I can't get into the O: drive!
November 8, 2007 3:38 PM Subscribe
I work for a world-wide electronics manufacturer--OEM, medical devices, design, test, etc.
Business is so s-l-o-w. They have let temps go, they are cleaning house of the slackers, rumors of layoff abound. What is the current situation in the business of electronics, and more importantly, what should I be looking at in terms of "yep, you might be next on the list"? My department meetings consist of charts galore--backlog, inventory, sales, projections--the usual Powerpoint presentation. Instead of worrying about who's bringing the donuts, to what should I really be paying attention?
Business is so s-l-o-w. They have let temps go, they are cleaning house of the slackers, rumors of layoff abound. What is the current situation in the business of electronics, and more importantly, what should I be looking at in terms of "yep, you might be next on the list"? My department meetings consist of charts galore--backlog, inventory, sales, projections--the usual Powerpoint presentation. Instead of worrying about who's bringing the donuts, to what should I really be paying attention?
I've been laid off four times, and sometimes you can see it coming; sometimes you can't. So just assume the worst.
My group at work has a planned reduction in the near future. I simply put my resume on Monster.com and got several very solid contacts for other positions, both contract and direct. I personally like working with headhunters/recruiters; they have been a lot of help both in terms of finding employment and polishing the turd that is my resume.
When I am contacted concerning a job, I try to weed out the automated response contacts and try to hook up with a specific person at a given company; this means to get a name (first name and last name) when talking on the phone, and asking for specific greetings in any email communications (I told them to put "real person" in the subject line of an email to distinguish them from recruiterbots).
It helps if you can relocate when you're in this situation; if the local market is getting several dozen/hundred/thousand workers dumped into it, you will be competing with a lot of similarly qualified people for the small handful of jobs in the area.
In my case, things worked out; I found a group within my company doing similar work and more budget, and am currently transitioning over to it. Yet... I did get a lot of good leads and it's almost a pity I won't be following up on them. Even if you don't get let go, it's good to do a job search once in a while to have people tell you what your strengths are with respect to what's in demand.
posted by Doohickie at 5:14 PM on November 8, 2007
My group at work has a planned reduction in the near future. I simply put my resume on Monster.com and got several very solid contacts for other positions, both contract and direct. I personally like working with headhunters/recruiters; they have been a lot of help both in terms of finding employment and polishing the turd that is my resume.
When I am contacted concerning a job, I try to weed out the automated response contacts and try to hook up with a specific person at a given company; this means to get a name (first name and last name) when talking on the phone, and asking for specific greetings in any email communications (I told them to put "real person" in the subject line of an email to distinguish them from recruiterbots).
It helps if you can relocate when you're in this situation; if the local market is getting several dozen/hundred/thousand workers dumped into it, you will be competing with a lot of similarly qualified people for the small handful of jobs in the area.
In my case, things worked out; I found a group within my company doing similar work and more budget, and am currently transitioning over to it. Yet... I did get a lot of good leads and it's almost a pity I won't be following up on them. Even if you don't get let go, it's good to do a job search once in a while to have people tell you what your strengths are with respect to what's in demand.
posted by Doohickie at 5:14 PM on November 8, 2007
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posted by restless_nomad at 3:41 PM on November 8, 2007