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American Morning

Finding a Job Amidst the Chaos

Aired May 04, 2001 - 09:47   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Unemployment figures show that it is on the rise, but it may not be impossible to find a job in the midst of all of this -- now some advice from Pam Dixon, author of "Job Searching Online For Dummies." She also discusses technology trends on her radio show, "The Dixon Report."

Pam Dixon, we have spoken before. Welcome back. Nice to see you again.

PAM DIXON, ONLINE EMPLOYMENT ADVISER: Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you.

FRAZIER: Have you learned if there's any kind of regional pocket of trouble or any kind of sector within the industry that is most hardest hit?

DIXON: Absolutely. The tech sector is by far the hardest hit. That's kind of a no-brainer at this point. But it's a very significant hit. Also, what is starting to happening is, first you saw the coastlines, the New Yorks and, of course, Silicon Valley and other areas in California get hit.

But a really bad indicator that came out this week was the regional reports showing that Chicago is showing signs of trouble, too. And whenever you see something like that, it's very bad news because it means that just mainstream folks, not just the tech sector folks, are really getting laid off at this point.

FRAZIER: What I found interesting in some of your writings is what you learned internally within a corporation. It's some of the people with the most experience and who have got the best salaries who are actually taking the hit this time around.

DIXON: It's unfortunate, but true. If you are a middle- management executive with a nice comfortable salary, at this point, we are in our fifth consecutive month of layoffs: over 100,000 people each month. And, at this point, we're in the meat-and-bones of corporations.

And meat and bones translates into executives in the middle tier with nice salaries. They are laying these people off and then rehiring people with less experience for lower salaries. It's a cost- saving measure. FRAZIER: You've been around long enough to know that, in the '90s, this happened to a lot of corporations. And within months, they realized they needed some of those people back.

DIXON: Yes. But they hired them back at lower salaries. And it's so frustrating for people right now, because that's really what you face.

FRAZIER: In other words, you have got to be ready to reduce your expectations for a new job and its pay.

DIXON: For a little while -- I would say for about a year. But, you know, if you do reduce those expectations, absolutely barter for perks such as education, so that, during this economic downturn, that you can educate yourself. And when we turn around in about a year or so -- let's cross our fingers -- you will be ready to move on and get more money and be more, you know, trained.

FRAZIER: Interesting. You said when you post your resume out there, just talk about your last 10 years in the work place. Why?

DIXON: Absolutely. Truncate it so that you don't look like you have 15 to 20 years of experience, which makes you one of those people who are, again, a higher-salary employee. You want to go ahead and just have those most current 10 years, because a, they're the most relevant years; and then b, it allows you to get your foot in the door and get that interview and negotiate salaries questions in person, which is where you want to do it, when someone has more of a commitment than just a phone call.

FRAZIER: Should you electronically knock on every door you want to get a foot into or should you just target some? When you are working online, it's easy to shotgun. Is that useful?

(LAUGHTER)

DIXON: That's a great question. The answer is absolutely no, because what happens is that recruiters are extremely savvy. They are on all of the online job-search sites. And they will notice if you are on all of them, too.

What you want to do to avoid looking desperate is to go ahead and post your resume selectively: one-to-three sites, and then very aggressively choose companies and e-mail your resume directly to them, because no one is going to know that. I mean, companies are not talking to each other: Oh, did, you know, so-and-so e-mail your resume?

So you really need to be aggressive with the companies, selective with those job sites.

FRAZIER: Well, we are grateful for those insights. In light of how the numbers are going, it looks like we will be talking to you again in the near future. Thanks for helping us out today, Pam Dixon.

DIXON: Oh, well, thank you. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com