Alex Brownstein wanted an advertising job in New York. As you can guess, New York is a tough market and as companies cut back many advertise less. So what’s an ad guy to do? Resumes are nice, friends in good places are important, knocking on doors can work in some fields but why not do what companies do when they have a product or service to sell?

Why not advertise? Online? Using Google’s AdWord program? A proven and hugely successful form of marketing.

So far, so good. You get the idea that if you sell muffins your ad should come up when someone is looking for, well, muffins. What Brownstein did was to get the names of leading ad agency executives. Those names became his keywords. And, if it happens that an executive searches for himself or herself on Google, or perhaps someone who works for the exec, then guess which ad comes up?

What To Say

One Brownstein ad read this way for an ad exec named Ian Reichenthal:

The ad, of course, included a link to Brownstein’s website.

Brownstein reports that he posted ads for five executives and the results were that four called for a job interview, two offered him a job and he accepted one of the jobs that was offered.

How You Can Use The Same Idea

To use the Brownstein strategy you first need a credible website. It need not be fancy or complex, but it should be a site which is suitable for jobs and employment, something that showcases you in the best possible light. One approach, without cost, would be to set up a free blog with WordPress or Blogger. Search around for a good theme, check your spelling and include your resume.

Or, if you want something unique, build a site such as ChefsOnTheRoad.com.

Also, if you’re looking for one branch of a company in a particular area it may make sense to localize your ad for a given state, county or city.

A clever, innovative web presence can’t possibly hurt your job efforts. The cost might be about the expense of a fast-food dinner, but somehow the results are likely to be far more satisfying.

Technorati Tags: ad, AdWords, Google, job, marketing

It’s not an easy question because employment agencies offer a variety of services to a variety of job seekers and a range of businesses. Some agencies specialize in entry-level positions or in given professions. Others are generalists.

Also, of course, there is the question of whether or not you need an employment agency at all. The Internet is here and there are well-known employment sites online. Ask the agency what advantage it has over online applications. In some cases an agency may have a long-term relationship with an employer which could be beneficial, in other cases they may do little more than search the Internet for job opportunities — something you can do with little if any cost.

To see if an employment agency makes sense for you, ask these 10 questions:

1. Who is the client?

   If you’re paying the bill then you are the client and the employment agency is obligated to get the best possible job for you. However, if the employer is paying then the employment agency works for them and it’s goal is to get the best person to fit a given job — “best” may mean not only well-qualified by at the lowest cost possible.

2. What is the relationship between the agency and the employer?

   Is the agency exclusively seeking to fill a job for an employer or are 30 agencies looking for the right candidate? Has the agency previously obtained jobs from the employer? Similar jobs with other employees? Does the agency have a personal relationship with the employer or with someone at the employer?

3. Does the agency actually have the job you want?

   An employment agency’s stock and trade are the names of its business clients. You can’t expect an employment agency to give away client names but you can expect them to tell you the specifics about the job such as: What education, experience and training are required? What are the salary and benefits? Where is the general location (think of commuting)? Do you need a license or certificate? Must be you be able to be bonded and insured? What are the hours? Etc.

4. Are you the only candidate the agency is sending to the employer?

   If yes, great. If no, do they send every warm body they can locate? No, good. Then how do they decide who to send? Get a real answer. Don’t settle for generalities. Get specifics.

5. Will the agency help perfect your resume?

   This can be important in situations where the employer has a stack of applications. Not only do you want a resume geared to the specific employer, you also want an appropriate cover letter.

6. Will the agency help you prepare for a job interview?

   For instance, what are the 10 questions you are most-likely to be asked? What are the best answers? Remember, packaging and tilting your answers is important, stressing some points and not others can get you hired — or ignored.

7. What happens if you accept the job and leave a few months later?

   Are you responsible for the agency fee? What is your liability? Even if termination is required because you move? Get injured? Are fired? If you have any liability for the agency fee when does it end?

8. Is the agency state-licensed?

   State license standards vary. For example, the New York Better Business Bureau says that employment agencies in that state must have one license to charge applicants a fee but a different license if they only charge employees.

9. Is there any up-front cost for registration or for some or all of the fee?

   Some states ban upfront fees but that may not be the case everywhere. In general, up-front fees are a bad idea because you are paying for services in advance — services which may not result in a satisfactory job or in any job.

10. Will you receive a copy of the employment agency contract?

    This document should show the fee and when it is earned, due and payable. You must have a copy of this document to avoid future fee disputes.

Technorati Tags: agencies, agency, client, contract, employment, fee, liability, license

For 2008, reports RealtyTrac.com, 2,330,483 U.S. properties received one or more foreclosure notices, typically default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions. That’s an 81 percent increase over 2007 — and a 225 percent spurt since 2006.

For all the news about foreclosures, foreclosure prevention and loan modification programs, a basic reality is that when people lose their jobs their foreclosure alternatives narrow and in too many cases drop to zero.

As an example, look at the latest foreclosure modification plan. The Obama program is vastly better than what we have seen before, but to get help you have to qualify and one benchmark concerns income. Under the plan, says the Treasury Department, “the lender will have to first reduce interest rates on mortgages to a specified affordability level.” What is that level? The borrower’s monthly mortgage payment should be no greater than 38% of his or her income. Government help can then lower monthly payments to 31 percent of an individual’s gross monthly income.

The 38 percent and 31 percent standards will potentially help many people, but it won’t help those without work. The standard assumes that homeowners are employed or self-employed, that they have a stream of income.

But for growing numbers of Americans that’s not the case. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that since the start of the recession in December 2007 some 3.6 million people have lost their jobs and about one-half of this decline occurred in the past three months.

There’s more: The BLS says that as of January we had 11.6 million people who were officially unemployed. In addition, we had 7.8 million “involuntary part-time” workers, folks who couldn’t get full-time work and another 2.1 million were “marginally attached to the labor force” — these are individuals who wanted work and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Among the marginally attached, there were 734,000 “discouraged workers,” people not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.

So rather than 11.6 million people looking for work the real number is much bigger, say about 21.5 million. In a country with 154.6 million people in the labor force we’re talking about a very large percentage of the population which is either unemployed or underemployed.

What do job losses this mean in terms of foreclosures, local home values, tax collections and related issues? Think of unemployment numbers as a “leading indicator,” a hint of things to come unless we put more people back to work.

Technorati Tags: Bureau of Labor Statistics, discouraged, foreclosure, jobs, marginally attached, Obama, Treasury, underemployed, unemployed, unemployment