Job search is not business as usual

The business-as-usual method of job searching may work fine in ordinary times. But when the unemployment rate rose to 9.3 percent in February, the highest rate ever recorded in Georgia, and the number of job openings dropped 31 percent nationally — times moved way past ordinary.

“We are getting more requests for help from alums who have lost their jobs or students looking for job opportunities than at any other time in our history,” said Jason Aldrich, director of the Career Management Center at the Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University. “Fortunately, in times of crisis, people begin to think outside the box.”

Enlarge this image

Leita Cowart / AJC Special

Tom Darrow (left) and Mary Reany of CareerSpa talk with Jason Aldrich, director of career management at Georgia State University.

As founder and principal of Talent Connections, an Atlanta recruiting and executive search firm, and president-elect of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Georgia State Council, Tom Darrow gets frequent firsthand accounts from the job-search front. Hearing that the traditional outplacement model was not efficient or cost-effective enough to handle today’s numbers — 445,498 Georgians are unemployed according to the Georgia Department of Labor — he recently launched CareerSpa

LLC, a fresh approach to career transition.

He wanted to workers to focus and chose a concept he called “SPA”: sharpen the search, polish the presentation and amaze hiring managers. The approach pairs the business-savvy of real-world recruiters with the empathetic, motivational environment of Crossroads Career Network, a nonprofit career-assistance organization where Darrow volunteers frequently.

“Most current outplacement models offer a one-size-fits-all approach that hasn’t been updated for years,” Darrow said. “The pricing structure is a large expense for businesses and cost prohibitive for individuals. Typically, services last about a month, and the outplacement firm doesn’t even track who gets hired.”

Darrow knows that work-force needs have changed, as has the job search. “What happens to the person who still hasn’t found a job after a month? He’s got a life vest, but he’s back in the ocean. The bottom line is that job seekers need more help,” he said.

CareerSpa offers a 12-week program that includes best-practice workshops, one-on-one coaching and transformation teams for accountability and networking. Affordable pricing puts it in reach of individuals, as well as corporations that want to offer their displaced workers assistance.

“Even more than hot résumé tips, job seekers need encouragement,” he said. “We wanted to build a platform that would give people the best teaching and bring back compassion to the job search process.”

Georgia State is one of the universities providing classroom space and making CareerSpa’s services known to students and alums. Aldrich likes the longer, more individualized format.

“Career transition is a process that includes emotional, financial and job search aspects. You can’t usually conduct the job search well unless you have dealt with the other two first,” Aldrich said. “It’s important that job seekers get the right kind of information at the right stage of a job transition. CareerSpa’s combination workshop/individual coaching model has worked well for our career services and the affordable price point makes it a win/win,” Aldrich said.

The staff is a mix of subject matter experts with contemporary experience and career coaches who know how to keep job applicants motivated, said Mary Reany, executive recruiter and faculty member with CareerSpa LLC.

“In this market, people are experiencing longer job searches and they need to know what’s changed and what’s important — like leveraging their search through contacts that can open doors to non-posted or future jobs. You can’t get that from a manual,” Reany said.

Applicants need to know that hiring managers no longer want lengthy cover letters or three-page résumés.

“Your résumé should do two things only: document what you did [companies, titles, responsibilities] and sell yourself for what you want to do next,” Darrow said. “One page that makes an impact is the trend of the future.”

“After learning in workshops, clients will be able to express their specific concerns with coaches.

“The coach can drill down further to make the learning even more personal and effective,” Reany said.

Coach-guided transformation teams will exchange leads and ideas for added support.

“Trying to job search in a vacuum isn’t the best strategy,” Reany said. “One of the benefits of this approach is that long before people land a job, they’ll get a clearer understanding of their talents and strengths. There’s a lot of value in that.”