What will 2012 bring for you this year? Will there be the possibility of a salary increase, maybe promotion or even a new job?

Uncertain times ahead?
The feedback from employers and recruiters has been that 2011 has been an exceptionally tough year and that 2012 will continue to see a trend of lower levels of recruitment and careful or strategic hiring.

What does this mean to you?
It’s likely that salary reviews will be limited and many companies continue cost saving exercises to maintain their operational expenses and not fall into borrowing or worse still; shrinking their workforce and productivity. How will you advance your career when the economy is shrinking or static?   

In these uncertain economic times it is quite likely

-        That you know will someone that will be made redundant in 2012.

-        That you will consider looking for alternate employment options for better security.

-        That you will consider what ‘general employment’ options you have.

So what can you do to protect your income and earnings?
Many people are undertaking additional training courses to maintain and increase their knowledge and employment options, while other people are looking to take a second job on, re-train for a new work sector or even move countries to find work.

How can you keep options open and what is the best strategic option to take?
The wisest, quickest and easiest move to make is to become a passive job seeker. Becoming a passive job seeker is easy and the best part is that should you find yourself in a precarious situation of needing a new job quickly because the company closed or could not afford to maintain your position; you’ll be exceptionally well placed.

Why is being a passive job seeker a great option?
Think for a moment. Companies and recruiters are working on lower budgets, they cannot afford to use the same expensive full colour job adverts, radio advertising, and managed recruitment campaigns – Many jobs just don’t get advertised; they are filled by word of mouth, through cheap jobboard advertising, and through recruitment agencies temp-to-perm options.

Being a passive job seeker gives you huge advantages
-      Registering with a carefully selected number of recruitment agencies so that you have a
relationship in place for when YOU need it.

-        Registering on social media sites like LINKEDIN so professionals and recruiters can find you and contact you ad hoc.

-        Subscribing to email job alerts so you know how much you are worth and to keep up to date with the skill needs for your sector.

A passive job seeker lets opportunities come to them rather than always being victim of circumstance. The passive job seeker is the person that you know that always seems to land on their feet, their career seems to blossom naturally – and you have always been wondering why.

To become a passive job seeker you need to know the rules of the game.

-        Your CV has to be impressive, so when a recruiter or company stumbles across your profile on a job board or social media site they recognise you as a high profile individual that could add value to their business.

-        Your CV is likely to include many significant achievements rather than a collection of thoughts, tasks and responsibilities; the ‘recruiter’ will be clamouring to call you!

-        You are fully prepared to send a tailored CV and Cover letter to any opportunity or request without having to rush-job the night before wondering if a hurriedly drafted document will meet the approval of the CEO you met last night.

We’ll provide you with a no obligation assessment of your document and some free advice to boot. To get started simply use our Free CV Assessment form on any page of this website.