Recession leaves many in employment limbo

 Abridged: MSNBC

ONTARIO, CA -- Patty Powers, went to work for weeks expecting to be laid off at any time. The morning after she lost her job, she expected to wake up with that feeling of dread you get when you realize that something bad has happened, like a death in the family. Instead, she felt relief. "I almost felt like a new opportunity had opened up for me," she said. "I really felt worse when I was waiting." 

The economic recession has pushed many Americans into an employment limbo. They're still holding on to a job but worried that they might lose it any day. It can often take months for companies to complete a massive layoff, leading to a nerve-racking period in which workers are left to wonder whether they will be targeted. Of course, no one relishes the thought of the unemployment line, and the nation's soaring jobless rate has left many laid-off workers unable to find a new job at all, let alone one that is comparable to their old one.

Still, for some the most stressful part is the ambiguity of not knowing. The condition of uncertainty is sometimes worse than actually knowing that you're going to get laid off. The widespread fear of layoffs, combined with an absence of concrete information, also can have a deep impact on both morale and productivity, as workers find it hard to keep their minds on their jobs amid rumors about who could be next to get the pink slip.

Junk Cover Letters Kill Good Resumes

Teena Rose, Resume & Career Expert

Too many unprofessional, unfocused, and canned cover letters are floating around the job seeking population. So are you surprised when I tell you that a fair number of hiring managers don't bother reading them?Although I've seen no official survey on cover-letter readership, it's rumored that approximately 40% of cover letters aren't read. A number of reasons could be to blame; and frankly, who wants to spend valuable time reading a cover letter that sounds like it was written for the company next door too? Stock cover letters can kill your job-search efforts, making the task of finding a new position nothing but a treacherous expedition.Adding to the anxiety for job seekers comes the question: Who is reading them and who is not? You could take the chance of not sending one, but then you'll "diss" those who are expecting a cover letter. Writing a great cover letter takes time. Time that job seekers often don't want to allocate after spending hours re-tooling their resumes to perfection. Much like the resume, however, your cover letter must "sing" to the receiver. If it doesn't, you're soliciting employment on deaf ears. The best way to avoid sending a junk cover letter is to ask yourself a series of thought provoking questions:Does Your Cover Letter Use a Personable Approach?Since you were an infant, hearing your name encouraged some reaction from you. Everyone loves to hear their name from time to time, so don't be afraid of intertwining the contact's name into the content in one or two key areas.Does Your Cover Letter Include Specifics?Incorporate company-specific details, such as a problem the company's facing that you intend to resolve, or maybe to congratulate them on a newly received contract or recent merger. Keep an eye on target companies by reading daily, weekly, and monthly newspaper publications available in your area. In order to maintain the pulse of your industry, read everything about the industry that you can get your hands on. Does Your Cover Letter use layman's terms? Write your cover letter using conversational tone: a writing technique that utilizes sentences similar to those spoken. With a conversational tone, the content should attract readers because it's immediately different from the dozens, hundreds, or thousands that the company has previously received.Does Your Cover Letter Use Keywords & Phrases? Weave select keywords and key phrases pertinent to the position into your cover letter. The sole purpose of the cover letter is to reflect that you are a ringer for the position. Pull out key points from the resume and place them prominently in the cover letter to help introduce the broader skill set contained in the resume.Don't be intimidated by the depth of work involved in designing a great cover letter. Think about your job search in terms of quality not quantity. Job seekers sometimes become desperate when jobs seem scarce, and they resort to quick and ineffective techniques to securing a job. Writing cover letters that you would want to receive, if you were on the other end of the spectrum, is a good rule of thumb to follow. Outline all the core elements that are pertinent to each specific company, use language and specifics that speak directly to the reader and ensure they display you as a perfect match for the opening. With these select techniques, you're destined to secure more interviews and more job opportunities.Written by Teena Rose, a columnist, public speaker, and top resume professional who provides professional executive resume writing services through Resume to Referral. She's authored several books, including "20-Minute Cover Letter Fixer" and "Cracking the Code to Pharmaceutical Sales."