7 Career Strategies That Work

It’s no secret that an overwhelming number of African Americans continue to be tested by today’s job market like never before. Whether your collar is white or blue, far too many of us have been unable to gain employment or forced into underemployment. Those fortunate to clock in each day have fully dismissed the notion of job security.

Face it, we can no longer spend our time complaining about the challenges of  an unwelcoming labor market, especially when the Black unemployment rate has risen to 16.2% versus 8% for Whites. National Action Network President and White House adviser Rev. Al Sharpton aptly characterized such an approach as being “therapy not strategy. We must discover the will to win rather than just assess the problems.”

That’s exactly what BLACK ENTERPRISE, in partnership with Walmart–the nation’s largest corporation, decided to do when we convened our event–”20/20 Vision Forum: Job Creation and Career Opportunities in the Next Economy” this week. In his opening remarks, BLACK ENTERPRISE CEO Earl “Butch” Graves, Jr., told the standing-room-only crowd at the W Hotel in downtown Manhattan: “We brought together some of the most brilliant minds in business, government, non-profit sector and academia to share strategies for job creation; identify emerging sectors and workforce readiness programs for entry-level employees to mid-career professionals; and reveal fresh models of business innovation that will spur the development of the next wave of job-producing machines.” And Walmart’s Vice president & Northeast Regional General Manager Paul Busby described this groundbreaking gathering as nothing less than a “revival.”

In addition to keynote speaker Sharpton, other participants included Arnold Donald, president & CEO of the Executive Leadership Council and former CEO of Merisant, maker of Equal tabletop sweeteners; Kelly Beaty, vice president of marketing and communications for Dress for Success Worldwide, a workforce development organization; Tony Valentine, CEO of Valentine Manufacturing LLC (No. 96 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE COMPANIES list with $21 million in revenues); Wendy Ramadar, director of employment for the New York Urban League; and social media guru James Andrews. Dr. William Spriggs, assistant secretary for policy for the US Labor Department, was on hand to provide our labor market outlook citing, among other trends, that Black unemployment had been rising for 10 straight months before Obama took office. The others pulled no punches as they shared strategies to create our own individual and collective employment prospects as well as reinvent careers in an ultra-competitive, technology-charged environment. To quote Beaty, who once served as a contestant on the reality TV show The Apprentice: “Even in chaos, there are opportunities.”

Click here to see the 7 strategies that get the job done and to watch my video clip from the job fair.

1. Embrace and ma ster change. Rethink your approach to work and step up your game. Training is essential to develop the tech

and project management skills needed to stay current in the job market or transition into a new industry. Social media maven Anderson maintains more companies require recruits to have capabilities such as the ability to manage online communities. According to NYUL’s Ramadar, job seekers, especially mid-career professionals, will be forced to go back to school to gain new credentials. She says: “Isn’t  three months in class getting a new certification better than six months of unemployment?”

2. Critically evaluate yourself. Asserts ELC’s Donald: “Knowing yourself is the most powerful thing you can do in your job search. No. 2 is knowing how others view you.” To full identify such strengths and weaknesses, conduct a 360-degree assessment in which you get a range of people you have worked with–managers, peers and those who reported to you–to weigh in. Moreover, he stresses job seekers to “not talk about what you did, talk about what you’ve accomplished.” Chris Lennon, SVP and Managing Director of Executive Search Practice for head hunter The Marquin Group adds that you should not “neglect any piece of your PIE,”  an acronym that stands for performance (what you do); image (what people think you do); and exposure (how many people know what you do). “Black people concentrate too much on the P and not enough on the I and E.”

3. Increase your exposure through social media. Our experts say plugging your resume into

online job sites is outmoded these days. Employers now use social media to spot new hires. Panelist Deon Barber, president of the enterprise staffing unit of The Bartech Group (No. 21 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE COMPANIES list with $190 million in revenues), says acquire at least 250 connections to gain the exposure that would lead to opportunities. Anderson advises employing such tools as Google Alerts to manage your reputation and Twitter to build relationships. Rule of thumb: 20% of your tweets should focus on you and the other 80% on information that’s useful to others.

4. Compete on a global scale. Ronald Mitchell, CEO of career development firm CareerCore Inc. bluntly states you have no choice. As companies, large and small, continue to outsource services to save costs and maximize profits, American workers must work harder to make themselves attractive prospects. Engage in comprehensive research of prospective employers to develop your value proposition to that organization. “Black people are no longer competing against White people for jobs,” he says. “We’re competing against China and India. Adopt a global perspective and take responsibility for your career development.”

5. Become a free agent. One subject debated throughout the forum was whether you should buy a job as a business-building entrepreneur or a self-employed consultant. Valentine says decide whether it’s best for you to “pursue entrepreneurship or retool your career. It depends on your DNA. Focus on pursuing your

passion.” Mitchell takes a different view. Launching a full-fledged enterprise may be too painstaking for the uninitiated. You can find temp assignments quicker by applying your skills through  self-employment instead. Ramadar adds that self-employment can fill in gaps on your resume as well.

6. Find sweet spots in growth industries. Due to new federal government regulations, industries like healthcare and finance offer a myriad of opportunities. But Barber admits you have to “go granular” to identify niches in  hot sectors. For instance, the high-demand jobs in IT include cloud computing, enterprise architecture, business intelligence, IT security and network architecture. Be aware that a sweet spot today may be a dead end tomorrow.

7. Volunteer for that new job. Beaty first met Dress for Success CEO Joi Gordon in 2010 at the Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Conference. Impressed by the organization’s mission, she landed her VP job after enthusiastically working as an unpaid volunteer and demonstrating her skills sets and management prowess. “Find your gift and figure out how to offer it in service to the world,” she says. “Stop saying you won’t work for free. It’s better than sitting at home for free.”