Posts tagged with “recession”

Here's a creative solution to the economic downturn -- let people pay you to wear their swag.

Jason Sadler, 26, sells companies the opportunity for him to wear their company's shirt for a day. He charges what he calls "face value", meaning January 1st costs $1 and December 31st costs $365. It might not sound like a ton of cash, but it adds up to $66,795 on a sold out calendar. He then sells monthly sponsorships adding upwards of $18,000 to his take home.

It may seem like one of those ridiculous ideas that would never actually work, but last year Jason made $83,000. According to BLS.gov, the average US take home was $32,000.

Here's the best part. In true entreprenuerial style, Jason's hiring on the west coast of the United States to expand his fledgling company's reach. Time to start bombarding his website with that Emurse resume. Make sure to mention how awesome your farmer's tan is in the cover letter!

• Provide a solid, thorough explanation. Like with many potentially damaging pieces of information on a resume being honest and clear about what happened can be your best defense. Don't let them assume the worst about you.
• Be positive, not bitter or defeatist. It's hard to lose a job, let alone two or three of them, but if you want a new employer to hire you you're going to have to get over it. They'll pick up on your negativity and hopelessness and why would they want that on their payroll?
• Consider getting a career coach who specializes in your field. They can help give you an edge to counteract your multiple-job-loss disadvantage.
• Utilize LinkedIn and Twitter. The online world is becoming a popular tool for recruiting, networking, and sharing expertise. Consider putting your LinkedIn and Twitter links below the email address on your resume (consider carefully, though, it might not be appropriate in all situations).
• Remember that all luck changes. Things will get better, perserverance is key!

As children we were always asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Generally our responses were geared around something we loved.... a creative child would choose an artistic career, an animal lover wants to be a veterinarian, an adventurist wants to be a pilot (and I am sure some of you know kids who should be lawyers based on talking back and arguing). Nevertheless, things change over time including priorities, interests, education, and the ability to find a job doing what you love. One aspect that has gained popularity during the recession we have been faced with has been finding a job with stability.

A recent article from the US News and World Report list the following as the most secure seven jobs in today's economy:

June payrolls fell by 467,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was higher than the 365,000 jobs economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected employers would shed.

The BLS said job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services and construction. While the BLS called the 9.5 percent unemployment rate "little changed," the rate did climb from the previous month's rate, reaching a 26-year high. Still, the rise wasn't as steep as economists had projected. The number of unemployed persons (14.7 million) was little changed.

Consumer confidence has risen to an eight month high, as reported by the The New York-based private research organization Conference Board. What does this mean for you? More spending by the general public and private/public companies. As a direct result we will see the economy slowly start to strengthen, triggering less employment cuts by some companies and new hiring by others.

"Looking ahead, consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said. "While confidence is still weak by historic standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us."

With confidence in the economy strengthening you can prepare for future opportunities by developing your own insight and knowledge to your specific industry that you are involved with, updating your resume, and applying for jobs now if a move is warranted.