The Perfect Fit

Layoffs and still more layoffs . . .

It’s been another difficult week in the advertising, marketing and graphic design community.  There are multiple agencies, marketing resources and design firms being forced to reduce their staffs.  I’m aware of Groove, ProWolfe Partners, Rodgers Townsend and Group360.  It’s possible (sadly, likely) there are others.

I know that every advertising and marketing President, CEO, COO, CFO (and their company leaders), along with their clients are all trying to figure out what’s next.  Clients are cutting back projects., or canceling them altogether.  Clients are asking agencies to do the same amount of work, for less money. 

The unfortunate but real result of that is that employees have to work harder for the same amount of pay . . . and they will, because they’re thankful that they’re still among the ranks of the employed.  If there’s any internal grumbling going on because of the additional work, I suggest they read my thoughts on “becoming indispensible . . . rather than vulnerable”.

One of the most unfortunate results of all the layoffs everywhere is that companies are having to cut workers who they value highly, but simply can no longer afford.  It’s one of the cold realities of business that under the prevailing circumstances, staffs are necessarily shrinking.  Employers are in some cases cutting those people who they were training for additional future responsibility.  They’re cutting employees that they worked hard and spent money to find and then train.  I know this, because for the first time people I’ve recruited into agencies, have had to be laid off.

I will say that I’ve never seen employers making such an effort to provide the most fair severance packages they possibly can.  Severance packages historically rarely existed for employees under Director level.  Not only am I seeing Company principals doing everything they possibly can from a strict monetary perspective, but they’re making an effort to help in other ways too (in every way they can). 

I know examples of employers letting the laid off employee continue to use the Company’s laptop, so there’s a possibility of generating freelance income.  I know that employers are working deals to help the laid off employee purchase the Blackberry they’ve been using at a reduced cost.  Employers are making sure that art files or other relevant (and non-proprietary) information is available for the creation of portfolios.  Employers are trying to refer those laid off employees to other sources of possible employment . . . my website for one (I’ve heard from several and I appreciate the trust that indicates) and/or outsourcing firms for advice and support.  They are willingly providing enthusiastic and in some cases, emotional recommendations of the person they just had to fire.

The Employee feels terrible.  Employers feel terrible.   The spouses and families of the employee feel terrible.  The reality is there is no choice.  Revenue gets reduced and responsible employers have to reduce staffing levels for the security of their other employees and the company itself.

This is a brutal responsibility that quickly reduces the “glamour” of owning a business to the grim reality of having to take someone’s livelihood away from them.  You’ve all heard “it’s business . . ." and it is.  Sadly.

Are You Indispensable Or Vulnerable?

I've had several calls over the past week from professionals concerned about the security of their existing job and wondering "what's out there"?  These calls are of course prompted by the economic uncertainty that surrounds us.  I know there are many, many more employees in the market who are wondering the same thing.  Many of them are spending valuable time at work investigating the possibilities . . . Many are becoming more vulnerable because of their lack of focus and contribution.  It's more obvious to those around you than you know.

"What's out there?"  Not much.  Very little.  There are of course some exceptions.

My advice is to not only keep your existing job, but starting performing better at it . . . right now.  Become indispensable.  If you're unsure what more you can be doing, I heartily recommend that you go talk with your boss.  Ask your boss if there's anything else you can be doing to contribute and help your company through these times.  Start showing up a little earlier and/or stay a little later.  Work harder.  Be (much) more focused on customer service, no matter what your job.  Make sure you do your part to insure that your company keeps their existing clients (customers) very happy.  Go out of your way to be better and help those around you to be better.  Quit spending so much time on Facebook . . . find a way to contribute.

I hear about how low morale is in agencies and client side corporations.  There is a justifiable concern in the marketing and advertising industry that jobs are being lost, clients are cutting back and there's an uncertainty in the air.  Stop poisoning your professional environment with negativity.  There's no place for it, it's counterproductive and makes you and your company vulnerable.  Tell any fellow employees who are perpetuating that low morale to "get over it"!  (If they don't like their job or their employer, they can always leave!)

Focus, work harder and earn that paycheck!  Business is still being conducted out there . . . many companies continue to thrive and some are even growing.  Do whatever you can to make sure your employer is one of those.  Become indispensable to the effort.

Every business owner and every employee at every level is worried about the economy and how it might affect their job.  This could be the worst economy we'll see in our professional lives.  Don't dwell on uncertainty and the negative . . . there's absolutely nothing we can do about the economic climate, aside from doing our job better.  Just focus on what you can control.  Become indispensable.

Our KC Client Needs a Web Designer . . . Now!

Are you secretly a Chiefs or Royals fan (or heaven forbid, a Jayhawk)?  Are you longing to play in the Plaza or carouse around Crown Center?  Wanna head west . . . ?

Our KC client has a critical need for a mid-level web designer.  Our client is a Fortune 500 company with a distinguished and highly respected brand.  They’re offering a sensational in-house creative opportunity for the web/interactive designer who’s looking for that career opportunity that includes stability and growth (yes, at the same time!).  It’s your chance to work with and contribute to  a superior web development team.

We need a designer who along with an elegant web design aesthetic, has command of type, illustration and photography for the web.  This designer will work closely with other creatives and developers to help design deep and wide websites.

We need candidates who have a related degree and three to five years of experience.  You must be fluent with HTML, Flash, ActionScript, Java, CS3, and have some writing skill.  The ability to create appropriate illustrations would be a significant plus.  We need someone who will understand our client’s brand, and help bring it to life on the web.  We expect premier candidates to have a powerful web presence showcasing their  work.  We’re (only) looking for candidates who have built their own website to present that work.

The strongest candidates will be able to demonstrate their ability to play well with others on the team and who have a positive attitude, are self motivated and only interested in doing the highest quality, most detailed work.

If this is sounding too good to be true so far, it gets better.  Our client is offering a substantial compensation package, including re-location assistance.  The benefit package is first rate.  It all contributes to making this a spectacular career opportunity for the qualified candidate.

If you’re interested, please upload your resume at our Bishop Partners' website, and then send us an email with a link to your website to [email protected] as soon as possible. 

Find Your Perfect Fit For A Marketing Job

I had the opportunity to meet with a friend of a friend this morning, to see if I might be able to help his networking efforts in search of his next career opportunity.  As a St. Louis Marketing Headhunter, I value the opportunity to help friends and/or colleagues in whatever way I can.  As I was talking with him this morning, I realized I can help you as well.

This gentleman is already doing a very good job, of looking for a job.  He realizes it's a full time effort, and he's doing it the "right way", by networking like crazy.  He has an excellent resume, and a terrific attitude . . . two of the major ingredients in support of that marketing job search.

As we talked, I was able to help him find ways to fine tune his efforts.  We talked about LinkedIn and the value it has.  He can improve his presence on LinkedIn, which will have at least two direct benefits . . . It will allow him to research those companies he's interested in working for (he has a very good idea of just who his target companies are, from a demographic perspective) and he will be able to better find warm introductions to those prospective employers.

He's a smart guy, who is capable of researching and identifying those companies who might best be able to use his skills and experience.  He's also going to identify those companies that he'd like to work for (a novel idea that surprisingly few people utilize). Once those companies are identified, he can look at their "Careers" section to see if they're looking for any positions that fit his interests and background.  I encouraged him to identify as many of those companies that he might like to work for as possible . . . like 40 or 50!

Here's the trick!  There's a website out there called "Watch That Page".  It is a sensational tool, in that it allows you to bookmark any page on the web for free.  When the content of that page changes, if you've bookmarked it with Watch That Page, you'll be immediately notified of the change(s) by email!  Very, very cool.

I encourage you to do the same thing.  Get as proactive as possible with your job searching efforts.  Don't just wait around.  The best advice . . . network as hard as you can.

When the time comes that you've identified an opportunity and been invited into that first interview, check out some articles on my website that I hope will be of value to you.

REBUS at TOKY and Marketing For The Community

The February REBUS event was hosted by TOKY Branding and Design, in their new offices.  For the second month in a row, there were over 50 attendees at the event.  The TOKY staff collaborated and delivered a 'hands on" event that not only celebrated the virtues of creatively contributing to the community we live in, but utilized REBUS to contribute over 50 hand made Valentines for a local charity.

Eric Thoelke, Jeff Insco and others TOKY staffers proudly showed a new way to think about an old topic (using marketing for the benefit of the community).  They presented some of their work over the past year for area charities, non-profits and the St. Louis Community.  Projects like "Art Fix" an art auction benefiting Rebuilding Together, "Art the Vote" a Statewide get out the vote effort, and their efforts for "A Tasteful Affair" for St. Louis' Food Outreach, of which the REBUS Valentines were a contribution.  Cjeck out some of those Valentines . . . they're really pretty impressive!

The TOKY presentation was unusual and refreshing because they didn't talk about their highly regarded work for clients.  Instead, by showing how effective creative marketing can be for those causes of interest and social responsibility, they gave every attendee something to think about.  Frankly, TOKY did more than that.  I think they inspired the attendees to find ways to contribute to those charities and non-profits of interest to themselves and/or their employers.  It was exciting.  It was beyond the normal response to REBUS hosts.

The presentation showed how powerful strategic thinking, backed up by powerful creative can positively effect outcomes . . . whether for a national client brand, or the neighborhood non-profit.  The effort can be relatively inexpensive, yet powerfully effective.  In short, there are no excuses for more agencies and individual creatives to find ways to give back.

The pro bono arm of REBUS, fREBUS is doing just that in its own way.  Over the past two years, fREBUS has utilized the volunteer efforts of almost 60 young professionals to give back over $50,000.00 in deliverables to St. Louis non-profits.  Check out fREBUS to find out more, and perhaps contribute.  The effort to help support St. Louis non-profits is continuing, and growing!

The next REBUS event will be held at Rob Grimm Photography on Tuesday evening March 10th, starting at 6:00 PM.  The topic will be "What To Expect When You are Expecting A Photo Shoot".  I hope to see you there!