Skill Diversification Boosts Job Security
by June 16, 2008 12:00 am 94 views
Bryan McFarlin of Fayetteville found himself without a job when his employer, Kraft Foods Inc., announced it was relocating his position to Pennsylvania.
McFarlin, who has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management and five years of experience in the Northwest Arkansas market, was given two options: reapply for the position and relocate to Pennsylvania or hit the streets and find a new employer.
He took option No. 2 and has been applying for jobs since the beginning of May.
During that time, McFarlin has completed about 15 interviews with employers in the Northwest Arkansas job market, sometimes juggling two in the same day.
“I figured I could find something in two to three months,” McFarlin said of his expectations. “With my qualifications and experience I figured I would be able to find something a little easier.”
McFarlin is just one of thousands of Northwest Arkansas residents that are actively seeking new employment.
As if Americans haven’t already been rattled by rising food and fuel prices, escalating inflation and declining home values, an increase in unemployment has begun to displace many.
In May, the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent, a 3.5-year high and a month-to-month jump not experienced since 1986.
In April, the unemployment rate for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA climbed to 3.5 percent, not yet national levels, but a 0.59 percent increase from April 2006.
To deal with the changing workforce landscape, many professionals are diversifying their skills sets and boosting their social networks to help maintain jobs and position themselves for a quick transition.
Many have begun questioning the future of their work life and are turning to online career sites to begin the search for a new employer. Unemployed workers are utilizing area organizations and academic institutions to learn new skills and find new means of employment.
Kathy Deck, lead researcher for the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas’ Sam M. Walton College of Business, said the area has the “brand names” that will continue to attract new employers and new jobs but some industries will continue to suffer.
The changing employment landscape will leave many employees to fend for themselves and find ways to diversify themselves and their skills to meet the shifting needs of the job market.
Out of Work
From February to April of this year the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 11 mass layoffs in Arkansas and as a result 1,561 residents have filed unemployment claims during that same period.
According to data from the BLS, more than 2.1 million U.S. residents had lost their jobs in April 2008, representing about 40 percent of all unemployed residents.
In Northwest Arkansas, more than 8,000 residents were considered unemployed during that same month.
The area’s manufacturing segment and construction industries have been hardest hit. The industries’ workforces have declined by 2 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, during the past year.
As a result, state and local workforce agencies have seen an increase in demand for unemployment services.
Kimberly Freedman with the Governor’s Dislocated Worker Task Force, said the taskforce works with companies and employers across the state to minimize the impact of company downsizing and closures.
From July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007, taskforce assisted 941 workers in the Northwest Arkansas through worker assistance workshops and seminars designed to bring new opportunities to displaced workers.
The goal of the taskforce is to keep employees in the state and get them back into the workforce Freedman said. Members of the taskforce help identify new employment opportunities, temporary assistance programs and education programs that can help workers diversify their skill sets.
Doyce Hill, local office manager for the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services for the Rogers and Siloam Springs areas, said traffic in his office has increased as workers search for employment options.
Hill said his office helps between 70 and 80 people per day file unemployment claims and assists an additional 50 to 60 in upgrading and improving their current employment status through skill building and enhancement opportunities.
For those like McFarlin who are navigating the job search on their own, the Northwest Arkansas job market has proven a tricky and time-consuming place.
“It’s beginning to get frustrating and it’s kind of beginning to get me down,” he said. “I don’t really have a time table. I’m just going to continue to look.”
Many, like McFarlin, have turned to online job search forums to find new work.
Traffic on the nation’s largest job search Web sites has increased over the past year (see chart p. 24). Job.com has seen a 63.3 percent increase in traffic and job-search giant Monster.com had more than 16 million visitors in May 2008.
McFarlin said he has utilized both online search services and head-hunters during his search for employment hoping that one will find the winning position.
“I try to not let it get to me,” he said. “I know something will work out.”
Adapting
A growing disparity in the types of jobs being lost and types of positions being created in the Northwest Arkansas market has made it difficult for displaced workers to get hired, Hill said.
Construction and manufacturing jobs are exiting, and education and service positions are entering the market, leaving a noticeable difference in skills and education held by former employees and required by new employers.
Deck’s rhetorical question: “Do you have the labor force with the skills for the jobs that are being created?
“In Arkansas, just barely.”
Only 22.4 percent of people 25 years of age or older in the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers MSA have a bachelor’s degree, leaving more than three-fourths of the population without the education required to fill many of the area’s new positions.
In contrast, Beth Arbuthnot, director of classification employment and compensation for the University of Arkansas, said she has seen an increase in over-qualified applicants hoping to secure a job with the UA.
McFarlin said he has had a hard time finding jobs that meet his experience level and skill sets.
“All the open jobs seem to be either entry level or higher-level,” McFarlin said. “If you work in mid-level it’s a struggle to find something at this time. It seems like I’m either under-qualified or over-qualified for a lot of the positions I interview for.”
Consequently McFarlin said he has begun widening his parameters and search limits, applying for jobs outside of Northwest Arkansas and looking into some positions he might not have considered before.
In the Classroom
Derek Crews, vice president for workforce development for NorthWest Arkansas Community College, said history has created a clear trend of more people turning to education during a down market. This downturn has proven no exception.
The reasons for people returning to the classroom vary from adults wanting to complete their bachelor’s degrees to residents using certification programs to learn new skills sets and employed professionals who want a master’s degree to help them secure a better position and more pay.
Many area school administrators from colleges and universities said enrollment and applications for educational programs has increased since last year.
Enrollment in NWACC’s non-credit and certificate programs has jumped 32 percent over the past year.
Crews said many professionals use the non-credit programs to brush-up on job skills or learn new programs and skills that are becoming popular in a certain industry.
Crews said people are showing interest in any and all programs that will give them a leg-up on the competition.
Marion Dunagan, assistant dean for graduate programs for the University of Arkansas, said there is a direct correlation between the UA’s masters programs and an increase in salaries.
The number of applications received for the college’s MBA program has increased 65 percent from 2007 to 2008, and applications for the accounting master’s program jumped 19 percent during that same time.
Roger Esser, director of Webster University’s Fayetteville campus, said he has noticed a significant increase in both people seeking information about the programs and people enrolling.
Esser said applicants’ reasons for returning to school are varied but he has seen a growing number of professionals with bachelor’s degrees who want to separate themselves from others at their level.
Webster University recorded a 45 percent jump in enrollment from the 2007 spring semester to the 2008 spring semester.
The demand for additional education can be seen as more and more employers specify master’s degrees in job requirements Esser said.
Professionals are beginning to take note.
“Education is something no one will ever take away from you,” Esser said. “People never regret going back to school because education does help employed professionals retain their positions.”
Networking
Networking is the one tool career coach Mike Edwards said everyone, both employed and unemployed, can use to broaden their social contacts.
Networking, both online and in person has become popular for many in the workforce.
Edwards said the emergence of online networking has allowed people to maintain relationships that were started in person.
The popular networking Web site LinkedIn.com has seen a 351.8 percent increase in unique visits since May 2007.
People can and should network even while they are gainfully employed because jobs are not as secure as they were even a year ago, Edwards said.
“Networking when you have a job gives you an opportunity to call on that network when you need them,” Edwards said.
“A lot of networking sites allow you to send messages to others. You can use this feature when needing to find a new position.
“Send a message that you are looking for a position and all of a sudden you might have 300 people looking for a job for you.”
Having contact or the means to contact hundreds of people can only benefit professionals Edwards said, and in tough times, like these, every little bit helps.
When Applying for Jobs, Distinguish Yourself From the Crowd
Q: When applying for a position, what can you do to help distinguish yourself from the crowd?
A: Know your brand. Answer the question: Why should this company choose you? Instead of just restating your job responsibilities, focus on your results. Unless you had a very unique position, your job title likely states the obvious. Quickly state your unique focus or dollar volume responsibility, and then move on to what you did above and beyond the expected tasks required by your position. Explain, and if possible quantify, how those efforts made an impact – whether it be through increased sales or improved efficiency.
Show that you are a strategic thinker, someone who can come up with new, “out of the box” ideas rather than just doing things the way they have always been done. Continuous improvement and new ideas keep a company ahead of the curve in a market defined by change. If the company that you are interviewing with discourages strategic thinking or challenging of the status quo, is this really a company that you want to work for? They probably won’t be around very long with that mindset.
Q: Many people talk about the importance of constantly improving and adding new skills. Do companies look for these qualities when selecting potential candidates?
A: Wal-Mart suppliers are the best of the best, and come here from all over the world.
With that said, companies want people who understand the big picture, but also have a good foundational understanding of the individual pieces of the puzzle that fit together to create that big picture.
For instance, for the National Account Manager positions on Wal-Mart supplier teams, we are seeing high demand for quality, well-rounded candidates. Rather than someone who has only held sales positions, companies now value candidates who have a strong analytical background, candidates who understand the tenets of category management and the foundations of replenishment and logistics. This broad base of knowledge is critical for success in this fact-based selling environment.
Q: In softer economies, when companies are not adding new jobs at the rate they once were, can unemployed professionalsbe “picky” about their new positions?
A: It depends. It is obviously very stressful to be unemployed because the bills are still coming in even when the paycheck stops.
That’s why financial planners recommend keeping 3 to 6 months of salary in liquid emergency savings. That buys you time so you aren’t forced to rush into something just to get a paycheck.
If you find yourself in a layoff situation, it is always good to try and negotiate a severance package. A severance package gives you some time with income to search for a new position. Oftentimes severance packages take into account your tenure with a company, so that is another reason to try and avoid too much job hopping.
Regardless of your situation, you want to be sure you are selective in choosing a strong company with a culture and a position you will thrive in. If you rush into a job just to get a paycheck, you may find yourself in a position or company culture that does not match with your skills, values and temperament. You will likely end up unemployed again due to the mis-match, and then you could be perceived as a job hopper, or come across as just making excuses in trying to explain away poor choices or poor performance.
Take the time now to find the right company and the right position that will offer you growth and stability in the long run. After all, this is your career.
(Marvelyn Stout is the owner of Stout Executive Search in Springdale.)