Current figures send shivers down every employer’s spine. The coronavirus crisis already cost 22 million Americans their job within four weeks. US unemployment rate has more or less tripled. In Switzerland, unemployment also surged as of mid-March as a result of the declared state of emergency. Early April, the impact on the labour-market is dramatic. In the Basel region, the number of unemployed even increased by 14.4 percent as compared to last month. A frightening scenario is looming. Furthermore, short-time work foreshadows a delayed impact. About one third of the workforce is affected by short-time working.

I am trying to picture what these changes in the labour market mean for specialists and executives in high-tech industries like pharmacy, ICT and technology. Could these sectors avoid the impact? Industrial activities are said not to be as much affected as the event, gastronomy and tourism sectors. Yet newspapers mention a global crisis. The phenomenon affects simultaneously all European neighbouring countries, the USA and Asia. China’s gross domestic product for the first quarter fell by 6.8 percent vs. the same period last year! So numerous businesses from the pharmaceutical, chemical, ICT and tech sectors are also concerned.

Shall all eagerly sought-after specialists now have to go job hunting themselves? I think about those senior managers who did not have to write a resume or send an application for years since they were directly approached by us, head-hunters, and offered their next career step. The time has come to share our know-how with this target group.

Our Search & Selection process includes 4 classic phases:

• Briefing: Which tasks are to be mastered, what are the upcoming projects, which goals should be achieved within 1 to 3 years?
• Profiling: What are the required technical and personal skills? What are the must-have, could-have and nice-to-have requirements? We establish minimum requirements up to and including the margin for the ideal applicant.
• Sourcing: Where do we find such candidates, which sectors, industries, regions, and business areas could be considered? In addition to classical, target-company oriented profiling, we also specialized into skills-based profiling and talent mining.
• Selection: The pool of potential candidates has to be big enough before starting with the selection. Must-have and could-have requirements are being weighted, variations of scenario are being assessed, evaluation criteria are being negotiated.

Swap roles with us! Approach your job search with the structured tools of headhunters and recruiters and find your next position. You are the one carrying out the Search& Selection process for your upcoming job.

• Briefing: Which tasks do I master, which ones did I successfully complete, in which projects was I especially successful, what do I like doing most, what would be my USP? Think about it: you are not looking for a title or a status, but for tasks and work you will enjoy carrying out.
• Profiling: Draw a circle: this is where you need to define the must-have criteria, that should not be confused with a wish list! What minimum responsibilities should be associated with the job, where is my lowest wage limit, how much business travel do I consider reasonable, which commuting time can I cope with, is moving an option for me, etc.? You should also identify the could-have and nice-to-have. They will help you make the ultimate decision when assessing the selected options.
• Sourcing: Beware! That’s where you get to the heart of the matter and this requires brainwork. How do you find the potential opportunities that may be of interest to you? The answer is: “Internet”. Yes, but…: you need to make a clever use of artificial intelligence and matching tools.

A) Define search masks on the relevant portals. Proceed here as is you were hunting: try out various search masks with your own terms and keywords. Use an iterative process to adjust the perimeter, go circle by circle, carefully analyse, pause, make appropriate adjustments, draw a new circle. How many matches do you get, are the matches good enough? Is the search mask too narrow, too wide, not specific enough?
At one point, you finally get a grid which delivers satisfying results – or even better, several grids for several possibilities to further develop your career.

B) Make yourself visible, both online and offline. You should optimize your online presence and your resume so that they have the maximum overlap with your search masks. You may need several versions of your resume to adapt it to the various development possibilities you have identified. And this is a good sign! Each sector and even each company have their own language to describe job profiles, duties and positions. Carefully analyse the terms, the keywords and the jargon of the world you wish to join. Adjust the words used in your resume and in your online profile accordingly.

C) Do a test-run: Assess your matching degree, put it to the test: were the offers you get from the various portals and online tools already in your search mask? If they are too far off target, you need to start all over again.

D) Float trial balloons and start sending a few applications. Even if the opportunities are not perfect. Take small, clever steps. Test your intermediate results in real-market settings. The main goal here is to generate feedback, which will give you an indication about what needs to be adjusted and how.

• Selection: After homework comes the ‘free program’. Once you have a certain number of potential job opportunities, you can start with the selection phase and the optimization of boundary conditions. Must-have and could-have requirements are being weighted, variations of scenario are being assessed, evaluation criteria are being negotiated.