European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 25, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 14 the stars and stripes sunday november 25,1990business new smarter tack needed to land Job in recession by Marcia Saft . Times news service finding a Job or changing careers is usually challenging but especially so during the kind of slowdown that much of the nation is now experiencing. In her Book a How to win the Job you really want a published last year career consultant Janice Weinberg includes a Section on a looking for a Job during a for 14 years Weinberg worked in programming and information systems sales marketing and strategic planning for companies like ism and general electric. She also served As a consultant and taught at the general electric management development Institute. In 1979, she founded career solutions a company that provides career assistance to individuals and outplacement services to corporations. In an interview in her Westport conn., office Weinberg suggested that studying business development and being More resourceful Ana aggressive can make a difference in achieving career goals. Here Are some excerpts from the conversation q. In this Economy is it possible for people to win the jobs they really want a. When i worked in the corporate world i once saw a poster that said a work smarter not that a Good advice for any Endeavor but what does it mean in terms of looking for a Job it Means that it May seem easy to answer an and but in effect when the and is placed it will be As attractive to others As it is to you. So it will be extremely competitive for you to get that Job. Most ads Are just for one Job. What is the smarter approach be observant about what is happening around you. Ask yourself the question a what kinds of companies might either be benefiting or perhaps not hurting As much As other companies in this Economy a q. A Market a. There Are. One Industry that seems always to Benefit during a recession is the leasing Industry. Since companies have to use their working capital for payroll and inventory they have to control costs elsewhere. If they Are Given the Choice Between purchasing or leasing they will tend to lease. This does no to Only apply to computers it also applies to heavy equipment or vehicles so that Field offers one Opportunity. There Are other very obvious beneficiaries of economic slowdown a collection agencies bankruptcy Law firms manpower services for example. There Are other industries that done to get quite As Hurt in a recession. The Book Industry is fairly resistant to recessionary periods. People May forgo a fancy vacation but they will indulge in a paperback Book. The wine Industry is another. In an economic downturn people May go to restaurants less frequently but when they Dine at Home they can usually justify a bottle of wine. Medical and surgical products and health care services seem to be fairly resistant also. Q. What should Job seekers do before they begin their actual search a. You should always maintain an ongoing awareness of what is happening in your Field and in Fields to which you May be Able to make a transition. Then identify employers in those industries. Many people make the mistake of Only targeting companies that Are household names. Also stay abreast of business trends. A do you recommend that people try on their own to initiate Contact with prospective employers a. If i am the employer and i am presented with two candidates one of whom has initiated Contact with me directly i would want to hire the person who had the aggressiveness to Contact me directly. Q. Should Job Hunters consider Small and mid size companies a yes. A higher percentage of Large companies have plans to downsize in this Economy. Also Large companies usually have backup candidates planned for spots vacated due to attrition or promotion. Small and medium sized companies generally speaking do not have those systems. Also because the Large companies Are so Well known they Are going to be deluged with resumes. The Small and mid size companies will be harder to identify. And whenever you have an activity that is harder you have fewer people undertaking that activity. And therein lies the key to Success a again working smarter not harder. In ii Iio i Are there some special opportunities in the Job it during periods of economic slowdown v 11 a . Amp amp amp amp a a a a it a amps Dave Del people use pawnshops similar to the one across from Lindsey As in Wiesbaden Germany for Small Loans. Neighbourhood pawnshop is the Bank of last resort by Jenell Wallace up correspondent Kansas City to. A millions of americans run to the Bank or visit automated Teller machines when they need Cash. They use credit cards when they want to buy clothes Vars or television sets. But there is an underclass a people with Low incomes and no credit history a who visit their neighbourhood pawnshop when they need Cash or a loan. An estimated 20 percent of the . Population has no Bank account More than half of this group does no to have credit cards and can to get Bank Loans. A these people Are borrowing an average of $50,�?� said John p. Caskey assistant professor of economics at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore a. A if you add up in terms of How much Dollar value pawnshops provide they done to look very important. If you add up How much of the population they serve or the number of Loans they make they Are because they make Loans pawnshops Are a Type of Bank often calling themselves the Bank of the Little Caskey a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City looked at the importance of pawnshops in the . Economy a the first serious study of the subject since the 1930s. His conclusion pawnshops Are the consumer slender of last resort. Pawnshop customers typically cannot get credit at Mam Stream financial institutions. They have poor credit records excessive debt in relation to their incomes Low and cannot maintain positive Bank account balances. F typically pawnshop customers borrow relatively Small amounts that traditional lenders Are uni line or unable to provide on a secured basis. Uni wins or a a if you look at tola1 consumer credit the amounts &nawnsh.0ps Mai sma11 a Caskey said. map Ima by to Low income people. In Tan a population they serve they re really upor about 5�?T900 pawnshops operated in the United states a one for every two commercial Banks data suggest these pawnshops made about 35 million Loans providing what Caskey estimates is 1 percent of the Nav Tiona a consumer credit. E a at the end of 1988, credit outstanding at pawnshops was about $689 million compared with an estimated $371 billion at commercial Banks and $87 billion at credit unions. I although the amount Lent by pawnshops is relatives Small Caskey asserts they have an important place in the consumer credit Market when other things Are Coal Side red. A because the average pawnshop loan is $50 pawnshops probably serve several million american each year perhaps As much As 10 percent of the Audi population a Caskey said. These americans pay dearly for pawnshop Loans Ufa to 25 percent a month in states that put a ceiling Oil interest and other charges and More in states that Don a limit charges. S in Florida and Iowa for example interest rates Onil $50 loan can Range from 18 to 28 percent a month. J a what this research shows is that there a a conflict Between what state regulators would like to do and what they actually do a Caskey said. A Many states such Asi the Northeast try to set a very Low maximum inter i rate for pawnshops. The intent there is to make suit that More fairly priced credit is available to Low in Coffil groups. The effect however is to almost shut Down Tir pawnshop Industry.�?�. Pawnshop interest ceilings in Texas and Oklahoma are240 percent and in Georgia 300 percent. I this sounds outrageous but this Means that if >1 pawnshop can lend at such a High interest rate it Caw survive with a Small number of Loans a he said. A so you find pawnshops on practically every Block in Texas an Oklahoma with a population of about 3 million nearly 400 pawnshops Pennsylvania where the Usu level is lower has a population of about 12 million Only 36 pawnshops. I,-f.suprjevels Are one Factor that contributed to to shirt of the Paw broking Industry from the Northeast t Central Ana Mountain states during the last Century. However the Industry seemed to grow throughout the United states during the 1980s. There a a Large fraction of the . Population two operates on a very financially marginal basis. I think Obj tact that pawnshops grew so rapidly during the w May also reflect the numbers of people that operate o a financially marginal basis a said Caskey. A this tells about the changing social conditions in the unite Oates. Lower income groups did very badly in the c
