Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Barry Lawrence of CareerBuilder.com

Aired February 10, 2002 - 17:34   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now, are you looking for employment? Well, we may have some advice for you, because joining us now is Barry Lawrence. He's a career expert with careerbuilder.com and he joins us from Washington. Hi there.

BARRY LAWRENCE, CAREERBUILDER.COM: Hi, good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: Glad that you're here. Look, about 800,000 people lost their jobs after September 11th. There are some experts who say, of those many unemployed people, they need to just go ahead and flood the market. Then there are other experts who say, no you still need to be selective when trying to look for a job. What do you best advise?

LAWRENCE: Yes, I think a lot of people are trying to flood the market approach. I mean we sort of live in an instant society, and I think some of us think we can sort of microwave our way into a job. But really, you want to target your job search and find the jobs that really, you know, you can really attack and make the most difference in, because those are the people who are going look for you first.

WHITFIELD: And we're approaching now college graduation fairly quickly. People are starting to, those who are getting ready to graduate are starting to think about the job market. What kind of approach might they need to take as they look to their graduation taking place in May and then they're free agents?

LAWRENCE: Well, it's interesting. I was just talking to a college student, but internships, that's key right now. You know, employers are saying no training wheels. I want people with skills who are up and running. So college students really need to get some skills, some real skills that they can put on a resume and say, hey I have experience in X, Y, and Z.

So I think that's the first thing, and I think number two, and this college student was saying the same thing just a few minutes ago, was saying hey, you got to take just about anything you can. And I think that's helpful. You know, you don't have to have the perfect first job, but certainly get some skills and experience and you can parlay further career developments from there.

WHITFIELD: Is it ever too late to get an internship? Can you have been a laid off professional worker and maybe you're think about, you know, this could be the time for a career change? Can you be, you know, a professional out of work and look for an internship?

LAWRENCE: Actually that's an interesting question. I don't know a lot of people who have done that, because once they're in the job market, they're trying to earn income. But other ways to approach it would be get a volunteer position.

So for example, if you're trying to cut into marketing or accounting or whatever, join a volunteer group where you can exercise those skills. And guess what? You can put those on your resume and you have references and you can show that you can do the job.

WHITFIELD: And how about temp work even, is that an option?

LAWRENCE: Temp work is actually a great option. You know, as the economy starts to rebound, we're not out of the woods yet but we're starting to see jobs come back. One of the first places that employers hire are temporary workers. Absolutely a great way to go.

WHITFIELD: Sometimes though you lose you job and you couldn't be at a lower low. Getting motivated has to be a tough part. So what do you best advise? How does someone get started when they're already feeling like, well gosh, I just got laid off, I don't know if anybody even finds me employable right now? What do I do?

LAWRENCE: Right. I've seen the enemy and it is me, right? A lot of people are feeling, you know, blue right now. They're in the pity pot. I think you really have to, you know, work on those things as well. You know, there's a lot of seminars. You know, career builder itself on its site has a lot of self help stories and you know, I think people need to reach out inside their souls and inside themselves as much as they need to reach out for positions and jobs.

WHITFIELD: Careerbuilder.com, what can people look for at your Web site if perhaps they're in this predicament where they're out of a job and they're looking?

LAWRENCE: Well certainly the first thing on the list is they can look for jobs, but they can also post their resume on our site. This is all free, and employers can come look for them.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

LAWRENCE: But secondarily, there's a lot of information and there's a couple premium services on the site. So, for example, if you're having trouble writing your resume, and I would encourage lots of people to do this because I've seen quite honestly some pretty bad resumes. But get some help. If you can't afford to get help, at least get a friend to look over your resume and edit it through for you, to make sure you're not misspelling words or that you haven't captured an important point about yourself.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much Barry Lawrence.

LAWRENCE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Careerbuilder.com and hopefully those who are looking for jobs who are watching may have been inspired by some of the words that you've just shared. Thanks very much.

LAWRENCE: Thank you very much.

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