With the softening of the economy, many workers are unsure what expectations they should have when searching for a new job or seeking a promotion or raise within their current company. This question plagues employees of all ages and levels of experience as they navigate the recession.

Several studies have been conducted in recent years, following new graduates and laid off employees to see how they have fared in this economy. Below are some results of these studies to help you know how high you should reasonably set your standards as you navigate the new economy.

Wages

Salary is the first thing in many peoples’ minds when it comes to a job offer. When the economy is slow, be prepared to make less than you may have made in previous positions. This is what many Americans who have fallen victim to lay-offs have experienced.

As reported by the New York Times, a study conducted by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers recently followed Americans who were unemployed in August of 2009; these Americans were interviewed at the beginning of the study and then contacted again in November 2010. During the November interviews, it was found that of the one-third who found replacement jobs, 41 percent had switched into a new career field. Seventy percent of those who moved to new fields took a cut in pay and 45 percent who remained in the same career field also took a pay cut.

Employees new in the workforce have also been affected by lower wages. According to a news release issued by Rutgers University, a survey of 571 graduates from four-year colleges and universities from the classes of 2006 to 2010 shows that young Americans have experienced increasing difficulties securing jobs as the economy entered into the recession. The study  found that those who entered the workforce in 2009-10 had starting salaries that were 10 percent less than their counterparts who entered the workforce in 2006 and 2007.

Of course, you don’t have to settle for a lower paying job. You will just want to be realistic with your expectations on how long it will take to find the position that is willing to pay the amount that you seek. You may also want to explore increasing your formal education through a degree or certification program.

Benefits

Benefits have also taken a hit during the recession. As was found by the study conducted by the John J. Heldrich Center, 29 percent of the tracked employees took a reduction in benefits when they secured a new job. And, those who had to switch careers to secure a new job were more likely to be affected by a decrease in benefits; as 46 percent of these workers had benefits cut compared with the 29 percent of workers who stayed in the same career.

Many job seekers are surprised when they discover that many companies have decreased the benefits they offer to their employees. Perhaps even more surprising is the amount of money these benefits cost when a consumer is asked to provide them on their own.  Benefits such as health insurance, life insurance and 401K plans can add up to an additional 20 – 30 percent in terms of salary.

When looking for a new job, keep the expense of benefits in mind. If you are deciding between two job offers, the better offer may be the one that has a lower salary but more complete benefits!

Living standards

With cuts being seen in wages and benefits, many banks have been tightening their standards when it comes to extending credit. Many consumers have even seen their credit limits suddenly decrease even when they have been on time with their payments. This has been a wake-up call for many consumers who have slipped into the habit of relying on credit cards to keep up with their monthly bills.

As a result, many individuals, even with seemingly lucrative careers, have tightened their habits to cut back on their spending. This has helped them position themselves so they are prepared if their pay is cut or benefits are decreased.

The tightening of credit doesn’t mean that none will be available to you. Instead, Jamie Scott from CreditDonkey recommends you focus on establishing healthy credit habits so you can build the best possible credit score. Positive habits include paying your credit card and other loan payments in full each and every month. Another way to increase your credit score is to keep your spending in check so that your balance is less than 35 percent of your credit card limit.

How do you come across to others?

Displaying confidence during your job searches and job interviews specifically is something that can make or break you depending on how you come across. Even the littlest thing can cost you jobs even if you’re unaware of it.

I recall one candidate I was working with (a sales manager) losing out on a job opportunity because he let out a sigh when he sat in the chair for the interview in front of the HR manager who was handling the first interview. She had already felt (as later found out) that he might be too experienced for the job (i.e. a nice way of saying too old) and when he let out the sign – almost like he was tired or was sitting down to relax – it confirmed in the HR manager’s mind that he was not the energetic person they were looking for.

A bit of an overreaction by the HR manager?

Perhaps.

But it did cost the candidate a chance at moving on in the process and the job interview was pretty much sunk before it really began.

When it comes to confidence, it can really show during the interview process and so can a lack thereof. Having a lack of confidence costs people jobs and in many cases they’re probably not even aware of it. In the above-mentioned case, it wasn’t actually a lack of confidence that sunk him but rather something else that he wasn’t even aware of and the result was the same: he didn’t get the job.

My experience

When I think about times in my career when my confidence was at an all-time low, the first thought that comes to mind is when I was laid off for the first time. I’ve been laid off twice for those keeping score at home. The first time, I worked for a company that went bankrupt so everyone was put out work. I worked in sales at the time so while I was aware of the (lack of) revenue coming into the company it was still a shock when I arrived that fateful morning to see a note going up on the office door that we were closed for the day (longer as it turned out) and then 30 minutes later getting a talk from the receiver who had been hired to handle the bankruptcy proceedings. Not a great feeling in case you haven’t had the pleasure of going through it before.

Getting laid off led me to a wide range of emotions and certainly unhappiness was one of them. As I found it difficult to find a new job in sales that was similar to the level I’d achieved at this job I’d just lost, I’d have to say that a lack of confidence crept into my head as I started to wonder if I’d have to take a step back before I took a step forward, and end up taking a less-than-desirable job just to get back into the workforce.

That leads to another feeling you might get and that’s desperation which is about as equally as desirable from a hiring manager’s perspective as a lack of confidence. But when you’re struggling and things aren’t going right, you lose your confidence and might start getting desperate at the same time, applying for jobs that are beneath where you should be and perhaps considering job offers you’d have turned down months earlier.

It’s funny how your perspective can shift when things in your life change and suddenly something that seemed undesirable earlier is now something you’d actually consider accepting…

So what can you do to remain positive and avoid bringing your outside issues into your job searches and into your job interviews specifically?

As hard as it can be sometimes, you really do have to be ready to leave stuff outside and enter job interviews with your positive side showing. Think about it from the hiring manager’s perspective: they expect you to be on your best behavior and showing your best side and if you’re not doing it during the job interview, they’ll be wondering what you’ll be like once you get the job and the rest of you is on display.

Even outside my work life I can think of situations where I’ve turned a lack of confidence around and accomplished something after previously convincing myself that I just couldn’t do it. Last year I changed three toilets in my house and replaced the old ones with the newer style dual flush ones. I took the old toilets out completely and installed the new ones myself. This was after convincing myself that I probably should cal a plumber and pay them $100-$150 just to show up and then pay them on top of that to actually do the work. This great feeling of accomplishment has led me to fix other stuff and get other things done around the house, things that I’d previously thought about paying other people to do for me.

Since then, I’ve also replaced several light sockets in the house and just this past weekend, I replaced a faulty light switch and also took out one of the toilets I had previously installed as I thought there was a problem (it turns out there was no problem) and then reinstalled it again. I also bought some new shades that I’m going to install to replace in our kitchen. At the beginning of winter I bought an impact wrench so I can change the tires on our cars between the all seasons and winter tires instead of paying the garage to do it at about $50 per car twice each year.

So what does all this mean? Has it helped me in my career in a direct way?

I’m not sure to be honest. One thing that it has done though is get to me to think about all those times where I thought I couldn’t do something and how now I just go and do it.

So in that regard, it probably has helped me. And it’s saved me some money too as I don’t simply pick up the phone and pay someone to help me anymore.

Imagine how improving your confidence level could help you in different areas of your life and your career?

What my friend does

When I think of how to handle the times when you’re feeling less confident due to other issues in your life, I think of a friend of mine who is currently going through an extended out of work experience going on 4 months now since he was laid off last year, something he had never experienced before. I know he’s getting depressed but it seems that he’s managed to avoid bringing this feeling into the job interviews he’s had since he was laid off. He knows that he has to do his best during the interviews and has to forget about the other stuff even just for that period of time.

One of the things that he told me is that he’s actually learned a few things since being laid off and being out of work for this period of time and feels that while he’d obviously much rather be working, the experience has made him a better person. Among other things, he has realized that:

1. Going from job to job isn’t always going to happen and that sometimes we might have to work a bit to get a new job when one doesn’t suddenly fall into our lap as they have in the past.

2. It’s important to make the best out of the job opportunities that he has interviewed for. Make sure you do your best and show them your positive side, not the one that is depressed or upset about your current situation.

3. You won’t always like every job you interview for and at some point you’ll have to figure out whether any job is better than no job. In his last interview for a job he didn’t get, my friend wasn’t as upset as he thought he might be because he realized it probably wasn’t the best job for him. He wants to work again but it has to be the right situation and he’s not desperate. Not yet anyways.

4. It’s important to take care of your money and make sure that you save for times like this. He has reduced his spending over the past few months and while he’d like to be doing some fun things on the side, he realizes that reality dictates that he tighten the purse strings a bit at least for the time being.

How about you? What have you learned during times of adversity that have tested your confidence level?

Having gaps in employment is a common problem that people face these days as the global economic downturn continues and in many parts, the job market hasn’t really recovered enough to make a difference.

When I first got into the IT recruitment business in 2000 the market was chugging along although the fact that Y2K had passed without much fanfare meant than many companies had already (over)spent their IT budget and many weren’t hiring much at that time.

Having said that, most people were working and when you came across someone who was out of work for an extended period of time, the truth was that we immediately wondered what was wrong with that person i.e. why haven’t they been able to find a new job?

Fast forward a year and by the end of 2001 when things had noticeably slowed down and September 11 had really brought things to a halt, suddenly we were seeing many job searchers who were out of work – some for many months on end – so it wasn’t so much of a surprise. Hiring manager went from asking us “why is this person out of work” to simply assuming they’d been laid off and didn’t seem to make a big deal out of it as they had previously done.

In fact I can recall a few cases when a hiring manager wanted to hire someone quickly and had actually suggested that we only send them resumes of people who were out of work, figuring that they could start the job quicker than someone who was employed since the employed person would need to give several weeks notice and might be pickier than someone who was out of a job!

Given that the global economic downturn has gone on for around 2 years now depending on where you live, chances are you might have lost a job and might have a gap in your resume.

What should you do about a gap in your resume?

In my experience the best thing you can do is be up front and state exactly what has happened, whether in your cover letter and/or in your resume. In recruitment and in staffing, when you see someone who seems to be hiding something, your warning bells tend to go off and you question what else this person is hiding. When someone has gaps in their resume with no explanation you tend to move onto the next person.

When you proactively state your situation honestly I tend to give this person the benefit of the doubt, certainly moreso than someone who appears to be leaving things out of their resume and hoping that the reader won’t notice.

I had a visitor to this site email and ask me if it is a good idea to look for a new job in this economy (their words).

In general terms, I always think it’s a good idea to keep an open mind when it comes to your career and to always have your resume updated and ready (just in case…). These days it’s hard to tell when you might need to find a new job if something you were not anticipating happens and you’re out of a job.

I’ve been laid off twice in my career and in the first case, I didn’t really see it coming. In the second instance, it didn’t surprise me that it happened…but it did surprise me when it happened. If that makes sense.

In recruitment, I remember hearing a well-known recruiter saying that there is not such thing as a good economy or a bad economy, there is just the economy. It is what it is and in any period in time, someone is hiring for someone somewhere. Even in economic downturns there are companies who need to get new staff.

As we’re approaching the end of September with the Christmas period now less than 3 months away, certain companies like retailers and restaurants are probably already thinking about staffing requirements for the busy holiday period. This might be an example of a seasonal spike in staffing but it’s a spike nonetheless.

Companies tend to hire when they need someone regardless of whether it’s Christmas time or the middle of summer or any other period where you might expect hiring to stop. Hiring might slow down but it tends not to stop completely. It just might take a bit longer and involve a bit more work than you otherwise have expected to find a new job, that’s all.

So, is it a good idea to look for a new job in this economy?

If you feel it’s time to move on and that a better job is in your sights, it might very well be a great time to look for a new job regardless of how the economy is performing overall. Certainly you want to ensure you move for the right reasons and don’t leave a good opportunity for a worse one or a bad situation for another bad one.

Sometimes we can get into a position at work where we feel very comfortable and would be quite happy to stay in this role, with this company and keep things the way they are. Not everyone wants to climb the corporate ladder and some people find a position they are comfortable with an dare happy to leave it at that.

The problem these days is the same problem that has always existed when you work for someone else: there will always be decisions made that affect you that you have no control over.

Companies get sold.

Businesses go out of business.

People get laid off.

Jobs get moved to other countries.

Positions become redundant with new technology.

There are lots of reasons why getting too comfortable can cause you grief when suddenly the rug gets pulled out from underneath you and you weren’t expecting it (when is it every expected!?)

Back in 2000, I got laid off when the company I was working for went out of business. I worked in sales and should have seen it coming since we weren’t making enough money to stay afloat but I really figured things would turn around and that in the meantime the owners would have enough money and patience to keep funding us until that day came.

They didn’t.

They pulled the plug and about 30 of us lost our jobs.

I had actually thought about looking for a new job as I was getting a bit bored with the job but then my sales really picked up and suddenly I was happy again! Things were going really well for me personally for a few months and then suddenly, I was out of a job and was forced to look for a new one.

Since then I’ve become a big fan of cliches like “expect the unexpected” and “the only constant is change.”

In this case, I’d been with the company for 1.5 years and had just started getting comfortable. I know a guy who’d been with the same company for over 20 years, the only company he’d ever worked for in fact. He recently changed jobs to do something different and because his old employer had experienced a slowdown that had affected him personally since he was only working a few days a week.

I’m sure over the past 20 years he’d thought many times that this was the company he was going to retire with. At some point over the past year or so, it must have dawned on him that he needed to do something different and do something he may not have done in 20 years: search for a new job.

Getting comfortable at a job is great if you’re happy with what you do and the people you work with but as long as you’re working for someone else, your ultimate fate is always in someone else’s hands.

I’ve been laid off twice in my career. The first time was when I was working with a company that went bankrupt. I was coming into the office one morning and found our manager taping a note on the door that said “All classes are canceled today.” We were a computer training company, hence the reference to classes.

As we made eye contact, I could tell she wasn’t very happy so I just said “should I bother unpacking my lunch?” to which she replied “I’ll be making an announcement shortly.”

I didn’t bother unpacking my lunch that day. About 30 minutes after I arrived and the other staff had as well, the owner of the company appeared (he lived out of state) along with a bankruptcy agent who informed us that the company was filing for bankruptcy and that effective immediately, we were all out of work. He kindly asked us to pack up our stuff and asked that we leave the office within the next 30 minutes, so that’s what we did.

I recall the sight of us all leaving the office at about 9:45am that day, boxes and bags in hand. I remember thinking that everyone that saw me probably knew I’d been laid off since I was carrying all my stuff with me. It reminded me of the movies where you see someone losing their job and then seeing them leave the office with all their belongings in paper banking boxes.

I knew business had been slow but I figured that things would pick up and that owner would keep pumping in money until that day came.

Obviously that’s not what happened.

I got back to my condo and wondered what I was going to do next. Then I started wondering how I was going to even figure out what to do next.

The second time I got laid off, I was part of a bigger downsizing along with other staff. At the time I was working for an Internet-based company and the reality was that we were becoming a staff-heavy company competing with a lot of mom and pop shops being run out of their basement with little to no overhead.

In both cases, the circumstances were different but the result was the same.

Getting laid off can be a really demotivating, upsetting, devastating experience. That’s especially true when the economy is tough and jobs are scarce as they are these days in many industries and regions.

To read some past entries on firings, layoffs and downsizings, click here.