What a Difference a Year Makes

Although finding a job has gotten harder lately, here are some strategies 
for remaining a hot prospect in a cold economy.

By Helen Bond

When Kyle Kruse landed his spring internship with a giant 
telecommunications firm he thought he was set. The twenty-seven-year-old 
information technology business analyst, who earned his MBA from UTD in 
August 2001, had all but secured a permanent position with the company 
after graduation when layoffs suddenly changed his prospects. The 
softening economy also hobbled a promising position from a major 
consulting firm. Ultimately, Mr. Kruse's trip back to his alma mater's 
Career Services Center gave him a new focus on his background. That 
background, which also included finance, helped him land a job as a 
financial specialist at Verizon Communications.

What a difference a year can make. While last year's high-tech boom and 
hiring bonanza dazzled Wall Street, a general economic slowdown and poor 
corporate earnings now have companies cutting the fat. The result is a 
tight and competitive job picture, says Judy Guyer, director of the UTD 
School of Management's Career Services Center. 

"It is definitely a tough job market now," says Ms. Guyer. "New graduates 
must compete with the laid-off workforce, often individuals with 
experience and good skills."

But don't despair. The opportunities are still out there, says Ms. Guyer 
and other career specialists; it just may take more work to seize them.

Be prepared to add value

"What has happened is that we have gone through eight to nine years of it 
being a seller's market, where the employee felt they had all the 
leverage," says Robert Ressler, a partner with Arthur Andersen in Dallas. 
"Today, that has changed very rapidly. The challenge for the graduate with 
a management degree is they have to be far more flexible to differentiate 
themselves from others and to demonstrate to employers that they can add 
value."

In Mr. Kruse's case, he attended UTD to launch a management information 
systems career. Last year, he added a finance concentration after company 
managers recommended that combining this business knowledge with his 
technology expertise would make him more promotable. While Mr. Kruse was 
not willing to settle for just any job to meet his goal of becoming a 
senior level manager of a major company, he believes his flexibility 
counted when it came to securing his new position.

"I am convinced that if I hadn't been available to work in two different 
industries, then I would not have gotten my job," says Mr. Kruse.

Diversify your talents to conquer cutbacks

So where are the jobs? Top talent is still in demand in almost all 
business sectors, note career specialists. But consider accounting and 
finance functions, which roll on in good and bad economic times, making 
these areas of continued job growth.

"I think all companies take a closer look at their operations in tough 
times, which often requires an ability to analyze the financial stats and 
accounting data - hence the demand for those students, both in healthy 
companies and in firms that have cutbacks," says Ms. Guyer. "Finance grads 
are also in demand in the consumer finance sector, working with the 
public. That area of the economy still shows strength."

Management-degree holders also have a leg up on other job seekers because 
they are often individuals who have developed a variety of management 
skills and knowledge. This makes MBA graduates business problem solvers -
skills that can often be transferred to other business and industry 
sectors with stronger employment, says Ms. Guyer.

And, despite the high-tech gloom and doom, you would be shortsighted to 
shun this cyclical industry, says Ken Meyers, vice president of human 
resources at Ericsson North America in Plano and a member of the UTD 
School of Management's Advisory Council.

"I'm not hiring, but I am recruiting," says Mr. Meyers. "This is a 
competitive industry that will turn around, and I have to be prepared."

Think again: internships and experience still count

The softening economy also means some companies are changing their 
candidate strategy. Campus interviews for some companies, particularly 
surviving dot.coms, have been scaled back in exchange for an increased use 
of the Internet to cull through résumés and interview only those people 
who meet their criteria, says Steve Perkins, PhD, assistant dean and 
director of the Cohort MBA Program.

The foot in the door still often comes through face time. While Mr. 
Kruse's internship didn't pan out to a full-time position, career experts 
emphasize that typically, work experience and internships are critical 
because they make you a "known commodity."

"Even though there is a reduction in hiring - I'm still hiring," says Mr. 
Ressler, who heads up Arthur Andersen's Southwest Region Human 
Resources/Change. "I'm going to hire people who participate in an 
internship because I've seen them work."

And when times get difficult, the old-fashioned network becomes more 
important than ever, say job search experts.

"Most companies are hiring on recommendations from existing employees," 
says Mr. Ressler, who is also a member of the SOM Advisory Council.

David Lipsitz, who earned his MBA from UTD in December, spent three months 
last year - when opportunities were admittedly more plentiful - working 
his network, the Internet, and the Career Services Center. Ultimately, he 
e-mailed his résumé to a friend at Alcatel USA who turned the information 
over to the company's database. Mr. Lipsitz's qualifications took it from 
there.

"Go after every avenue and be open to any options; I certainly was," says 
Mr. Lipsitz, a business project analyst for the network solutions company 
in Plano.

Increasing your employment avenues not only means drafting the assistance 
of your friends and family but also thinking about your job search in a 
new way.

"Try going to meetings of different organizations than you have been to 
before in order to get new ideas," Dr. Perkins says. "Go learn what is 
happening in biotechnology if you have been in wireless, for instance."

Take charge and mingle

In this environment where management layers may have been pared through 
layoffs, companies are hiring managers who are leaders.

In Mr. Meyers' case, he looks for managers who have the "technical smarts" 
but also understand the market, can communicate the company's goals and 
strategies, and take the company to business opportunities.

These are lessons Mr. Kruse learned quickly. He advises fellow students 
who are searching for jobs to brush up on leadership and social skills.

"Luckily, I had management experience, and I know it helped me a lot," 
says Mr. Kruse. "My feeling is that when a company hires a new graduate, 
the firm has a pretty good idea what types of skills and knowledge they 
are getting from the student, but they don't know what kind of person you 
are. That is often what they want to know in the interview."

And the job goes to... What many companies apparently discovered in such 
interviews were SOM students they wanted to hire. For, "even in this tough 
economy, [the majority] of our [spring 2001] grads had secured employment 
by the time of graduation," says Career Services Director Judy Guyer.

Besides the suggestions already discussed, one indirect way to boost these 
figures as well as enhance the value of an SOM degree, Ms. Guyer says, is 
for alumni to update or inform SOM's Career Services Center of their 
status after graduation. They also should respond to surveys and 
statistical information that SOM and UTD request.

"Students and alumni could help us enormously if they understood that this 
data is critical to building UTD's institutional profile - information 
demanded by the organizations that publish national reviews and rankings 
of universities," she says emphatically. "We would love to get more of our 
alumni to tell us where they are employed!" 


Job Search Tips for the Downturn

By Helen Bond
 

When the job market is tight, finding the right position requires 
management graduates to have a focused job search plan and to be 
flexible. Consider these tips from Judy Guyer, director of the UTD School 
of Management's Career Services Center (at left).

* Carefully evaluate your background for "transferable skills"- those that 
could transfer to other career areas, such as communication skills, 
specific knowledge in management techniques, investigative talents, and 
analytical abilities. 

*  Explore your options. Consider related fields and skills that will 
diversify and broaden your abilities but also better prepare you to 
succeed in your original career direction. 

*  Spruce up your résumé. Job seekers should scrutinize their résumé to 
avoid an overload of information specific to their prior industry or 
interest. 

*  Market yourself. In these times, you need to communicate and be able to 
persuade your evaluators of your worth. You are better at this when you 
have a clear and focused idea of what you do best. Do any self-evaluation 
before the search process. 

*  Prepare for a financial change. Job seekers may need to consider a 
lower salary than they originally anticipated. Prepare for the 
possibility, and you may be able to accept a job that offers terrific 
growth opportunities but doesn't initially meet your budget.

*  Don't forget the total package. Know business etiquette, keep yourself 
fit, and be immaculate in your appearance and dress. "You never have a 
second chance to make a first impression," says Ms. Guyer.