The depression was a horrible time. Unemployment at 25% and no Unemployment Insurance.
The economy had just turned from the Roaring Twenties where money and work was plentiful.
There was a massive change in the way people lived due to technology. The life of a twenty year was significantly different than the life of a 40 year old.
In fact, there are many similarities to the job hunting environment of today.
In this series of articles, I want to demonstrate to you, that things are haven’t changed that much. The tactics used by successful job hunters in the 1930′s will work just as well today.
Another example from “Pick Your Job And Land It!” (described in Tip 4) of people who found work in the Depression is that of John Shaffer.
According to the authors, Shaffer didn’t seem to have any assets besides a pair of hands.
Despite a college degree, Shaffer thought the only jobs available to him would be like the retail clerk and food merchandising positions he had held after college.
(A college grad who felt doomed to a life of dead-end jobs. Know anybody like that?)
However, after thoroughly analyzing his work history with friends and business acquaintances, “[Shaffer] began to appreciate that his two jobs had been full of unusual opportunities.
He began to see the fundamentals underlying his experience and to realize he had gained an insight into selling problems which would be of value to other firms,” write the authors.
In the retail job, Shaffer “had observed the effect of advertising, merchandising, and counter display on the sales of high-grade merchandise,” according to the authors, while at the food manufacturer, he had seen how advertising had greatly improved product sales.
After analyzing his experience, Shaffer realized that his work had exposed him to effective marketing that went beyond the job titles of “clerk” or “merchandiser.” As a result, Shaffer was able to retell the story of his employment in a way that interested employers — and got him a better, higher-paying job.
Here are the key paragraphs from his winning cover letter, written circa 1936:
“During the past two and a half years I have been with a large food concern marketing a staple food product in a highly competitive field. At first, this was sold primarily on a price appeal. Then followed a comprehensive advertising and point of sale program designed to enable the retailer to maintain price and so increase profits. As a result, I have seen the sales curve of this company rise steadily.
“My particular job, which I sill hold, has been to contact several thousand dealers in Manhattan, put up display material, and establish good will by merchandising the consumer advertising and price policy.
“Prior to this I spent six months with Strauch’s, where I observed how advertising and display, coupled with keen sales psychology, effectively moved quality merchandise ….”
Your takeaway lesson:
What success stories have you observed in past jobs that could help future employers?
Note that verb — observed. Anyone can learn by watching, if they’re looking for lessons.
What have you learned?
Now. This is where you need outside help.
Simply put, you WILL underestimate the value of your experience if you analyze it yourself — it’s like trying to describe the back of your head without a mirror.
Get a mirror, or, in this case, get a friend or three who will sit down over coffee and ask you about exactly what you’ve observed and what you’ve learned in every job you’ve held.
Then, write it all on paper, as specifically and extensively as possible.
When you do this, you’ll unearth hidden assets that can appeal to employers. Doing so got people hired in the Great Depression, when unemployment ran as high as 25%. And it can get you hired now, when the job market isn’t half as bad.
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This job hunting post was adapted from content provided to by my good friends Kevin Donlin and David Perry, co-creators of the Guerrilla Job Search System.
Finding a job is hard, most people don’t know how to do it, and the results are months of needless waiting.
I recommend that you check The Guerrilla Job Search System to get a job and stop waiting.
Click here to understand how the Guerrilla Job Search System can shorten your job search significantly.
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