What Is To Be Done? Advice For The At Risk Public Sector

When George Osbourne announced Comprehensive Spending Review last month the party line of the Coalition government was that private sector growth would absorb the estimated 500,000 pubic sector workers that will be lost due to the deepest public sector cuts in living memory.
We all know that it’s not going to be that way. Private sector growth is anemic and hardly guaranteed, and the QE boosted GDP numbers have nothing to do with jobs growth. In any case, many of the public sector roles to be cut will be performed by Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ – for free. And perhaps most significantly for us, many of the at risk public sector workers will not have skills or experience that translates into the private sector, or indeed the job search skills required to be competitive in this hyper competitive labour market.

What Is To Be Done?

I think we can agree revolution is off the table. However attractive the narrative of class war might be, at this juncture we need embrace reality and play the cards as they have been dealt. What you can do is improve your hand by doing the things that give you the best chance.  Here are 5 things I would do if I was an at risk public sector worker.

1. Create A CV That Is Compatible With Private Sector Expectations

If you’ve worked in the Public Sector for a significant period, there is a good chance that you have not needed to compile a Curriculum Vitae for some time. Recruitment in the Public Sector often doesn’t require them, preferring the Application Form tailored to the job in question. A well written, private sector compatible CV is essential in the private sector, especially for the basics like job board registration, agency sign up and on spec application. This need to be a document you can deploy immediately (not rewritten every time for every job)  and ideally have some form of it online. Get great up-to-date CV advice here, here and here.

2. Learn (Quickly) The Private Sector Job Search Culture

I will have no truck with the view that the Private Job Search is tougher than that of the Public Sector; however, it is certainly very different. There are no anonymized applications, no guarantee invitations for interview, no repeat applications. It also tends to move much more quickly, skipping over several stages typical in Public Sector recruitment (e.g. waiting for all the advert response to come in before moving to the assessment stage). This is especially the case agency managed recruitment projects, where a telephone screen can lead to CV submission and interview within a matter of hours or days. If you have are new the Private Sector Jobsearch, you will need adapt your approach accordingly – most importantly losing some of your inhibitions about privacy (seriously, no one cares), increasing your contactability (emails, mobiles, addresses on CV’s guys) and responsiveness (answer the phone, be available to talk, agree to short notice interviews).

3. Create A LinkedIn Profile

Perhaps the sharpest disparity between Private and Public sector job search comes when evaluating the worth of LinkedIn, and by proxy, social networking in general for the job search. One of the biggest culture shocks you might find in the Private Sector job search is how diverse the means of assessing you as a candidate have now become. A LinkedIn Profile has become a must-have for any private sector job seeker, and you would be wise to immediately set one up and get familiar with it’s usage. For good information on LinkedIn at entry level go here, here and here.

4. Network

Truth is, everyone could do this better whatever background you have or whereever you have forged your early career. Consider this is a two-fold project – contacts you already know, and contacts you have yet to make. Create a system for recording contact names, numbers and email addresses, and create objectives for leveraging your network into helping you with the task at hand. This is more than just sending out an omnibus email asking if anyone has a job going. It’s about reconnecting with valuable individuals with whom you have had positive professional experience. Good things will come out of talking with people who have previously valued your professional input. Networking tips here, here and here.

5. Think Creatively

The work still needs to be done – it’s just somebody else will come to do it. The cuts in the Public Sector will delight the private sector consultancies which either provide services in that space. You think BUPA is concerned that NHS Primary Care Trusts have to cut budget and services? It’s boom time for those agencies who supply to the very sectors that are being cut. For the job seeker, this could be as simple as registering with recruitment agencies that supply contract or agency staff to the state – a report by the Guardian newspaper revealed that spending on agency staff increased 65% as a result of the public sector recruitment freeze.

For the more creative, or those higher up in the value chain where the volume of roles is likely to be lower, why not identify and contact these private sector consultancies directly? They will certainly have an interest in your familiarity with the dynamics in the public sector, and may have use for you in some way.  For some tips on how to do identify and approach organisations, see here, here and here.

Final thoughts
The job market is only going to get tougher as the conditions tighten and the real effects of the cuts bite home. It is important you set your expectations at the right level, have a plan for the worse / aim for the best policy and manage your morale so that you remain a competitive job seeker regardless of how long it might take.

Keep an eye on this blog also, I’ll be doing what I can to help.