Darrin Grella – Interview Guru

Today posses an interesting time for all of us.

For months the media has been reporting how bad the market is and how unemployment and jobless claims are skyrocketing, that this bad and that is bad, the stimulus sucks and health care reform etc. blah,  blah, blah.  People are fearful, concerned and desperate.  On the flip side, other people are absolutely slammed with work and may be the most productive they have ever been in their lives.

Hear me out on this…as an Executive Recruiter, I have the pleasure of speaking with hundreds of business owners and senior marketing executives for major brands across the globe.  Our team has the opportunity to see and hear things on a macro level.   When you talk with so many people, you can’t help but to feel the pulse of things.  Activity is picking up, deals are being made, infrastructures are being tightened, strategic planning is happening and believe it or not, the right people, “TOP TALENT” are being hired.  We do see as well that companies are still a bit hesitant to actually pull the trigger on some of these hires as they hope to squeeze every last bit of productivity out of their current team.  Which brings an entirely new challenge, burn out.

More and more people are actually open to making a move.  A few months ago, people were hesitant to even consider a change.  We would hear all day long that “I am not looking to make a change right now, I am just lucky enough to even have a job.”  Today there are so many passive candidates willing and ready to throw their names in the hat it is ridiculous.  Out of your friends and co-workers, you would be shocked if you knew who was speaking with a recruiter or even actively interviewing.  There are 3 types of people in the employment market.  Active, Passive and Non-Active.  Active being the ones who are actively and aggressively seeking a job.  Passive people are the ones that would look if something enticing came up and Non-Active would not change jobs no matter what.  One year ago, that labor pool consisted of 20% Active, 60% Passive and 20% Non-Active.  Today, if I was allowed to make an almost dead-on accurate guess, the market is 25% Active, 70% Passive, 5% Non-Active.

People, there are creative jobs everywhere.  Creative Directors, Art Directors, Graphic Designers and Web Developers.  There are senior level jobs including Executive/Group  Creative Director positions including all the way to the top – Chief Creative Officers.  Things are happening…companies are getting ready for the big turn.  The tide is rising and companies are looking to bring in talent.  Now is the time to make a great career move.  On the other hand, now is NOT the time to get huge raises but it is more the time to take that next step in your career.

There are so many sites outlining active creative marketing jobs.  Indeed.com is a common aggregator and an interesting active 1000+ person community is jobsinsocialmedia.com.  I would also suggest that you sign up on this site for SMS Text alerts when new jobs, hot, active jobs come available.  It is easy and very timeless but could be the difference between finding the ideal opportunity or getting left in the dust when this economy turns for the best.