December and January can bring a blizzard of pink slips.

The poet T.S. Eliot was wrong.

April is not the cruelest month, at least not for employees. December and January are.

Those two months, we have found, are the worst for mass layoffs at companies. We looked at the U.S. Bureau of Labor’s monthly statistics for mass layoffs going back a decade to see which months accounted for the largest percentage of the pink slips issued in bulk by U.S. companies during any particular year.

The BLS considers a mass layoff to be when an employer sheds at least 50 jobs.

In 2001, it found more than 21,000 such blizzards of pink slips, or “events” as it calls them. That was the worst year of the past decade, as it included fallout from the bursting of the dotcom bubble and the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington D.C.

To provide some silver lining to the current black cloud, mass layoffs at the comparative point in 2001 were running at 28% higher than they are during this credit-crisis blighted year.

How the events scale up to total lost jobs varies from employer to employer, and the data counts the job when it is lost, not when the company announces planned redundancies, which are often spun and phased for PR reasons. But to take an example, September’s 1,292 mass layoffs represented 235,681 lost jobs.

Over the 10 years we looked at, December averaged out at 12.6% of the annual total and January at 12.2%. If mass layoffs were spread evenly throughout the year, each month would account for 8.3%.

The best month? August, with an average of just 5.3%. Summertime, and the living’s easy.

Or at least it is if you and your coworkers survive July, the third worst month on average for mass layoffs.

December and January are dangerous months for job holders because that’s when annual budgets flip over at many companies. Similarly, July marks the halfway point in the year.

If you’re nervous about your job going, don’t watch the clock, watch the calendar. Goal No. 1 for worried workers: making it to February. Winter does not keep us warm.

By Forbes.com Staff

Secret Gimmick Revealed!

This is a guest contribution by Shirley Anderson.

Recently, I wrote an article on the World’s Most Expensive Hairdresser, Stuart Phillips. For the paltry sum of £20,000 you can get an International VIP haircut at Phillips’ shop in the U.K. I’m not up on my exchange rates but I think that’s around $50,000, maybe more. Once I picked my jaw up off the floor, I had to wonder what this guy had or did that made people willing to part with that much money for a haircut. More importantly, I had to know what it was so I could emulate it, if possible.

I went into researching Phillips expecting to find that elusive ‘secret’ that internet marketing gurus are always talking about. You know, that mysterious thing that they know that they’ll share with you for $47? Only this would be different. Somehow, everyone must have missed Phillips’ selling genius. Good for me, I’d have the coveted gimmick that would soon have me commanding rates similar to his. Well, I made a couple of wonderful discoveries. First of all, I already do one of the things he does. Secondly, I can use his other gimmick easily, painfully and for free. So can you.

I’ll Share My Secret ‘Gimmick’ Findings with You

Okay, here goes. Sit down because this is information that is being shared for the first time (by me) and it may knock your socks off. Ready?

Secret Gimmick #1 - Philllips, his wife and their entire staff give excellent customer service. We’re talking extreme pampering. That $50,000 gets you more than a haircut. The price includes a limo and driver, first class flights and hotel, personal chef, personal shopper, haircut and blow dry. While clients are in his salon, they are Phillips’ sole appointment for the day, they have his undivided attention and all the staff pamper the customers.

Okay, I already do my best where customer service is concerned but perhaps I can do a little more. Since my business is done online, there’s no reason why I can’t make every effort to make my clients feel that they have my undivided attention. Easy, peasy.

Secret Gimmick #2 - If you spot Stuart Phillips in the same shirt twice, you get a free haircut. I can’t believe how this has worked for him! It has made full colour magazine spreads and newspaper write ups. His collection of shirts have had their own photo opps. People repeatedly book appointments hoping to catch him in the same clothes that they’ve seen him in before. It has been an incredible gimmick for him.

Alright, I can do that too. Here goes.

People wanted me to sell these secrets for $197 but I said, “No way!” I have to share my knowledge with the world. For that reason, I’m offering these revealed secret gimmicks for the insanely low price of only $47. If you spot me in the same skirt twice, I’ll give you yours for free!

The Internet: Friend or foe to your job search?

Job seekers, beware your online identity. It could be what makes or breaks your career aspirations.

Now, not only must job seekers woo employers with their resume and interview savvy, they’re expected to have an outstanding Internet presence as well. Employers have turned to social networking websites and search engines to screen job seekers based on the additional information about them potentially floating through cyber space. In fact, three-fourths of recruiters admit to googling job candidates, according to a recent Harris Interactive poll.

Recognizing that it’s practically inevitable that employers will go online to find information about job candidates, 24% of people age 18-24 say they would post their resume for employers to see on social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook or Friendster, according to the September 2006 Spherion Workplace Snapshot. Unfortunately, the last thing many recruiters want to see is an online resume accompanied by pictures of keg parties or inappropriate jokes posted on the job seeker’s message board; therefore, job seekers who want to maintain professionalism in their job search would be wise to ensure their social life cannot become the subject of skepticism for recruiters, based on an unflattering web persona. Furthermore, career expert Michael Farr, author of the recently released Same-Day Resume, Second Edition, believes there are other, more appropriate places on the Internet for someone to post their resume.

“To create a comprehensive picture of who you are and what you have done professionally, you can create an online career portfolio,” Farr says.

“They enhance web-based resumes in that they provide evidence of your past work performance, including samples, testimonials, articles, videos, photographs and charts.”

Farr acknowledges that an online portfolio could be just as harmful to a person’s job search as social networking websites if they look amateurish and include unnecessary personal information, such as someone’s religious or political views; however, a professional-looking portfolio that features an impressive, diverse work history can create the outstanding online identity many recruiters hope to find when they log online to learn more about candidates.

“Maybe there will come a time when the web career portfolio is as common as the resume; but for now, there is a lot of opportunity to stand out from your competition and be extraordinary,” Farr says.

Get job-search savvy.

Here’s a great article I found that should come in handy for all job seekers in these tough economic times…

Job searches can be a frustrating experience especially in today’s slow economic times. Geoff Dillon, marketing manager for staffing company The People Bank, provides a behind-the-scenes look at some useful job-hunt tips.

Newspaper ads

Companies often get hundreds of responses to just one ad these days. Companies also use newspaper ads because of their immediacy: they want results, and fast.

TIP: If your resume fits with the position requirements, take action right away. Chances are the employer will be so overwhelmed with responses after the first day of their ad, you may have little chance of landing the position if you are slow to react.

Internet job boards

Responses to Internet job postings often end up in a recruiter’s e-mail. Some employers and recruiters receive up to 100 e-mails a day or more! To get your application noticed, send in your resume flagged as a high priority e-mail message to help move it to the top of the list.

TIP: Most e-mail programs display the most recent messages at the top of the screen, so send your resume during the workday when you are more likely to catch the recruiter at their desk. Early morning is also a good option. Don’t send your resume the night before; your resume will be too far down the list by the time the recruiter shows up for work in the morning and may not be noticed.

Employment agencies

Employment agencies work for companies to locate and interview qualified applicants for available positions.

TIP: Keep in touch with your consultant from the employment agency if the job you applied for doesn’t pan out. They are a great source of unadvertised job opportunities, which often means less competition for you if you land an interview through them.

Networking

‘Who you know’ is still the best way to locate job opportunities. Companies look favorably upon referrals because it’s a low cost, highly effective way to locate trustworthy people.

TIP: If you are referred to someone, be sure to address your cover letter to them personally and mention that you were referred to them.

Source: http://career.jobboom.com/career-planning/personal-advancement/2002/12/11/3278451-sun.html

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