is any safer.

Gone are the days of grabbing the local paper and circling jobs in the classifieds section. In the internet age, the majority of job postings are online. It’s not just postings either, nearly the entire recruitment process happens at the command of a keystroke. Remote working has become more common, as the internet has opened up opportunities to work from anywhere in the world.

No longer do you head to your local job center, meet the hiring manager, and hand them a paper resume. Simply, the internet has changed everything. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s better.

Here’s why the recruitment sector’s lax security, invasion of privacy, and lack of transparency could harm you in the long run.

Recruitment Security Soup

In our regular lives we wouldn’t walk up to a total stranger and recount our entire employment history, address, and interests. However, it’s what we are expected to do when it comes to online job searches. Instead of developing a relationship with your local recruitment manager, you are cajoled into sharing confidential and personal information on a recruitment website. In the modern employment marketplace, you have to go to where the jobs are, and because the market is fragmented there is no one central data repository.

Continue reading

If you don't head off down the rabbit holes of different links then this could be a 9-minute read. Scared me.

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Earnings exemptions for unemployed workers: The relationship between marginal employment, unemployment duration and job quality

an article by Marco Caliendo (University of Potsdam; IZA Bonn; DIW Berlin; IAB Nuremberg (all in Germany)) and Steffen Künn (Maastricht University, The Netherlands; IZA Bonn, Germany) and Arne Uhlendorff (CNRS, CREST, France; IZA Bonn, Germany; DIW Berlin, Germany; IAB Nuremberg, Germany) published in Labour Economics Volume 42 (October 2016)

Highlights

• In some countries unemployed workers are allowed to work and to keep some of the earnings without a reduction in unemployment benefits.
• Unemployed workers in Germany have an additional incentive to make use of such an earnings exemption due to marginal employment.
• We estimate multivariate duration models to analyze the unemployment dynamics of job seekers with and without marginal employment.
• We find that marginal employment increases the job finding probabilities of long-term unemployed individuals.
• Furthermore, our results suggest that job seekers with marginal employment find more stable post-unemployment jobs.

Abstract

In some countries including Germany unemployed workers can increase their income by working a few hours per week. The intention is to keep unemployed job seekers attached to the labour market and to increase their job-finding probabilities.

To analyze the unemployment dynamics of job seekers with and without marginal employment, we consider an inflow sample into unemployment and estimate multivariate duration models.

While we do not find any significant impact on the job finding probability in a model with homogeneous effects, models allowing for time-varying coefficients indicate a decreased job finding probability of marginal employment at the beginning of the unemployment spell and an increased job finding probability for the long-term unemployed.

Our results suggest that job seekers with marginal employment find more stable post-unemployment jobs, and we find some evidence that the relationship between marginal employment and wages and employment stability varies with respect to skill levels, sector and labor market tightness.

JEL classification: J64, C41, C33

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Why are Higher Skilled Workers More Mobile Geographically? The Role of the Job Surplus

CEP Discussion Paper No 1338 by Michael Amior (March 2015)

Abstract

The skill gap in geographical mobility is entirely driven by workers who report moving for a new job. A natural explanation lies in the large expected surplus accruing to skilled job matches. Just as large surpluses ease the frictions which impede job search in general, they also help overcome those frictions (specifically moving costs) which plague cross-city matching in particular.

I reject the alternative hypothesis that mobility differences are driven by variation in the moving costs themselves, based on PSID evidence on self-reported willingness to move. Evidence on wage processes also supports my claims.

JEL codes: J24, J61, J64

Full text (PDF 62pp)

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What factors contributed to changes in employment during and after the Great Recession?

an article by Ammar Farooq and Adriana D Kugler (Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA) published in IZA Journal of Labor Policy Volume 4 Issue 1 (2015)

Abstract

Unemployment increased drastically over the course of the Great Recession from 4.5 percent prior to the recession to 10 percent at its peak in October 2009. Since then, the unemployment rate has come down steadily, and it stood at 5.8 percent in November 2014.

Based on existing analyses and some new evidence, this paper establishes that much of the change in unemployment during the Great Recession and during the recovery can be attributed to cyclical factors rather than structural factors.

The paper then presents new suggestive evidence to quantify the employment impacts of various counter-cyclical policies introduced during this time.

We conduct a counter-factual and find that employment would have been between 4.2 percent and 4.5 percent lower had it not been because of the spending in Medicaid injected in local economies by the Recovery Act.

In addition, we conduct a differences-in-differences and triple difference analysis, which suggests that the Work Opportunity Tax Credits increased the likelihood of employment by about 4.7 percent for disconnected youth but had no effect on disabled and unemployed veterans.

Finally, we also find evidence that suggests that the Hiring Incentive to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act increased employment of the unemployed by 2.6 percent and that the reemployment reforms introduced in 2012 as part of the UI extensions increased employment by 6 percent for the long-term unemployed.

JEL codes: JE24, J23, J63, J64, J65, J68

Full text

Hazel’s comment:
Yes, the research is American but the findings could be applied to most, if not all, of the first-world countries.
At least that is how I read it.

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Hunting for Remote Working Jobs

Marieke Guy posted, back in February, a useful list of websites that offer listings of job offers from home (or, as she says “the remote outback”).

Link to her blog to read what she found when job hunting herself

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Older job seekers’ job search intensity: the interplay of proactive personality, age and occupational future time perspective

an article by Hannes Zacher (School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Australia) published in Ageing & Society Volume 33 Part 7 (October 2013)

Abstract

Long-term unemployment of older people can have severe consequences for individuals, communities and, ultimately, economies, and is therefore a serious concern in countries with an ageing population. However, the interplay of chronological age and other individual difference characteristics in predicting older job seekers’ job search is so far not well understood.

This study investigated relationships among age, proactive personality, occupational future time perspective (FTP) and job search intensity of 182 job seekers between 43 and 77 years in Australia. Results were mostly consistent with expectations based on a combination of socio-emotional selectivity theory and the notion of compensatory psychological resources.

Proactive personality was positively related to job search intensity and age was negatively related to job search intensity. Age moderated the relationship between proactive personality and job search intensity, such that the relationship was stronger at higher compared to lower ages.

One dimension of occupational FTP (perceived remaining time left in the occupational context) mediated this moderating effect, but not the overall relationship between age and job search intensity. Implications for future research, including the interplay of occupational FTP and proactive personality, and some tentative practical implications are discussed.

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Repeated job quits: stepping stones or learning about quality?

an article by Anne C Gielen (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands and IZA) published in IZA Journal of European Labor Studies Volume 2 Number 7

Abstract

Increasing labour mobility is high on the political agenda because of its supposedly positive effects on labour market functioning. However, little attention has been paid to information imperfections, and to what extent they limit potential efficiency gains of labour mobility. When the quality of a new job offer is known ex ante, job quits serve as a stepping stone to better jobs. Yet, if job quality is only observed ex post, job quits may lead to worse matches.

This paper argues that actual job quit behaviour is characterised by a mixture of both, and investigates the relative empirical content of both extremes in quit decisions. A variance decomposition shows that for nearly 70% of job quits job quality was observed ex-ante; the remaining 30% was learned ex post. Hence, stimulating job mobility mostly improves labour market outcomes, though governments may aim to further reduce information imperfections in order to maximise the efficacy of labour policies.

Full text (HTML) [High level statistics, or that’s what it looked like to me. I did O-level a long time ago.]

JEL classification: J28, J62

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4 Job Hunting Tips From The Grandfather Of Career Advice

This story appears in the 24 June 2013 issue of Forbes

When Dick Bolles first published What Color Is Your Parachute? in 1970, he had no idea the outsize impact his career guide would have. “I never dreamed the job hunting problem was so widely faced. The book would have sold ten copies if you got the help you needed at school.”

Instead, the job-seekers’ bible has gone through 42 annual editions, sold 10 million copies in 20 different languages and, in 1994, was named one of the 25 books that “have shaped readers’ lives” by the Library of Congress.

Bolles himself remains firmly on the job at 86, spending roughly four hours a day doing research and answering each and every one of the 6,000 e-mails and letters he receives each year. He regularly dispenses four pieces of advice.

Continue reading

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Training career adaptability to facilitate a successful school-to-work transition

an article by Jessie Koen and Annelies E.M. Van Vianen (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and Ute-Christine Klehe (Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany) published in Journal of Vocational Behavior Volume 81 Issue 3 (December 2012)

Abstract

The transition from school to work is one of the most critical steps in graduates’ careers, as it can determine vocational outcomes and future career success. Yet, these newcomers to the labour market often take longer than regular job-seekers to find a suitable job, are more likely to experience a job mismatch and to suffer from underemployment.

In this study, we proposed that career adaptability might help remedy this problem.

We therefore developed a training aimed at providing graduates with career adaptability resources, with the assumption that this may foster training-participants’ later career adaptability and employment quality.

A longitudinal field quasi-experiment compared the development of each career adaptability dimension between a training group (n = 32) and a control group (n = 24) over three points in time (pre-training measurement, post-training measurement and follow-up measurement six months later).

Repeated measures analyses showed an overall increase in concern, control and curiosity within the training group, whereas there was no increase (concern) or even an overall decrease (control and curiosity) within the control group.

Consequently, the training succeeded in enhancing participants’ control and curiosity in the long run.

Furthermore, among participants who had found employment half a year later, training participants reported higher employment quality than did members of the control group. In sum, results show that providing graduates with career adaptability resources can raise their chances on finding a qualitatively good job.

Highlights

► We developed and tested a theory-driven training to enhance career adaptability.
► The training improved participants' career adaptability in a sustainable way.
► The training can buffer against the loss of career adaptability during unemployment.
► Training participants reported higher employment quality six months after training.
► This career adaptability training contributes to finding high quality employment.

Figures and tables from this article

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Inequalities in use of the Internet for job search: similarities and contrasts by economic status in Great Britain

an article by Anne E Green, Yuxin Li, David Owen and Maria de Hoyos (affiliation(s) not provided but assume Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick, UK) published in Environment and Planning A Volume 44 Number 10 (October 2012)

Abstract

By 2009 four in every five job-seekers in Great Britain were making use of the Internet in job search, generally alongside other methods.

While the Internet has created new opportunities for job seekers, there are concerns that inequalities in use of and access to the Internet will intensify difficulties experienced by disadvantaged groups in finding work.

This paper analyses the incidence and determinants of online job search in Great Britain, using Labour Force Survey data for 2006 to 2009.

Use of the Internet increased over this period, with employed job-seekers most likely to undertake online job search. A probit model reveals that age and highest qualification are key factors affecting individuals’ use of the Internet for job search, with older job seekers and those with lower education levels most likely to ‘lose out’ in terms of accessing employment opportunities via the Internet.

Some significant urban and regional differences are revealed, indicating that job seekers from less prosperous regions and those outside major metropolitan areas are least likely to make use of the Internet for job search.

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Employment effects of extended geographic scope in job search

an article by Anders Boman (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Sweden) published in Labour Economics Volume 19 Issue 5 (October 2012)

Abstract

This paper uses a unique possibility to link unemployed individuals’ stated willingness to move for work with administrative data, giving us the possibility to analyse the effects of individual willingness-to-move on labour market outcome.

Those with extended geographic job search area have a higher probability of finding a job.

However, the greatest effect is found on the local labour market, indicating that it is not the extended geographic scope per se that increases the likelihood of escaping unemployment, but differences in unobservable characteristics between those who use an extended search area and those who do not.

Highlights

► Willingness to move is extracted from unemployment agency records.
► Employment effects of extended job search area are analysed.
► Employment effects are positive, but mainly in the local labour market.
► Selection into migration rather than migration yields positive employment effects.

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The 10 Best Websites For Your Career

Susan Adams and Jacquelyn Smith in Forbes

Forbes is an American business magazine which is published biweekly featuring original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. It is also well known for its lists e.g of the 400 richest Americans.

The latest list is of “websites for your career” which contains 75 links with short descriptions. Remembering the American origins of the list I would advise individuals who read this blog to take care. Not all the advice provided for US citizens translates easily (or at all) into English practice even if the words do. And many of the entries are geographically specific and can, therefore, be ignored for those looking for advice about job-hunting in Britain.

Click here for the full list and here for the “top ten”

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Job Search: Should You Upgrade to a Paid LinkedIn Account?

via PC Advisor News by Kristin Burnham
If you’re in the market for a new job, you’ve probably been spending more time on LinkedIn updating your profile and expanding your network. The professional social network, which now boasts more than 100 million users, has a number of free tools and features to kick start your job search. But could one of its paid options give you the edge you need to land the perfect job?
Read in full here.