Is recession an opportunity?

Falling rupee and rising opportunity

Prima facie, Recession is not an interesting era for job seekers. This period, is most of the times attributed by a general slowdown in business sentiments/activities, loss of jobs, rise in rupee value and devastation of investor interest. Can life get any worse?

However, I would like to recall the ‘half full and half empty’ perspective. While the entire world is mourning about the slump, I would like to throw light on the rising wave for job seekers. There is a huge demand for 'gamechangers'!

No, it is not a great time for job seekers as they are do not see fat salaries I see it as lack of gap fillers; who can match the job seeker with the job, like Cinderella with her glass shoe. With this analogy, you can smell the opportunity close to you. However, let me elaborate why this is doable.

My focus is on a country like India where there is abundant supply of job seekers -compared to the demand presently for people with a certain set of skillsets & mindset . With this huge gap it is quite evident that  one needs to change the way one is looking for an opportunity.
 

Marketing is key to turning the tables

There is a huge opportunity for those in the service sector, focussed on training and bringing policies to India Inc  & ensure availabity of ‘market ready candidates’ in India. This is applicable to sectors, right from the agricultural to tertiary sectors.

Here are a few things I feel job seekers should tune into:

Candidates marketing themselves: Job seekers need to master the art of selling personal brand at such grim times. In this digital era, candidates should be using social media platforms  and other networking websites to get in touch with those who hunting for talent.

With the launch of social tools, employers would also find the task of screening and recruitment a lot easier than before. Apart, from working towards scoring high in exams and bagging degrees, final year graduates should start exploring networks and associations relevant to their course and subsequent profession.

Rise in entrepreneurship: Innovation and entrepreneurship is still a struggling trend in India. Graduates should consider entrepreneurship as one of the career options in their field of study.Accelerators and incubation centers are prevalent in urban and tier II cities. A couple of internships would also help orient one-self with the real time expectations at the work place.

Choose the right consultant: While freshers and mid-career job aspirants can bank on the above options, employers seeking for leading roles and executives seeking for a career leap should be extremely picky in choosing their recruitment consultant. An experienced consultant would be a good bet  to help  with the insights..and a pulse on the hiring mood.

During recession, industries always have requirement to hire someone who can help them with innovative and turnaround solutions. More about it..in the next post!