According to US Department of Labor statistics, the average time to find employment is roughly six months. It could take as little as four to six weeks, or as long as ten to twelve months, or longer. Several factors determine your time to placement: Degrees Current state of employment Age Level of experience Level of salary Type of position you're seeking Level of position being sought Desired salary level Location Industry Your resume Your interview skills Networking effort Degree of career transition No one knows how long they will be unemployed. Even a person with sufficient funds to last their entire period of unemployment may still want to consider a temporary or contractual assignment as an interim solution. The loss in income can have an unforeseeable psychological impact. Other concerns that need to be addressed include: Loss of confidence Losing familiarity with day-to-day responsibilities Boredom Creating employment gaps in the resume More expensive health benefits Minimal professional interactions No opportunity to convert a temporary position into a permanent one The rule of thumb is: if you have been searching unsuccessfully for two months and find yourself no further ahead than when you became unemployed, I would encourage you to seek temporary employment or a contractual assignment. More and more people are engaging in this type of activity, including former CEO's. In fact, there has been a twenty percent increase in the number of people working part-time since 2001. The steady rise in temporary employment and contractual assignments is a definite indicator, not only of the state of our economy, but of things to come. Employers are realizing the many benefits of hiring temporary and contract employees. They dont have to go through all the screening and interviewing that is typical for permanent employees; they dont have to pay benefits; they can try out a person without any obligation to hire if it isnt working out; and they can convert a temporary or contractual employee to permanent status once the person has proven themselves. At this time, there is a coupling of two factors: employers are seeking more people for temporary and contract jobs that used to be strictly for permanent employees, and job seekers are taking longer to find permanent employment. It would appear that temporary employment and contractual assignments represent ideal solutions. Copyright 2005 TopDog Group All rights reserved. |
