"Any Suggestions for My Designer Clients and Friends that have Recently Lost Their Jobs?" - 05/27/20 Edition
Stephen Says Column

Dear Stephen,

I hope you can help. I am a sales representative, with about 10 years in the business. I love my job and my clients. Yes, I am still working. Let's face it, your old saying, "The best salespeople and sales managers are the last to get fired and the first to get hired" is more true now than ever. No company lets effective revenue creators go.

However, that is not always true for many of my clients who are designers and specifiers. The very people to whom I owe my success are in design firms and dealer design departments big and small. At first many of these people were just furloughed, but now they are starting to be laid off. If they are older, and very senior in their jobs, I notice they are offered early retirement, which I guess is a good option. Anyway, the cliché about revenue-producing sales people having job security does not apply to designers, project managers and support staff. On every level these are wonderful people who have helped me. Now I feel helpless to help them.

These individuals who have been loyal supporters of mine reach out to me daily for job leads or a shoulder to cry on, and I want to help them. I noticed they are both young and old, no particular pattern or group, just a result of the financial pressure companies are experiencing even with those PPP dollars. I believe that will change as more states open up, but right now many projects are on hold, and these people are nonessential.

What's your suggestion for them? Can you help?

Signed

Designer's Distressed Supporter
 

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Dear DDS,

You just did help by alerting me. The Viscusi Group can help. And we want to. Pass this BoF column along to your unemployed friends. We are happy to give them a complementary career coaching session on how to land their next job.

The jobs do exist for designers, they may just need to use their creative abilities in a different way. That could mean going from contract to residential or reinventing themselves and developing expertise as a specialist in safe workspaces. This could include social distancing and all the other aspects of design required in the future. That may include an in-depth knowledge of all the new products coming on the market and how to use them. More often than not it means accepting a contract or temp assignment on a 1099 basis, which could eventually lead to a full-time job with benefits. It also might be the right time for a designer to consider exploring a new career in sales or something completely different.

Fortunately, unemployment benefits are more generous than ever before, and you hardly need to be embarrassed about being unemployed today. You are not to blame for losing your job because of an invisible enemy, along with 30% of the rest of America. The good news is that companies are still hiring. You've just got to figure which companies and why and how you can fit in.
 

LOOKING FOR A JOB IN THIS ENVIRONMENT REQUIRES A DIFFERENT MINDSET,
BUT THERE ARE STILL JOBS OUT THERE.

Looking for a job in this environment requires a different mindset, but there are still jobs out there. Your point on behalf of your friends is real. I feel their pain — let me help. That is my answer. So if you are reading this, and you have lost your job, regardless of what position or role you were in, we will try to help. A member of the TVG career team will give you a free one-hour phone consultation. We will explain how to make your resume better and how to find your next job on your own. There will be no charge for our time. Just ask!

And finally, let me clarify an important point. As recruiters/ headhunters — any recruiter not just us — our business model is to poach candidates on behalf of our client firms for a fee. Typically the people we place are currently employed at the client's competitors. After all, why would our client, the employer, pay us to find an unemployed person that they could find on their own. So, we will teach them how to reach out to the potential employer and find that job directly on your own. There is no need for a company to pay a fee for someone unemployed — let them save the fee and (hopefully) put that money into your salary.

Again, let me reiterate that you are not a lesser candidate because you are unemployed. It just means a company is less likely to hire you if a fee is associated with your hire. So contact us, and we will tell you how to contact those companies directly. Start with me personally, and I will give you specific advice and coaching (Stephen@viscusigroup.com).

Back to the person who's question started this. You're a good friend to your clients, and we hope we can be of service to them.

Stephen