CAREERS NOW 05-12-10

Team Job Hunting Lifts Morale

DEAR JOYCE: It's lonely out there on the unemployment line. Several friends have talked about teaming up and helping each other look for jobs. Have you heard of anything like this ? - S.J.

Sure. You're describing a mini job club. A typical group of four or five members meets weekly and calls each other every few days. You share information about job leads, critique each other's resumes, practice interviewing techniques, exchange tips about new job search developments and, perhaps most importantly, boost each other's morale.

Shared experiences can get you through the loneliness and uncertainty of jobless days filled with ups and downs, triumphs and insecurities, brilliant moves and belly flops.

Establishing ground rules for your joint efforts wards off needless conflict:

1. Share leads. Each group member pursues each job opening of interest. Let the market sort out each winner.

2. Compare notes. Debrief each other after interviews. You may discover an advantage not available to competitors outside your group.

3. Celebrate a hiring. Have a party. Even if the new hire can't spread coattails in the same organization for other members, the successful candidate may hear about other jobs from new coworkers.

4. Stay positive. Avoid constant venting or replaying your bad news. That's a different group and a different meeting. Your goal is to move ahead. Happily!

5. Hang together. Don't break up the group until each member has a new job. Consider post-hire meetings to discuss "onboarding" problems and career strategies. Look upon your new jobs as temporary assignments in today's churning market.

DEAR JOYCE: Can you recommend a Christian career guide? - S.A.G.

Readers who need a little divine inspiration in their job search can find it in a new book by bestselling Christian author Laurie Beth Jones. Her newest guide, "JESUS Career Counselor: How to Find (and Keep) Your Perfect Work" (Howard/Simon & Schuster) is divided into sections centered around four types of personalities. It explores 12 dreams for each individual, including rise, risk, roar, renew, regenerate, rejoice, relate and more.

DEAR JOYCE: Here's an idea: Is there anything wrong with using a mention of the new HIRE Act money to nudge an employer to a quick decision to hire me? - C.C.J.

Why not? The sooner you're hired, the more free money an employer can claim under the HIRE Act. An employer who hires an unemployed worker this year to fill a new, or vacant position, can claim an immediate 6.2 percent of the new hire's weekly salary, up to $6,622.

Among the easy rules: the hire must have been unemployed for the 60 days before starting the new job and did not work more than 40 hours during those two months. Company owners or relatives of one don't qualify to be hired.

For more information, jump on the IRS Web site (irs.gov; search for HIRE Act Questions and Answers for Employers).

DEAR JOYCE: Why do companies hire the people they do? My boss can be charming when he wants something but calling him a dimwit would be kind. How do people like him get hired? - R.G.

Writing on ERE.com, a recruiting industry Web site, top hiring consultant Lou Adler recently criticized criteria that hiring managers often use in making their selections. Among reasons Adler identifies:

"Managers hire underperformers for superficial reasons, like strong handshakes, strong communications, strong academics, strong first impressions, and so forth, rather than for their ability to meet the results required for on-the-job success.

"They narrowly focus on the wrong stuff. It takes more than technical brilliance, affability and a great personality to consistently deliver high-quality results. While these traits are often necessary, they're certainly not sufficient. Worse, even if they are necessary, you can't assess them properly in 30 minutes."

In summary, hiring managers hire people they like. And they don't hire people they don't like.

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