GeekMBA360

In this Issue

• State of Job Market from recruiter’s perspective
• Laid-off Microsoft employees spoke up! — Results of GeekMBA360.com Layoff Satisfaction Survey
• Job Search Strategies & Tips in a difficult economic environment
• How to develop your career during recession and protect yourself
• Feel depressed, confused, frustrated, and purposeless? — Inspirations and Tools!
• Industry/company analysis
• Maintain work/life balanced during a difficult time

State of Job Market from recruiter’s perspective

I recently talked to two recruiter friends. Both are seasoned recruiters who had worked in the industry for 15+ years. I’d like to share with you two quotes from them:

"The recession is killing me– everything that was on my plate is frozen.  Hopefully, I can find one or two people to give me a few jobs to work on."

"Times are tough right now for recruiters so I’m not counting on things changing for the next few months.

The companies that tend to be hiring are using job boards and their own sites more than anytime in the past as there are so many good people actually out of work."

Since we published the last issue of this newsletter in mid-December, 200+ companies had laid off more than 200,000 employees in the high tech industry alone.

The message is simple:

• The economy is continuing to deteriorate. We haven’t seen signs of recovery. In December, when I published the first edition of Depression 2.0 Survival Guide, some readers told me that I shouldn’t be using the term “depression” since we’re only in a recession. I’m more than ever convinced that we’re in a economic depression, a major financial catastrophe that is the great depression of our generation.
• Hold onto your job if you’re fortunate to be employed. You need to do all your can to layoff-proof you job, and continue to develop your career. See strategy and tips under "How to develop your career during recession and protect yourself".
• If you’re laid off, you need to be very creative, proactive, and aggressive about job search process. See "Job Search Strategies & Tips in a difficult economic environment"

Laid-off Microsoft employees spoke up! — Results of GeekMBA360.com Layoff Satisfaction Survey

Layoff is painful. GeekMBA360.com launched Layoff Satisfaction Survey in January because we hoped that our survey would

• keep employers more accountable for their actions, and treat employees fairly during this difficult economic time
• provide an outlet for laid-off employees to tell the true stories behind layoffs and set the record straight
• give folks some visibilities into what’s going on with layoffs in corporate America.

The results have been overwhelming as many laid-off workers from employers such as Microsoft, AT&T and Sun Microsystems spoke up.

It’s quite alarming that quite a few laid-off workers complained about job loss due to competition with H1B foreign workers. There were also complains about discrimination due to gender and race. We want to caution everyone not to jump to conclusion — it’s difficult time for everyone, and it’s easy to attribute layoffs to race, gender, and nationality. At the same time, we urge all employers to treat the laid-off workers with respect, fairness, and transparency.

• Microsoft Laid-off Employees spoke up! — Layoff Satisfaction Survey Results – Microsoft
• Layoff Satisfaction Survey Results — Sun Microsystems
• Layoff Satisfaction Survey Results — AT&T
• H1B Holders: Indentured labors of modern days
• GeekMBA360.com Launches Layoff Satisfaction Survey

Job Search Strategies & Tips in a difficult economic environment

• How to convince employers to hire you even though they don’t have job openings
• Eight Tips for job hunting in a difficult economic environment
• What is the most effective way to network?
• How a house cleaner finds new opportunity to beat recession

How to develop career during recession and protect yourself?

• 10 Professional Development Actions that you can take to make you more competitive in today’s job market
• Who are making a lot of money from the economic downturn and where do they get their financial news and analysis?
• Sometimes all you need is one class to jumpstart your career
• Are your experiences also your liabilities?
• Five Career Lessons we could all learn from President Obama
• If you’re laid off and let go today, are you going to lose all of your personal data on your computer at work?
• Lehman Brother’s check for an MBA student’s travel expenses bounced. No matter what company you work for, you should get your expenses reimbursed now!

Feel stuck, depressed, confused, frustrated, and purposeless? 

• Are you down? depressed? frustrated? confused? tired? purposeless? — Watch this video, and you’ll be inspired
• Perseverance through adversity leads to success
• 8 Things you should do if you feel stuck in your career
• Business School or Law School? You’re asking the wrong question!
• Are you interested in a lot of different things, but not sure what exactly you want to do about  your career?
• Retire early? or Never Retire?

Industry/company analysis

• The rapid deteriorations of Intel business — what does it mean to high tech companies and your job security
• Why Circuit City went bankrupt and what it could mean to your employer and your job
• Four retail businesses that are doing well during recession
• Is Pet Store recession proof?
• 4-Day Work Week?

Maintain work/life balanced during a difficult time

• Apply 4HWW principles to have a great & affordable weekend getaway at Vancouver, BC

Tons of tips from previous edition

• https://www.geekmba360.com/?page_id=412

Comments?

Please email regularguy@GeekMBA360.com or post your comments at www.GeekMBA360.com .

About Depression 2.0 Survival Guide and GeekMBA360.com

Depression 2.0 Survival Guide for High Tech Professionals provides hard-hitting, up-to-date, practical strategies, analysis, and tips to help high tech professionals to survive and beat Depression 2.0 periodically. To subscribe to the Depression 2.0 Survival Guide and receive daily post update, please go to www.GeekMBA360.com to subscribe.

Founded in September, 2008, GeekMBA360.com provides hard-hitting and practical online content and services to help high tech professionals to Beat Recession, Grow Career, and Build Wealth.

To learn more about GeekMBA360.com, please visit the About Us section of GeekMBA360.com .