It is also a great time of the year to review your career situation and objectives.  Are you in a satisfying job with growth opportunities?  Is there training and development that would better enable you to perform at another level?  Are you maintaining and growing your network?

Devoting some time during this year end period to thinking and evaluating your career situation, revisiting your career goals, and developing an action plan to pursue in 2010 is a great investment of your time.  Maybe a good time to also update your resume with expected executive hiring growth next year.

Executive hiring appears to be reemerging at many organizations after being frozen for the last year due to the financial credit crisis based upon the results of the recent Claymore Partners’ Labor Day 2009 Executive Talent Market survey with over 640 executive respondents. “Almost half of employers are now selectively hiring executives and significant reductions are greatly diminished based upon the survey results as well as our own executive search activity and market discussions “according to Mr. Landberg, Managing Director of Claymore Partners. 

Health insurance, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, wealth management, investment banking, and consulting/professional services industries appear to be most robust in terms of executive hiring at this time. From a functional perspective, executive hiring increases are most pronounced in sales, consulting, and risk management/compliance. The direct impact of the financial credit crisis for most executives appears to be waning though strong hiring is not expected until mid to year end 2010 by most executives. 

Claymore Partners is an executive search and consulting firm specializing in senior level searches in the financial services, insurance, and consulting arenas. A full copy of the results from the Claymore Partners’ Labor Day 2009 Executive Talent Market Survey can be obtained by emailing slandberg@ClaymorePartners.com. 

The recession seems to have caused a major time of reflection for executives in terms of their career and lives.  Learning to live with less, spending quality time with their families, and longer working careers to recover from retirement plan reductions appear to have significantly impacted the executive psyche.

Will this change and revert back when the economy and stock market has recovered?  It will be an interesting time to reflect back on the executive career mind set when that occurs.

1.  Take pride in their company;
2.  Believe they have a promising future at their company;
3.  Recommend their company as a great place to work;
4.  Go “above and beyond” their normal job duties in order to help their company succeed;
5.  Intend to stay with their company.

Of the five survey items used to measure engagement, the largest change in response from 2008 to 2009 for both U.S. and Canada reportedly occurs with the “Inspired to go ‘above and beyond’ normal job duties” question. While the Canadian Index shows an impressive change in responses favorable to this question, from 56% in 2008 to 67% this year, the U.S. Index reveals even more staggering growth from 58% to 73%.  Both groups demonstrate a very positive trend, posting statistically significant gains across four-out-of-five index items, portraying financial service workers as increasingly willing to do more at their jobs.  As a result of the more severe industry challenges in the U.S., the changes in responses from 2008 to 2009 are more extreme in the U.S. than in Canada for the majority of the survey questions. As to the cause of this rebound in engagement levels, says Modern Survey President, Don MacPherson, “There are a number of factors which could be affecting these figures, including layoffs which may have trimmed out less engaged employees, changes in business practices due to market conditions, and the increased level of public scrutiny over the financial sector.” MacPherson further adds that in his opinion, one may conclude that employees, especially in the financial sector, acknowledge not only feeling fortunate to have a job but feel compelled to give it their best efforts.  Regardless of the reason for this turnaround, the figures are encouraging to an industry that took so many hits in 2009, both financially and in terms of public relations.

Web Site: www.modernsurvey.com

Much of the executive hiring is being done directly by financial firms with the flood of candidates directly approaching them.  However, future executive hiring will increasingly require third party search firms as the internal capacity to handle the critical needs and volume will will tax their abilities.

2010 will see further growth as firms need to support anticipated business growth and they have cut to the bone at this point.  Sometime in 2010 anticipate a significant increase in executive hiring.  Maintaining patience will have its virtues when that occurs for executives seeking greater opportunities.  Stay tuned for more.

With job cuts at an all-time high, people can either see the “glass” as being half empty or half full. However, those who optimistically choose the later will recognize and reap the benefits of new opportunities where none existed before. So why not take charge of your life today by visiting EvanCarmichael.com’s “The Top 50 Human Resources Blogs To Watch In 2009″? Evan’s blog list can empower you with advice on new careers, vital training, personal happiness and job security! The illustrations for the top 3 category leaders are provided by Happy Worker, a creative agency that makes custom action figures and custom toys.

By MICHAEL LUO

Published: April 13, 2009 NY TIMES

Unemployed baby boomers, many of whom believed they were still in the prime of their careers, face some of the steepest odds of any job seekers in this hard market.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/us/13age.html

Key Advice for Your Career Strategy

by Jim Citrin

Posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2009, 12:00AM Yahoo Finance

It has been a great run. Since February 8, 2006, I’ve written 66 Leadership by Example columns, totaling some 230 pages and 131,000 words. But the time has come to draw this effort to a close. This, the first half of a two-part final column, will synthesize my most important advice about career strategies.

How different the world looks today from when I started! In 2006 college graduates and mid-career professionals experienced the most ebullient job market in years, and opportunities continued to be abundant across all sectors in 2007. Employers hired more than 15 percent more new college graduates that year, the fourth straight year of double-digit growth, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, and the number of retained management and executive searches reached an all time high.

The class of 2009, by stark contrast, is wading into the roughest employment waters since the Great Depression; the 8.1 percent unemployment rate in February is the highest in a quarter century.

In this challenging context, let me organize my sweep of career advice along a roughly chronological order, one that will hopefully characterize your professional life.

How to Launch Your Career Successfully

If you have the option in today’s market, try to join a blue-chip company so that you can become associated with its brand. Select your boss carefully, recognizing how important he or she will be in setting the norms and standards that will guide how you will behave in organizational life.

Recognize, too, that first impressions are lasting ones. Maintain a positive, can-do attitude, which is the single thing over which you have nearly complete control. Work hard — get in early and stay late, not just to create face-time but to get more high-quality work done; and always meet your commitments so you develop a reputation for reliability and responsiveness.

Be a technology mentor. If you’ve grown up with digital technology as a normal and integral part of your life, you have the opportunity to bring tech-phobic senior managers into the modern era. Teach them how to use Facebook, how to upload a video to YouTube, how to organize digital photos on Flickr, how to create a profile on MySpace, and how to watch ‘SNL’ on Hulu. In the words of Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, “I believe that it’s a better path to join a quality company, work hard and well with people, and navigate your way into the right roles than to join a lower-quality company, even if you start in a more senior position.”

Patterns of the Very Best Careers

You can manage your career more proactively than you may realize if you understand the patterns that govern extraordinary careers. First, find the right fit in terms of a culture and role that play to your strengths, personality, and interests. Seek creative ways to gain access to new responsibilities and opportunities through cultivating mentors, volunteering for stretch assignments, and pursuing an advanced degree.
As you progress through your career, build upon your experiences from one role and apply them in fresh ways to new roles; think of your career as a series of building blocks that can be mixed and matched to best position you for new opportunities.

Recognize that your value in the market is inexorably linked to the reputation of your employer. In many cases, you’ll be associated with the company you work for more than the specific job you hold. Working in a company with great people will plug you into valuable networks and offer the best opportunities for skill-building and professional development. Also, it’s easier to move from a large, widely recognized, well-respected organization to a smaller or more entrepreneurial one.

It is trite to say that hard work is the foundation for enduring success. Nonetheless, as Geoff Colvin puts forth in his fabulous book, ‘Talent is Overrated’, great performance is in our hands far more than most people believe. What makes certain people great is not their inborn talent. Rather, it is something called “deliberate practice,” a sustained, often lifelong, period of purposeful effort designed to improve performance in a specific domain. This is just as true in the case of business as it is in sports, music, medicine, chess, science, and mathematics.

The Art of the Job Interview

There are typically four parts of a job interview for which candidates should prepare: 1) The opening, which is intended to set the stage and, ideally, help you, the interviewee, feel comfortable by establishing some common ground; 2) Chronological review, where the intention is to learn who you really are as a person, how you think, and what the major influences and key turning points were in your life. Here, make sure to emphasize your work ethic, values, personality, and impact; 3) Assessment of your background and track record against the core skills, experiences, and competencies required for success in the role, which will hopefully have been defined up front; and 4) Your questions, which are just important as your answers, so be sure to prepare in advance to show the homework you’ve done and the insight you have gleaned about the company and its competitors.

Strategies for Internal Job Candidates

One of the most delicate situations for executives is being an internal candidate competing against one or more external candidates for a key position. How do you handle yourself? First, embrace the process without projecting resentment that you aren’t just handed the job. Declare your candidacy, balancing your personal interest in the opportunity with an attitude of support for whatever is best for the organization.

Determine how the process will work and who the decision-makers are, and conduct yourself professionally and with maturity. When it is your turn at bat in the interview, organize your thoughts into a few powerful themes. Tell your story without assuming that, because you are the internal candidate, people really know who you are or from whence you’ve come. Use analogies to demonstrate how you’ve been successful in similar situations; prepare for the tough questions; and practice your examples and responses repeatedly beforehand.

Making the Best Transition

Because of the tough economy, many people find themselves having to find a job and make a transition. Believe me, I recognize the difficulty of being downsized or restructured out of a job, and let me acknowledge that it’s far easier to give advice than it is to actually do this. But here is my advice nonetheless: 1) Start preparing for a transition before you need to by beefing up your internal and external relationships and broadening your skill base and credentials; 2) Take stock of your situation by objectively assessing your strengths and figuring out what gets your juices flowing; and then 3) Find ways to apply your experiences in new ways by soliciting advice from trusted friends and mentors, reading voraciously, and seeking opportunities to present your case to as many people as possible.

The First 100 Days of a New Position

When you do get that new position, it is critical to get off to a strong start to establish the foundation upon which long-term success is built. Done well, the first 100 days create momentum for the next 100 days, and the next. Done poorly, you squander the unique honeymoon period during which you get the benefit of the doubt and when your authority and influence come more from the appointment than from your accomplishments. The keys to succeeding in this period are to prepare and do your homework, set proper expectations with your boss and other key influencers, and to pick three themes around which to organize your priorities and your continuous communications.

Working Effectively with Your Boss

“What bosses want more than anything else is loyalty, good advice, and to have their personal brands polished,” says David D’Alessandro, best-selling author of ‘Career Warfare and Executive Warfare’. There is no single person who has more direct influence on your short- or medium-term career success than your boss. Figure out how to support his or her success, and tailor your efforts accordingly. Doing so will create and sustain your career momentum.

By contrast, there is nothing a manager disdains more than the subordinate who goes behind his back. Never make yourself look good at the boss’s expense. Since the rules of the game in organizational life are governed by hierarchy, if you circumvent your boss, then you’ll be seen as breaking the chain of command or, worse, betraying him or her. All intelligent bosses instinctively separate their people into three distinct categories: the sycophants, the devil’s advocates, and the small percentage of employees who are the balanced players. You definitely want to be seen as a member of the third group.

The Power of Relationships in Your Career

Relationships are core to your success, since everything you do in professional life is dependent on others. Therefore, it is imperative to have a relationship mindset. This means recognizing that all business relationships are also personal relationships, that one relationship or interaction leads to another, and what goes around comes around.

People genuinely appreciate hard work and thinking on their behalf, as well as responsiveness and straightforward communications. When you’re at a critical turning point in your career, it’s wise not to go it alone. A proven strategy is to cultivate a small group of professional and personal relationships to serve as your sounding board, brain trust, or personal “board of directors.”

A Tactical Lesson

Most of my columns generated hundreds of comments (usually robust and valuable but often requiring a thick skin). The one that was by far the most commented upon was “Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine,” in which I detailed how 20 CEOs get the most out of their early-morning time. The lessons: 1) Start early – 80 percent of the CEOs I surveyed wake up at 5:30 or earlier; 2) Get a jump on email — virtually all report using this time to triage their overnight email; 3) Exercise every morning — 70 percent work out daily in the morning; and 4) Problem solve – most use the morning, when the mind is at its clearest, to develop ideas about how to resolve the thorniest issues of the day.

Summaries on resumes are also controversial and usually are too general to be valuable. Informed Careers prefers a brief positioning statement to define an Executive’s  career and differentiate that Executive from others.

Dates on resumes seem to be a concern for many Executives.  To the degree possible, seek to highlight and demonstrate longevity with a firm vs. dates for each position.  Leaving out dates for college and/or graduate school graduation is recommended by many career coaches, but Informed Careers thinks that the reader of a resume assumes that you have left off the date because you are hiding something and becomes more suspicious and concerned about a background.  Starting a resume with experience as a VP is also highly unlikely so recruiters find that to be suspicious as well.  The resume should not raise issues from our pe

Executives understand the importance of having a well defined search strategy and disciplined approach to be successful in today’s highly competitive job market.

Our Executive Career Coaching services provide specific deliverables to enable an Executive to pursue their job search including assessment exercises, establishing and prioritizing target markets, targeted resumes and cover letters, accomplishment/STARs, two minute pitch, and campaign plans.  We also work with Executives to implement these approaches if so desired by deploying a disciplined and monitored search process.

Please contact us at Steve@InformedCareers.com if interested in learning more.