Supply

It would be easiest to say that because there is a crisis. There were suddenly fewer job vacancies on the market, but at the same time, there were many more job seekers. 

This is indeed the case, while at the beginning of March it is still approx. There were 12,000 job postings on the Profession job portal, but now there are only around 4,200 vacancies and a declining trend from week to week. But if I look a little beyond the general economic situation, I see that this is basically not the main reason for the protracted job search. 

The crisis alone is not a reason for a failed job. 

Returning to the CVs mentioned in the introduction: during last week’s consultation, I ran into 3-4 applications in a row, where my clients e.g. wanted to apply for coach jobs. There were those who had no training experience before, but that was just a minor problem. 

The bigger problem is that an important step was missed before the resume, and that’s exactly the point that some didn’t take into account: part of the corporate training in the job market (and many others next to it) has virtually stopped! It is very difficult to sell anything for a non-existent demand. Unfortunately, this is no different in the job market either.

The law of supply and demand

It must not be forgotten that the labor market is also a market in a crisis. The market is governed by the law of supply and demand.

The formula is simple: If you offer something for which there is zero demand, your product can be any super good, yet no one will need it. Conversely, if your product is in high demand, you can sell it not only easily but quickly and at a better price. 

This is exactly how it works in your job search, where the product happens to be your expertise and experience.

The good news is that no matter how deep and protracted a crisis we face, there are and will be new and new job opportunities. Obviously in fewer numbers than in “peacetime,” but there will always be industries and jobs where there will be demand. So finding a job (finding a good job) is still possible. The bad news, however, is that it won’t be enough to “shoot your CVs blindly and wait for the roast pigeon” – as one of my dear clients put it about his old job search method.

It should simply be noted that what was true 2-3 months ago in the job market is no longer valid today. In other words, anyone who now wants to find a successful job in a few months will have to learn to look for a job systematically and thoughtfully and, above all, to map out the labor market. 

Career orientation, which is more important than anything now

Career orientation played a huge role in the fact that the majority of Guerrilla clients were able to stay for 2-3 months during the most difficult period after the 2008-2009 crisis. 

So, in order to get a successful job, you first and foremost need to know a) what companies, in what industry, and what jobs are in demand. b)  After that, you need to map out your strengths (expertise, experience, language skills, software skills, etc.) that are most marketable in the current circumstances.

Unfortunately, you can no longer just start with what kind of job you want, but not just what it was. You need to be able to identify the jobs at the intersection of real market demand and your strengths, and only then should you think about which of these are the jobs that are closest to you. 

It may not be easy to determine a single best direction right away, but do 3-4 possible alternatives and tailor your resume to these.

Jobs that go into crisis – Described Briefly

There are positions that always need people even in the midst of the biggest downturn, and there are also industries that have started to flourish in the last few months. 

Without wishing to be exhaustive, here are some examples:

As I experience, there is still a great demand for financial jobs: many things still need to be recalculated financially for companies, including budgeting, accounts receivable, headcount planning, etc. specialist demand. 

The same is true for financial management positions. For example, one of my clients has just returned with the fact that he has already been able to take a position as a financial manager, approx. 1 week after attending an individual counseling session with me while applying for months without success.

There is still a high demand for payroll accounting, labor specialist, compensation specialist, and HR generalist jobs. Organizational changes (forced leave, part-time work, announcements of downtime, layoffs, reorganization of departments, etc.) are now placing a significant burden on the HR organization. It is true not in the traditional recruitment-selection-organizational development side, but in the areas of payroll, labor, and compensation.

There has also been an increase in labor demand in the areas of logistics and procurement. Due to the coronavirus, it became difficult for many companies to supply raw materials, new suppliers never had to be found, contracts had to be renegotiated, so there was a great need for logistics, purchasing, strategic purchasing, purchasing manager, logistics assistant, supply chain specialists

If the contracts have already been discussed: there is also a demand for lawyers and legal advisers due to the rewritings of the already mentioned contract, organizational reorganizations, and dismissals.

Or there are even operation-type jobs here. There is a great demand for technical operation and maintenance jobs, as many companies have now brought forward their annual maintenance work, and these have now been scheduled in many places during forced shutdowns. But where there is no downtime, these jobs will always be needed there as well. 

Demand has also increased for telephone customer service positions. Many companies have switched to online operations, the number of webshops and online orders has increased, and customer questions and complaints need to be handled. Where previously there was physical customer service, everything has now shifted to telephone, online contact.

In the same way, the field of online marketing and IT is also booming. There is a growing need for good IT, online marketing, service desk, webshop operation, and support staff.

I see that my clients can still find jobs in engineering jobs relatively easily. Mechanical engineer and quality assurance engineer jobs are still in demand.

What perhaps everyone is experiencing is that courier companies are also constantly looking for a lot of people. There is a good chance of applying for the positions of Exporter, Customer Service.

But I could mention either the public sector or, of course, hospitals, where, for example, not only doctors and nurses are also sought, but I also find quite a few job vacancies in this area. 

So these are just a few examples, and of course not absolute. Not valid for all industries and not all regions!

It is worth watching the news first and rethinking the processes with common sense. Even without any serious market research, if you just buy a Profession and search for certain position titles, you’ll see exactly how many hits come up. If you see that there are at least 50-60 vacancies in a given job, you have probably chosen an area for which there is not enough demand. In the current situation, it is more of a luxury and a waste of time to apply for jobs where there are no really advertised jobs or very few.

Finally, one more thought! 

In the current job market situation, the biggest danger is that you will not find a job. There will always be empty positions, maybe you should look for the better from now on, but there will be! The danger is more that you will accept a bad offer for years or get stuck in a job that is not ideal for you. Remember, the crisis will not last forever either!

In 1-1.5 years (or even sooner) you can move on to a field that is dear to your heart, the point is to always keep an eye on the field, ie in the labor market! I wish you much success and a successful job search!