APPENDIX C
Applying the Job-Search Rules to Worldwide Employment

I RECENTLY CAME across a headline from an online student publication that read, “Job Security Is a Thing of the Past.”¹ The sentiment expressed was familiar—it is a difficult job market for college graduates in this generation.

Was this written by an American student facing an uncertain circumstance? It does not take much to imagine that it also could have been written by a student almost anywhere else in the world—Mexico, Canada, Europe, China, Japan, or perhaps India. The comment is actually from a recent college graduate from Gaborone, Botswana, which is one of the fastest-growing cities in the world. Obviously, the new rules of the job marketplace apply worldwide, not just to white-collar professionals in the United States or other developed countries. The question is less whether the same rules apply everywhere and more about which rules apply and in what way. This appendix is intended to share some initial thoughts on that situation.

The Benefits of a College Education

The political, business, and educational leadership of countries around the world recognize that participation in the global economy requires an educated workforce. And their individual citizens are motivated by the same promises given to American workers for the past several decades: go to college, get a job, and become upwardly mobile.

Supportive public policies combined with prospects of personal upward mobility have provided powerful incentives. China, for example, now churns out more than 6.3 million college graduates a year—up dramatically from just a few years ago. Many of these students are from impoverished rural towns. They went to college in the provinces, believing that studying hard would bring them better lives as compared with their parents. We now know that many of these newly minted college graduates worldwide will be disappointed—a lot of them because their degrees alone have not made them as competitive in the job market as they need to be. Does the college degree still guarantee a better life? They, too, are asking, “Now that I have my degree, where is my career?”

In truth, professional workers everywhere are subject to the same forces of globalization and changes in technology. They all would benefit from information that shows them how to crack the new job market and survive the instability that is now an inherent part of the global workforce. The mobility of jobs across national boundaries has created an ebb and flow of opportunities with differential impacts. Jobs that flow from the United States to India, for example, create short-term opportunities for one group to the apparent detriment of another group. The people of India will eventually be dismayed to discover that jobs can flow out of India as easily as they have flowed in.

Though the urgency is occasionally offset by an influx of opportunities in any one country, the expectation is that competition for professional jobs everywhere will continue to increase, fueled by globalization and a growing population of professional workers with similarly rising expectations. Striking the right balance between the availability of professional workers and the number of job opportunities will be difficult.

The integration of China and India alone into the global economy represents a 70 percent expansion of the global labor force.² In the 1990s, once the educational and political leadership in China recognized the link between the new economy and education, it doubled the openings at Chinese universities. Unfortunately, the numbers of newly degreed students in China continue to far outpace the job market for these college graduates. White-collar professionals are commonly referred to as the new “underclass” of smart, young, and impoverished workers squeezed by China’s lower wages and the higher cost of city living. Many of that country’s professionals prefer “red-collar” jobs—working for the government—because of their more stable wage scale.

India has its own set of problems, with only 30 percent of its universities, 16 percent of its colleges, and 10 percent of its management institutes receiving accreditation. According to various estimates, the quality of education is thought to be so poor that “Indian students spend about $7 billion to go abroad and study in foreign universities because of the poor quality of education at home. As high as 86 percent of students in science and technology, who obtain degrees in the US, don’t return.”³ Though India has captured a leadership position in the global information-technology and business-process outsourcing arenas, it will need to dramatically improve the quality of its graduates to maintain that position. That is because better products at better costs require correspondingly higher levels of educational attainment. Yet, it has been estimated that because of the quality of its educational system, fewer than 25 percent of India’s technical graduates are employable.⁴

In China, India, and elsewhere, individuals with rising expectations are pushing to get whatever education they can. Over time, countries will work out their own solutions to these employment problems. But the job and career needs of individuals aren’t met over time; just as for American students, they happen right now, and extend into the near future. Individuals everywhere want to know how to crack the new job market. This book’s seven rules for getting hired are applicable to their situation.

How Professionals Worldwide Can Use This Book

Keep in mind that this book is about how to find a job and how to manage your career. Don’t wait until you are on the wrong side of the worldwide ebb and flow of professional jobs. When the tide is against more opportunities in a given country, perfectly qualified people will have difficulty finding suitable work. Even when the opportunities are relatively abundant, there will be intense competition for higher-paying jobs. So, there is no better time than right now to learn which rules apply in other countries and how to use them.

Five of the rules presented in this book in particular have currency regardless of your country of citizenship. But be sure to pay attention to the context in which the rules exist. You will know better than others how the particulars of each rule are influenced by considerations of culture, politics, and your legal system. Those considerations notwithstanding, use the following advice to get the most out of your situation.

Rule #1: Always Demonstrate Your Value

Today’s job-application process requires that you first take note of the particular problems an organization is trying to solve in filling the position. Then make sure that whoever reviews your credentials knows you have solved those problems before and can do it again. Notice that I did not say “whoever reads your résumé.” Western-style résumés don’t work in all cultures. Whatever the process happens to be, you need to demonstrate your value to the organization. Even when you have no experience, at least you can demonstrate that you have the skills the company is looking for in an entry-level position.

Getting hired will not make your job secure; however, you now have a major advantage over competitors because you understand how the new job market works and how to make it function for you. Globalization and advances in technology have heightened the reliance businesses have on employees who can create value, regardless of location. Demands of greater global competition make companies eager to hire employees who can help them achieve results. In this global economy, the jobs come and go, so it is better to learn how to handle instability than to look for employers who will not outsource.

Similarly, the Internet has introduced near-instant communication across the globe, reducing the cost of data transmission and product distribution to near zero; making price data for an endless variety of goods and services readily available, thereby driving down prices and profit margins; reducing the barriers to entry for niche businesses; and generally intensifying global competition. Jobs can now exist long distances from their primary markets, making them feasible anywhere the goods and services can be produced at the desired cost and quality.

Though businesses are reluctant to terminate employees who create value, the true advantage of value creation is not the protection one gets against termination. By stressing value creation you create a value that is marketable to others as well. Once you learn to create value in this context, you deepen your understanding of how the job market works and how to navigate it.

Rule #2: Your Résumé: It’s About the Value You Create

The first step in successfully navigating the job market is to produce a compelling application or résumé. This is most easily accomplished when you understand that your application or résumé is not about you—it is about what others want from you. And you can discover what that is by using an educated eye to review the requirements for the job for which you are applying, the company’s website, and industry publications. Then follow the five steps outlined below:

1. Identify the key words employers use in the position description to describe the value they want. Key words clarify the skills an employer is looking for in a new hire, as well as identifying the issues a company is currently facing. Highlight all the action verbs, adjectives, and skills that refer to the attributes the employer is seeking. Also, identify key words on the employer’s website and in industry publications.

2. List your relevant job experiences in reverse chronological order. Here is where you begin the focus on your background. These job experiences are important, but the output from this exercise is not your résumé itself. Alas, this is where many people end as they prepare to find a new job; by stopping here, they fail to infuse their résumés with value, ending up with an unfocused document that is not tied to the value an employer is asking to have created. That is, their résumés are written without taking the interests of the employer into consideration.

3. Infuse your experiences with value. That is, quantify and qualify your job experiences and insert words and phrases that match the key words identified above. Quantitative results include numerical indicators, such as dollar figures; these are generally recognized as expressions of value. When specific, quantitative results are not possible to give, substitute qualitative results, such as “first place,” “top ranked,” or “1 out of xx.” The language of value creation can also be derived from the key words in the position description, the company’s website, and industry publications. Use that language to describe your accomplishments. It is language the employer will understand.

4. Select the best statements. The best statements are ones that illustrate specific value you have created and that reflect the prospective employer’s needs, as expressed in the position description or elsewhere.

5. Format and refine your résumé. The two basic types of résumés are the reverse chronological (preferred for most applications) and the functional. Examples of both are included in this book. Instructions and examples for the different sections of a résumé are provided, along with sample handbills and cover letters. Sample résumés for entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level positions are also provided.

Once you have developed a customized résumé for one position, you are ready to conduct a full-fledged job search. Remember to customize your résumé for each position you apply for. That’s not as difficult as it sounds because there will be considerable overlap from one job to another, especially for those in the same industry. For specific examples, refer to Rule #2 in the book.

Rule #3: Use Social Media and Other Sites for Job Leads

Today’s employers need cost-effective ways to execute their talent-acquisition functions. Traditionally, there has not been an agreed-upon methodology, and many openings went unadvertised. This led some people to speculate about the existence of a “hidden job market.” Lately, the job-search process has been greatly influenced by social-networking sites, which have shown job markets to be more splintered than hidden. Increasingly, those searching for talent use the Internet as their core methodology, making job openings more visible and less costly to fill. Similarly, individuals have begun to use social-networking techniques to locate jobs and connect with companies. American job seekers are counseled to use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter as their starting points. Of those, only LinkedIn is specifically designed to facilitate connectivity among business professionals. Using Twitter and Facebook for a job search requires slightly more imagination; more generally, you can use them to connect with others and exchange networking ideas. In fact, you will be surprised how many people are willing to provide useful information as you conduct a job search. Review the discussion of social networking in this book and do some Internet brainstorming, bending the popular social-networking sites to serve your purposes.

According to the technology blog ReadWriteWeb.com (as of June 2009), the following are the top three networking sites for the countries listed:⁵

Australia: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter

Canada: Facebook, MySpace, Flickr

India: Facebook, Orkut, Hi5 (Twitter is a close fourth)

France: Facebook, Skyrock, MySpace

China: QQ, Xiaonei, 51

Germany: Facebook, StudiVz, MySpace

Italy: Facebook, Netlog, Badoo

Russia: V Kintakte, Odnoklassniki, LiveJournal

Spain: Facebook, Tuenti, Fotolog

United Kingdom: Facebook, Bebo, MySpace

United States: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter

You will notice that LinkedIn is not listed; however, the site is strongly recommended. It is present in over 200 countries, with executives from all the Fortune 500 companies as members and over 14 million unique visitors per month; the site is devoted to servicing the needs of business professionals.

Rule #4: Interviews: They’re About the Value You Demonstrate

Most of what has been discussed earlier in the book pertains to international situations as well, with the exception of protocols. These basics of etiquette are culturally based and vary on such things as being on time and what that really means, appropriate attire for men and women, what to take to the interview, how to manage references, and expected follow-up in anticipation of next steps. In many countries, Western-style business dress for men and women is still appropriate.

The discussion in this book covers the different kinds of interviews, including one-on-ones, interviewing during meals, the use of assessments, group competitions, good cop/bad cop trickery, and telephone and video interviews. As regards the questions themselves, know that much of your preparation work has been done, and that answers to these interview questions are handled the same, in that they are opportunities to talk about things of interest to the interviewer.

What are the interviewers interested in? They want to know how your experiences fit with the value they are seeking to have created when they fill the position for which you are applying. And where do you find that information? It is stated in the position description, on the company’s website, and in industry publications—the very same places you looked for information to produce your value-infused résumé. In other words, preparing for interviews is an extension of the résumé-writing process.

The interview, as with your résumé, is not about you. It is about what others want from you. And the book’s discussion of methodology shows you the way to give that to them. You can consult the book’s numerous examples for using the same format to answer different questions. You can use the special tips for discussing personal developmental needs, gaps in employment, reasons for leaving your last job, conflicts with fellow employees, and salary requirements. Remember, though, that these types of questions will be influenced by the cultural norms of the country involved.

Rule #5: You Get What You Negotiate, Not What You Deserve

Once you get an offer of employment, make sure you get everything you want—before you accept the offer. Make a list early in the job-search process of conditions or benefits you need or want in your next job. Divide your list into three parts: “must have,” “would like to have,” and “would like to have but can do without.” This “flat” sort of priorities can be your general (nonrigid) guide during the job search. Keeping your priorities front and center is important as you negotiate, weighing those things that are most important and sacrificing things of less importance. Having the list handy provides clarity in the heat of negotiation.

You negotiate when you are in your most powerful position, which is after an offer has been extended but before it is accepted. The rules for skillful negotiation were identified in the book, but international negotiations often take a different tack. Subtleties from one culture to the next constitute important differences, so be careful in how you apply these rules:

1. Know how you stack up against the competition. You are in a more powerful position if you are the only candidate for a critical opening. (As stated previously, this information can be difficult to get.)

2. Underplay your hand. Rather than bargaining for all of your priorities as if they were of equal importance, show a willingness to be flexible, especially when it comes to those you “would like to have but can do without.”

3. Once on the job, underpromise and overdeliver. If you continually set goals you cannot meet, your performance will not match expectations. Be both thoughtful and firm in negotiating your performance goals. Remember, the negotiation game never ends.

NOTES

1. “Job Security Is a Thing of the Past: Advice for Aspiring Jobseekers in Gabscity,” www.Gabscity.com.

2. Lael Brainard, “Meeting the Challenge of Income Instability,” Brookings Institution, February 28, 2007, http://www.brookings.edu/testimony/2007/0228labor_brainard.aspx.

3. “What Ails Higher Education in India?” IndCareer.com, http://www.indcareer.com/news/what-ails-higher-education-india#.

4. “Executive Summary: Extending India’s Global Leadership of the Global IT and BPO Industries,” NASSCOM-McKinsey Report, available at www.mckinsey.com/ideas/articles/indialeadership.asp.

5. Doug Coleman, “Social Networks Around the World,” June 7, 2009, http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/post_2.php#.