There is a lot of talk right now revolving around the recession and how that laces into the rising unemployment rate. For the past 6 to 8 months we have all been trying to understand how the recession was going to affect the job market. After the past few weeks especially I think it is blatantly clear that the connection looks like this:

                       bad economy = tight budgets = salary cut = job loss

Okay now that we have that equation at the heart of every mass media article out there, where do we go from here? I think the real concern for the average job seeker is more like, “What does that mean for me now?” The question mark becomes "What will it look like when it rebounds?” There seems to be a giant disconnect between everyone losing their job and knowing when and how that will change. The equation now looks like this:

           bad economy = tight budgets = salary cut = job loss = ?#%&*?^$%?!!!

Well I am not an economist. I am actually pretty glad of this, as they must be pretty stressed right now. However, I can say, with authority, that one thing is for sure—“When the economy begins to rise again, the bar will rise with it.” What does that mean? When its time for companies to begin hiring and refueling their staffs with new minds, they will have raised the bar. Expectations for the new job applicants will have increased to a level most of us mid-career hopefuls have never seen.

Why is that? Over the past year the upper management types have had to make some very difficult decisions. They started by trimming the edges (interns, contract workers, new hires), then they moved to position consolidation (decrease team size and create hybrid positions), and for the unfortunate few…that was still not enough. They were forced to let go of high salary employees—these are people with a decade, or a decade plus, invested in a company, these are people who have laced their families into their occupation, and those decisions did not come easily. What did this leave us with? A very disheartened, upper management with a chip on their shoulder (a deserving chip at that, which could be the worst kind).

When the drought passes, and its time to open the door to a new phase of their company, I assure you the bar will have raised. As a job seeker you can expect (among other things) a demand on practical experience, a focus on top-quality recommendations, and an overall more competitive approach to hiring. Employers will be looking for the cream of the crop to replace their lost colleagues. In addition to your qualifications, your desire will be tested. You will not only be expected to say you want the job, you will have to fight for it, because the crowd cheering against you has grown.

So how do you do it? How do you meet this challenge head on? Simply put…work harder. Increase your digital footprint, increase your network, increase the expectations you have for yourself. If it sounds like too much trouble…well I hope you have fun playing with pennies. No seriously I hope you are enjoying that couch of yours. Go and get comfortable because you will not be the one that receives a call back. Although it may take a year or two for this economy to find its feet again, it absolutely will and when it does the bar will have risen with it. The question will be whether you are ready to meet the challenge.