How Working Parents Can Find Jobs In a Recession

Posted by: Lauren Young on September 16

Even if the recession is over, the outlook for job seekers remains bleak.

I asked Tory Johnson (pictured here), who is chief executive officer of Women For Hire and author of Fired to Hired, to offer her career advice in an unsettled economy.

Question: Unemployment figures show that more men are out of work than women. What are your thoughts on this trend and how it is impacting workers?

Answer: The industries dominated by men have been hardest hit in this recession—manufacturing, construction, financial services, for example. The fields adding jobs—such as healthcare and education—attract women.

More importantly, however, is the strain this has put on families. If Dad loses his well-paid construction job—along with his benefits—but Mom keeps her lower-paid position as a home health aide, that’s a burden on their household.

When the man of the house loses his position and is dealt a severe blow to his ego, his spouse and children are important. This challenging job market has been an equal opportunity offender in that regard. It’s difficult on both genders.

Q: What does the recession mean for Women for Hire? Are you getting flooded with resumes now?

A: Yes, we’re bombarded with resumes and pleas for help from jobseekers. We’ve ramped up our availability on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, to offer advice to more people. And I’ve gotten involved with MomsLikeMe by creating this online job club, not only to answer members’ questions, but also to encourage members to help one another. That collective career coach can be awfully powerful and everyone has something to offer to the group.

Q: What’s the smartest way for working parents to broach work-life topics, such as job flexibility or eldercare, when they are looking for a new position?

A: This topic shouldn’t be your opening line. Research the employer online. Typically if it’s an organization that values flexibility, it’s touted on its website.

Ask simple, indirect questions such as, “Can you tell me about the culture?” Ask about your potential boss’s management style. Inquire about the turnover among employees. Typically an organization with relatively low turnover treats its people well and that likely includes flex options.

Once you receive an offer, this is the time to ask about specific benefits. You can review the company policy manual and/or ask how such issues are handled internally. Remember that it’s not only the company’s policies that matter; rather it’s the policies and management style of your boss that will matter most.

Q: Are working moms treated differently than working dads in the workforce?

A: This depends on where you work. There’s most definitely a perception that moms have special needs. This could range from denying her a promotion based on an assumption that the new position requires travel and she won’t want to leave her kids to resenting her if she leaves early to attend a soccer game with her kids.

In certain environments, dad is a hero if he leaves for two hours to coach little league, whereas mom is more devoted to her kids than her career. Fortunately, however dads are more involved in their kids’ lives today than ever before, which means dads are speaking up for flexibility too. It’s not a mom’s issue by any means. Frankly, it’s not a parenting issue either.

Given eldercare demands or the desire to pursue some kind of personal passion – i.e. you want to train for a marathon or play in organized sports – the need to flexibility is greater than ever.

Q: What’s the best job search advice anyone ever gave you?
A: People have often said, “Oh you do such good work helping people get jobs…you must sleep well at night.” While I appreciated that, the reality is I have many sleepless nights wondering and worrying about the emails that I didn’t respond to as thoroughly as was probably needed.

I worry a lot about the people who emailed for help who I knew needed hand-holding to find a job, not a few bits and pieces of advice and direction in a written response.

I asked Diane Sawyer about this since I assumed she has to had the same concerns–only magnified–about the people and issues she’s covered. She told me, “Our joy is our fuel for changing the world. We cannot let the work wear it down.”

She encouraged me to keep doing what I was doing—and to trust in a higher power that those who needed the extra dose of help would get it, and not to lose sight of the love I had for the good work I was doing. If I allowed myself to be beat down with excessive worry over things I couldn’t control, I’d stop being effective in what I was good at. Given the volume of requests today, I think about her advice so often.

Q: A reader asked about getting online resumes noticed on Job Club with Tory Johnson chat. What’s your advice for getting noticed?

A: Too many people do what I call spray and pray. They send out tons of resumes—and they pray one will get noticed. Sadly, it doesn’t usually work that way.

You have to do more than just apply online. You have to find someone with whom you can follow up. Make a cold call to the company to figure out who’s responsible for filling the role. Find an internal referral who’ll introduce you to the hiring manager. Use LinkedIn to network with people at that company. Whatever it takes to bring attention to your resume instead of hoping it’s found in the big black hole of the internet.

Tory Johnson is an award-winning job search guru, national network television contributor, popular speaker and New York Times bestselling author. She is the CEO of Women For Hire, now celebrating its 10th year producing high caliber recruiting events attended by more than 25,000 women annually. Tory is the workplace contributor on ABC’s Good Morning America and hosts a national online Job Club on MomsLikeMe.com. Dubbed the “workplace fairy godmother” by Glamour magazine, Tory speaks frequently about career advancement nationwide. Her new book, Fired to Hired, follows her 2008 New York Times bestseller, Will Work From Home.

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