'Attitude is so important' Workers who maintain energy in bad times tend to prosper, experts say
By Kevin Smith, Staff Writer© Pasadena Star-News, January 9, 2010
When you're looking to buy a home, experts will tell you it all comes down to location, location, location. And in the world of investing, financial consultants often advocate diversity as a means of spreading your risk around. So what's the secret for people who are pounding the pavement in search of a job, particularly when unemployment is high and employers are reluctant to hire? It might just be attitude. "When you lose your position - and on top of that you're in a job market that is very difficult - it's easy for that to drag you down," said Gary Kaplan, president of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a Pasadena-based executive search firm. "But if you allow that to happen, you are not going to do well. Employers don't hire people who are walking around with their tail between their legs. They are looking for people with energy, people who are entrepreneurial and competitive." But even the most qualified job seekers can fall victim to an economy that is fiercely competitive and unforgiving, Kaplan said. "I know a lot of successful people in their 50s who have just dropped out of it," he said. "They don't want to deal with it. Their psyches and egos just can't handle it." Dr. Karin Meiselman, a licensed clinical psychologist with a private practice in Pasadena, said many people in today's economy are unhappy in their jobs but opt to stay put because the economy is so bad. "People are very anxious about their jobs, but they don't dare change jobs," she said. "They are trapped where they are and this is stressful." And it's no wonder they're stressed. Employers shed 85,000 jobs in December, capping a disastrous year in which 4.2 million U.S. employees found themselves out of work. December's figure was higher than expected. And the nation's unemployment rate held steady at 10 percent. Meiselman said people can easily become depressed when they go out to interviews and don't get called back, or do get called back but not hired. Scores of job seekers turn to agencies like the Verdugo Jobs Center in Glendale and Women at Work, a Pasadena-based career and job resource center. So how can job seekers better position themselves to overcome the odds? "Attitude is so important," Kaplan said. "It's tough out there, and I go through this with everyone I counsel. But even if you have to fake it ... you have to do your best to present a picture that things are OK in your life and will be better in the upcoming year." Kaplan, whose own company took a hit this past year as a result of the economic slowdown, said things have picked up. "Our business has improved substantially since September," he said. "But you also have to look at the level from which we came. We were beaten down very badly. The prevailing attitude by most astute business people is that some life has been breathed into the economy and job market, but we're not on terra firma yet."
