There is a lot of great advice about finding a job.

Recently, I found myself with a job opening and I wanted to share what got my attention.

It’s not surprising, that a lot of what candidates did, that worked for me, was putting in the effort. Effort to stand out from the crowd.

It went something like this:

Flattery and personal compliments got you an interview.

Now I’m pretty sure if it was full on brown nosing, it would have backfired. I would never want an Eddie Haskell on my team,

but..

comments like “I want to work for someone like you“, and “you seem like a fun executive to work for” — worked.

Shallow… ?

Sure, but show me someone who wouldn’t like to talk to a candidate who had a real interest in being on their team. That’s not to say I granted interviews based exclusively on flattery. Only that if you were in a gray area, informed flattery gave you a noticeable edge.

Having a plan how you could help me, got you on the short list.

Showing how you could help me, got me wanting to hire you. Those who went the extra mile to show me that they had done the research and taken the effort to decide how they could do the job — got my attention. I was truly amazed how many people came to an interview and expected me to do all the work. They wanted me to explain the job, the market, how everything worked and to babysit them through the entire process. Put a candidate who is all about taking next to a candidate who is about giving and the giver wins every time.

So my practical suggestion is do your homework. Know the market, the team and the opportunity. Even if you don’t or can’t really know, show that you made some effort to find out. Those candidates who guessed and were wrong, were still seen more favorably, than those who didn’t.

There are candidates who are willing to make an effort and if it’s not you they will be taking your job.

With the ill-effects of the recession fading away, employers are creating new job opportunities and looking for talent to fill positions. While finding new recruits should not be difficult, employers must focus on finding the right people for the job. More importantly, they must put in place strategies to ensure that they can retain their new recruits.

Here are few tips:

Hire right talent
Start on the right foot. Rather than make the mistake of hiring the wrong candidate to meet a target, focus on hiring the the right people. If you outsource your hiring requirements to an external agency, be clear and uncompromising about job descriptions and eligibility criteria. It’s better to delay hiring than hire the wrong person for the job.

Strong team player
While interviewing candidates for the job, look beyond the CV. Study attitude in addition to aptitude. Do background checks with the aim of finding out if the person you are looking to hire is a good fit with your work culture and ethos. Carefully consider if he or she will get along with the current team. During recruitment interviews, ask probing questions to learn more about his or her outlook and orientation with regard to teamwork and collaboration.

Communicate policies clearly
The recession has made employees more and more suspicious of company policies. More often than not, they will make plans to leave you sooner if they suspect that you are not being clear in communicating your policies. Ensure that official communication reaches all employees through an official channel. If necessary, have these policies reiterated to them through a special point of contact.

Work-life balance is critical
Employees have realized that a healthy work-life balance is their right. If your company does not already take measures to encourage this, it’s time to review your policies. Provide that your work environment and policies are accommodating of the needs of your employees’ family time and needs. At the same time, ensure that employees are made accountable for the time they spend away from the office by putting in place efficient time management and reporting measures.

Give recognition and share positive feedback
Happy employees are more productive. Put in place measures to encourage and reward performance at various levels. Commend exceptional performance widely across the organization. Groom leadership by inviting top-performing employees to contribute to important, high-visibility initiatives.

Analysts everywhere are awaiting the end of a decade that has seen at least two economic upheavals. In 2001 the bursting dotcom bubble caused a major shakeup among Silicon Valley startups, spreading gloom across the world. Late 2008 witnessed the fall of Lehman Brothers and the domino effect on the global economy that resulted in widespread job losses, slashed budgets and political repercussions.

Business-watchers are optimistic that the new decade will bring good tidings. They say that there are encouraging signs that the recession is showing signs of easing. While the economic slowdown led to across-the-board cost-cutting and dealt a harsh blow to face-to-face networking events in 2009, it forced serious professionals to go online. It made them rethink and redefine their networking strategies.

People are now networking in more and more dynamic ways. Video résumés, mashup profiles and online portfolios gained importance as job-seekers tried to gain a foothold in the slippery market.

The growth of wireless communications clearly led the way in 2009, making the mobile office a reality. At the same time, the rising popularity of tools like Google Wave enabled teams to collaborate across geographies and time zones while allowing companies to keep operating costs low while driving up productivity.

Online, business networking has acquired a personal touch. Signs of change are showing in networks such as Facebook, which initially began as a platform for university grads to connect with each other but now sees increasing traction with advertisers and brand marketers, making them attractive to job-seekers.

These trends reflect an upbeat mood in the jobs market. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that recruiters expect a 19% rise in executive-level jobs in the first half of 2010. The Christian Science Monitor warned that the growth of the jobs market may be “agonizingly slow” though the outlook is good for small and medium businesses, which will lap up many job-seekers. There is good news for fresh graduates, too. Job fairs, which were not fashionable in 2009, are showing signs of a revival.

The trends go to show that no matter at what pace the economy recovers, smart business networking holds the key to success in 2010. Are you ready?

Finally, there’s good news for job-seekers with employers unlocking their doors. However, it pays to remember that this time round, companies are going to be very selective about the candidates they take in and will not recruit merely to bloat their hiring figures.

Last month, we discussed the steps employers must take to retain talent. This month, we train our lens on the employee.

What measures can you put into effect to help your growth and also your company?

Insight into your manager’s work ethics and expectations
You don’t always have a say when it comes to choosing your manager, so the next best thing to do is to make sure you fit in to the manager’s work ethic and expectations. Note that this does not suggest that you become a ‘yes man’ or ‘yes woman’.

If the interview offers an opportunity to know more about your reporting manager, read the signs. It is important that you understand and assimilate the power structure in your department even before you accept your offer letter. Do your research, tap into the grapevine and understand your prospective manager’s record and career highlights. What are his or her strengths and weaknesses? How have they impacted his or her career? Whom does he/she get along with and take into confidence? Understand the relationships he/she has with his/her superiors.

As an oft-repeated mantra in corporate circles goes: ‘Employees do not leave their companies; they leave their managers’.

Unscramble your offer letter
Offer letters are among the trickiest documents to understand if your grasp of accounting is not strong. Numbers indicated in your salary breakup may be astronomical but what really matters are your take-home figures, tax breaks and benefits. Consult a chartered account or taxation specialist to confirm that what you see is indeed what you get.

Where do you grow from here?
Before you jump at any offer, take a step back and consider your growth path. Ask questions about the department that you are thinking of joining, your boss and colleagues, and the importance given to that department by the company (e.g. the department’s share of the company’s annual budget allocation will give you a good idea of this). If possible, speak to company insiders to verify all that you have heard. Be very wary of a job that does not offer avenues for growth or a clearly defined career path.

Are you dispensable?
Be alert and keep your ear to the ground. Ensure that the work you do brings value to the team you are working in. Be a good team person and hone your interpersonal skills. Fine-tune your abilities and skills and understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team-mates.

Get noticed and counted in
Not every one is a born star but with time you can establish yourself as the person to turn to for a particular skill. For example, if you are a whiz with spreadsheets and statistics your colleagues will start depending on you to deliver the goods in the crunch time. Become a strong team player and make your potential for leadership well known and acknowledged by your colleagues.

While making an effort to be counted in, stay away from being part of an office clique. Cliques are not viewed favorably in any company that promotes an inclusive work culture. Be professional and never confuse acceptance in a clique with genuine networking.

Upgrade your skills
You may have been hired as a web designer but if you have a latent interest in sound recording or video editing, hone those skills by taking courses, through self-learning or by watching others at work. However, be selective of the skill you choose to upgrade by considering how it will aid your growth and enhance your employability.

Don’t forget your basics
People tend to get lost focusing on doing “high-value” work and this proves costly when they have to switch jobs. If you have worked in a company for eight or ten years, it can be easy to lose touch with the fundamental skills that got you started there. Refresh your knowledge base and revisit your basics from time to time.

Update your résumé continuously
Take care not to slack off in your new job. Once a month, reopen your résumé and update your online profile, job description, responsibilities and projects. This helps you stay in touch with your own career plans. Do not close the door to new employment opportunities.

In November 2008, Harish met the same fate as many software engineers. His employer, a technology giant based in Bangalore, handed him the pink slip.

For two weeks Harish stayed at home, unable to come to terms with his misfortune. He had no back-up plans and little in terms of savings. The outlook seemed bleak, as calls to job consultants didn’t get past the receptionist. To shore up for the uncertainty looming ahead, Harish sold his three-month-old Zen Estilo and moved to a smaller home. He sold his LCD TV and his iPhone on eBay.

One afternoon he picked up his digital SLR camera, which he had hardly used, and sat down to compose another ‘for sale’ classified ad. It was painful to write it, because Harish had been extremely attached to this camera.

And then, suddenly, an idea struck him.

Harish slapped his laptop shut, picked up his camera, hurriedly packed a rucksack and caught an overnight bus to Hampi. Arriving in Hampi in the morning, he checked into a cheap hotel and freshened up. After breakfast, he stepped out for a stroll through the town and towards the temples and monuments. It was an overcast day, and the light was perfect. He spent the day photographing the monuments and the breathtaking rocky landscapes as well as some market scenes. He took a night bus back to Bangalore the same evening.

He downloaded his photographs to his laptop the next morning and uploaded them to his Flickr account. For the next few days, he continued his job search and forgot all about his photos.

Three days later, he received a comment on one of his pictures. It was from the editor of a travel magazine who wanted to buy the picture for use on his magazine cover.

Harish was pleasantly surprised. Though he had received praise for his photographs earlier, he had never considered the possibility that anyone would have a commercial interest in them. His heart in his mouth, Harish wrote back to the editor, asking him what he would pay.

There was no reply. Harish thought he had offended the editor by asking to be paid for his amateurish photos. Two days later, the editor wrote back apologizing for the delay in responding. He expressed interest in buying three more photographs and offered Rs 3,000 apiece.

Harish couldn’t believe his luck – a trip to Hampi that cost him no more than a thousand rupees had fetched him Rs 12,000! On a friend’s advice, he enrolled for a photography workshop to polish his skills. It was a therapeutic way to spend six harrowing weeks that would have otherwise been spent in a fruitless chase after headhunters.

By the end of the course, Harish’s confidence had grown immeasurably. He set up a website and mustered the courage to offer his photographs to publishers. At first, eight out of ten turned him away, but he soldiered on. Within six months, he was selling about ten pictures a month for anything ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 apiece.

If he had not lost his job, Harish reflected, he would never have found his true calling!

Harish is not alone in being a “lucky victim” of the recession.

MySunnyBalcony, an innovative business engaged in designing and creating innovative garden themes in small enclosed spaces such as apartment balconies, was started by four Bangaloreans in the midst of the recession. They followed their hobby – gardening – with passion and zeal when the economy was looking down.

Similarly, many risk-takers have taken advantage of the recession to exit the boredom of corporate life and focus on their hobbies and interests, eventually turning them into successful careers. Not surprisingly, the recession has engendered unusual careers such as bartending, DJing, floristry, jewelry designing, sports coaching, teaching swimming or music, coffee/wine/tea tasting, freelance writing and web designing.

Smart, determined people see an opportunity in anything – even a recession. For them, crisis is just another avenue to chase their dreams. Making the shift takes guts, drive and an extra helping of self-belief but it is possible to make the most of your recession if you look within to find your calling. Your hobby can be your passport to an unusual, satisfying and rewarding career. When the economy springs back, you will find yourself happier and wealthier in more ways than one.

Do you have a similar success story to relate? Share it with us by posting it as a comment.

The much awaited cheer in the Indian job market is back indeed with organizations returning to the hiring mode. And it’s not just the permanent staffing business that’s seeing a rise but also the temporary and contractual staffing industry.

Temping gains ground
According to the latest Teamlease Temp Salary Primer ‘10, the Indian Temping industry is all set to grow by 18% in the next 1 year. “With the organized sector recognizing temping as a key people staffing strategy, temporary staffing practices have evolved considerably,” notes Rajesh A R, VP, Temporary Staffing, TeamLease Services.

Telecommunication and Energy together stepped up hiring by about 16% which beats the average quarterly market growth by a wide 4%. The IT sector too has begun hiring contractual and temporary workforce in good numbers. “The Indian temporary staffing market is fast maturing and employers are giving valuable skills due recognition and rewarding them well,” adds Rajesh.

Rewarding skills
Covering temporary staffers working across 264 different job profiles, 13 Industries and 8 Functional Domains in 14 major locations, the study indicates that the temporary staffing market is not yet very generous in incrementing salaries across the board. In general, organizations have kept salary growth at very modest single digits, the average being 5.25%. The good news though is that a significant number of employers have rewarded select profiles with a fairly large dosage of increment.

Thus, rewarding valuable skills will be the silver lining for the coming year and special skills sets are likely to be highly valued. “Now that salary increments are back, a 7.5% to 15% raise for temporary staff, based on capabilities, is seen to be well in order to retain well-skilled people,” shares Rajesh.

Industry is handpicking highly skilled profiles and paying them much higher increments than the rest. For instance, Agriculture / Agrochemicals businesses in Bangalore have rewarded many of their sales profiles with increments in excess of 10%. Likewise, many an engineering and a blue collar profile received similar hikes across multiple cities from Automobile companies.

Sector Trends
According to the study, Infrastructure and essential services, as well as the IT/ITeS sectors that largely employ skilled labor and knowledge workers will raise salaries. The raise here is expected to be between 7.5% and 15%. While Manufacturing industries and traditional services sector business (except for Retail), that mostly employ relatively less skilled/semi-skilled workforce, are not likely to increment payouts.

Telecommunication and Energy have increased salaries by over 7.5%. Telecommunication companies in Bangalore, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune as well as Energy businesses in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore upped the ante and doled out a 10% plus increment for several profiles.

Few sectors like Agriculture / Agrochemicals, BFSI, FMCG, Hospitality, Manufacturing and Retail are still conservative and maintain sub-5% increments at an aggregate level.