Networking for Introverts

If the prospect of networking fills you with dread or you think it's something only extroverted people do, think again.

You don't need to have a gregarious or outgoing personality to build a network of professional contacts - in fact, your approach may be better received than the brash personality types out there.

Natural listeners
There is a misconception that only extroverts can network. Introverts in fact have some advantages: they are natural listeners and they tend to reflect before they speak. They are also sometimes better at building long-term relationships.

Regarding yourself as an introvert should not be used as an excuse for doing nothing.

Connecting with people in your search is a skill that needs practising, and the less it comes naturally, the easier you should make the first steps.

Begin with "Level 1 - Conversations" the gentlest form of networking, and one which anyone can do.

Start by talking to people you already know and trust, but talk to them in a way you've never done before.

This approach helps avoid mistakes that will feel like setbacks. Like the cold rebuff you get when you start a phone call saying "you don't know me, but...." or approaching high-level contacts too early in the process when you're still feeling bruised and you don't know what you're looking for.

Don't give people the opportunity to say "not now" or a plain "no" when you're aware how much these will set you back.

Easy targets
Nervous networkers should target the easiest people to begin with not the 'main target.'

When you pick up the phone you know that you can just begin a conversation, and you don't need to prepare a script of what you will say.

Be honest about what you're asking for - make it clear that you are setting up brief conversations with a range of people to find out what is going on in the world or in a particularly favourite sector.

Just think carefully about what to ask for and steer clear of asking for favours!

Ask people for things they are happy to talk about, but a good conversation about the world the person knows well is always welcome and don't forget to thank people properly.

Start by talking only to people you know, ask about their job or their hobbies, the universe, then ask them if they can introduce you to someone else; a proper, warm introduction, not just a name.

The big event
Once you've had a few "safe" conversations with the contacts you already know, you may wish to consider attending a more formal networking event.

Of course it can be intimidating going into a room full of strangers and feeling pressured to make contacts, but the fear of networking is often much worse than the reality.

You are all there for the same reason and you are all feeling the fear!

If you are at an event, ask one of the organisers to introduce you to others. any organiser worth their salt will be happy to facilitate this.

Do make sure that you introduce yourself clearly, so that people know your name and what you do, as this often reveals areas of common ground for conversation.

As long as you show an interest in other people and a willingness to listen, generally people will only be too happy to talk to you.

Networking from home
If you can't face wearing a name badge and making small talk, don't despair. Online forums and networking sites like LinkedIn allow you to make contact with people in your sector - without even having to leave home.

To get started, search for ex-colleagues and look for groups set up within your industry. Remember, as with most things in life, the more you put in, the more you'll get out - so be sure to post messages and join the conversation rather than just observing.

Do not rant, do not pontificate, and do not over-criticise others. Let the tolerant, thoughtful and collaborative you come through in your conversations.

Having a few open conversations online should make it easier when you take the plunge and meet up at a real life event. You'll be networking like a pro before you know it.

Modafinil and Sleep: A Sociological Speculation

Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution is a major proponent of the Great Stagnation thesis: that new innovations are not having the same impact on productivity as those we saw in the previous 150 years.

Think of iPads versus electricity and cloud computing versus the railroad.

Hence, we can expect to see slowing growth in GDP per capita as future productivity gains will take much more effort to unlock.

This week The Economist took up this line of thought with a thorough briefing on the subject that broadly agreed with Cowen, although with some equivocation.

Overall, I think the argument has a lot of merit but there may be at least one more piece of low hanging fruit: a vast reduction in our need for sleep.

The American Time Use survey reports that an average American work day includes 8.8 hours of work and 7.6 hours of sleep.

Sleep is the second largest single use of time. However, new drugs such as Modafinil appear to vastly reduce the need for sleep without significant side effects (at least so far).

Based on reports from users, it seems that people could realistically [edit: potentially (see update)] cut their sleep requirements to as few as 2.5 hours a night without a decrease in mental acuity. That gives us another 5 hours to distribute over the day.

Workers would probably prefer to allocate the bulk of that extra time to leisure but I doubt employers will let that happen.

Let's make a generous breakdown and give work an extra 3 hours and let workers spend another 2 as they wish. This increases working hours by around 34% and potentially increases leisure time by 80%.

This increases the number of hours a worker spends at work from around 1800 hours a year now to about 2,400.

The argument against the use of drugs such as Modafinil, is that a rapid introduction of these pills would amount to an increase in the labour supply and cause a fall in hourly wages or unemployment.

However, it's likely that individuals would generally still see an increase in their overall income and their additional leisure time (2 hours extra) would allow this to be translated into an increase in demand in the economy through increased consumption.

 Overall the transition to a sleepless world seems beneficial to humanity. There's nothing special about the 7 hours of sleep we get right now and I think people would rightly be opposed to a change that made everyone spend an extra hour asleep every day.

Caveats:

• I've never used Modafinil. This is because I don't know where to buy it, I have some moral qualms about using it when the rest of the world is not and because it is still a bit early to conclude that there are no long term health effects; 
• Some people I've talked to have raised the issue of environmental damage. I think the total environmental impact of a sleepless world could be positive or negative but surely the damage would be lower per unit of output (because there are a lot of fixed carbon outputs per work day such as commuting and building overheads). At the very least, a sleepless world looks like a more environmentally friendly growth strategy; 
• This argument is premised on the safety of these drugs. Clearly the calculus will change if they are shown to have negative long term consequences; 
• For those people who already work long hours with little sleep, these drugs should at least make that lifestyle less dangerous. There is convincing evidence that chronic lack of sleep is harmful in normal circumstances; 
• The precise amount of sleep that a Modafinil user can get by with seems to vary but all sources I've seen suggest it is dramatically lower; 
• The short term costs of a rapid change might be substantial so gradual adoption is probably preferable from the standpoint of welfare.

Real the full article here

Unemployed? How Long Does It Really Take to Find another Job?

One of the most nagging questions in job seekers' minds is how long it will take to find a new job. A survey of 600 job seekers conducted at the end of last month gives an indication of the length of time it's taking job seekers to find jobs in today's market.

Of the 600 job seekers polled, 77 percent were unemployed. The remaining 23% had jobs. Of the more than three-quarters who were unemployed, nearly half had been out of work for more than a year:

49 percent had been out of work for more than a year
8 percent had been out of work 10 to 12 months
5 percent had been out of work for seven to nine months
16 percent had been out of work for four to six months
20 percent had been out of work for one to three months

Of the nearly 50 percent of job seekers who've been unemployed for more than a year, 60 percent of those long-term job seekers have been out of work for two years and counting.

In a press release announcing the survey results, it was noted that some of the job seekers who've been out of work two-plus years are stay-home-moms and retirees hoping to return to the workforce.

When asked, both employed and unemployed job seekers how long they thought it would take to land a new job,

28 percent are confident they can find something new within 3 months
37 percent expect the job search to take four to six months
14 percent think it will take seven to nine months
12 percent anticipate the job search will take 10 to 12 months
10 percent believe they'll be looking for a new job for more than a year.

Overall, the majority of callers – 65 percent – felt they would find a job in six months or less. Is that a realistic assessment? In a healthy economy, a successful job search might take two to three months. In a tight job market, such as now, it is not unusual to see even high-quality candidates take four to six months.

Job seekers have reason to be more optimistic about the labour market and their chances of finding a new job this year. He notes that private sector layoffs are down and that hiring is on the rise.

Indeed, according to the unemployment report the U.S. Labour Department released last Friday, employment increased by 200,000 in December, and the number of unemployed Americans, along with the unemployment rate, continued to tick downward. The unemployment rate is now at 8.5 percent and 13.1 million people are counted as unemployed, down from 9.4 percent and 14.5 million a year ago.

Let's look at the numbers! Organisations need to hire nearly four million people every month just to replace the 2 million people who quit their jobs each month, plus the 250,000 to 350,000 workers who retire, transfer to new locations, or otherwise can't work, and the "hundreds of thousands" of others who get fired for cause.

Unemployment: New Jobs are Taken by College Graduates

To steal and expand upon a point Betsey Stevenson made on Twitter earlier, it's striking the extent to which employment growth over the past month and the past year was concentrated among college graduates.

In part that's just what you expect from a weak labor market. When workers arescarce, you hire underqualified people and try to train them.

When workers are plentiful, you hire the most qualified people around and count yourself lucky but polarization in the American job market is nothing new and we see a continuation of a trend that was visible across the growth of the aughts.

UK Unemployment in graphics - Oct 2011

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate also increased to 8.1%.

The unemployment total for 16-24 year olds hit a record high of 991,000 in the quarter, a jobless rate of 21.3%.

The claimant count, the number of people out of work and claiming benefits, rose 17,500 to 1.6 million in September.

Other figures showed a record cut in the number of part-time workers, down by 175,000, and there was also a record reduction of 74,000 in the number of over-65s in employment.

 

Other figures showed a record cut in the number of part-time workers, down by 175,000, and there was also a record reduction of 74,000 in the number of over-65s in employment.

Job Losses, Unemployment and Depression

Job loss and unemployment are all too common in tehse troubled times and each can hit their victims hard.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
When people lose their jobs, they also lose a significant components of their identity, confidence and self-esteem. Along with this, comes a sudden disruption to their well-established daily routines and financial security.

Job loss and unemployment seriously undermines a person's feelings of self-worth, comfort, security and personal control. The first step on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Traumatic loss
In the current economic environment, job loss is a traumatic experience. People say they are terrified that they are not going to get a new job, what they mean is that their basic sense of what they are worth and who they are, has been seriously compromised.

The emotional impact of an individual experiencing a traumatic job loss, is akin to the death of a close family member, a divorce or a car accident: They feel defeated, demoralised, a sense of loss, disoriented, worthless, rejected and scared. Depression can, and does, easily follow.

Handling Rejection
Today's merciless job searches compound people's feelings of fear and worthlessness. There is little or no feedback and therefore no payback for all your efforts. Clearly, it is not a deliberate action, but this lack of feedback from recruiters and employers, leads job seekers to further doubt their value.

Depression
The emotional roller-coaster that job seekers experience, when looking for work is normal, but it can so easily trigger a paralysing depression. Mental health experts say negative, self-defeating thoughts can so easily take over the minds of job seekers and govern their behaviour.

People will indulge in coping mechanisms and in self-depricating behavour; over-eating or under-eating, sleeping too much or too little. When depression sets in, conducting a job search and crawling out of unemployment becomes even harder.

Conclusion
If looking for a new job is really getting you down, seek help from the experts. If you need help to find a new job then don't be afraid or too proud to accept it, from wherever you can.

Join a job club or seek advice from a professional agency. They will provide you with resources and good hard-won practical advice as well as keeping your morale and motivation high.

If your mood sinks into a depression, them you may be the last one to admit it but be honest with yourself. If you are becoming less active and have stopped enjoying other people's company or have stopped enjoying your favourite activities, seek professional help from your doctor.

You are not mad, crazy, useless or any of the other things that your 'head' tells you, you are simply in a period of unemployment during a global economic recession. Keep pitching and trying. Things will change and you will win through.

New York Wall Street: Unemployment is over 10% and rising

A crowd appears outside Federal Hall on Wall Street where President Obama was promoting regulatory reform.

The growing unemployment rates in New York is reaching record proportions and empty rhetoric is not solving the problem.

Are the New Yorkers waking up and becoming restless over the growing reality? How long will they wait patiently for definitive action?

The American people have high expectations that President Obama is their saviour and that he alone can lead them out of this wilderness but there are signs that the honeymoon is almost over and they want to see some real progress, now.

California's Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Point Since 1940 - NYTimes.com

California's Unemployment Rate Reaches Highest Point Since 1940 - NYTimes.com

California’s unemployment rate in August hit its highest point in nearly 70 years, starkly underscoring how the nation’s incipient economic recovery continues to elude millions of Americans looking for work.

While job losses continue to fall, the state's new unemployment rate — 12.2 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics - is far above the national average of 9.7 percent and places California, the nation's most-populous state, fourth behind Michigan, Nevada and Rhode Island.

Statistics kept by the state show California's unemployment rate was 14.7 percent in 1940, said Kevin Callori, a spokesman for the California Employment Development Department.While California has convulsed under the same blows as the rest of the country over the last two years, its exposure to both the foreclosure crisis and the slowdown in construction - an industry that has fueled growth in much of the state over the last decade - has been outsized.

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