Immigrant Latino Unemployment and tools to get out of the statistics

What can we - Latinos - do to take full responsibility of our own 'statistics' in terms of the job we are looking for and ways to get it.
There are many reasons to play smarter at these particular times, to do what makes sense in terms of building your professional brand, networking actively, using simultaneous job / business sources and keeping on top of the market trends and data.
One of the alternatives to play smart is to do what is called Research Informational Interviews which consist in the approach you'll make as a candidate to have a productive talk to a successful professional in the field of your interest regarding your own transition and ways to improve your own productivity as per that matter.
That way you can have a 'sense-check' on your own professional branding perception, get insiders info regarding a particular company or industry and upgrade your job marketing skills more efficiently. You shouldn't take more than 30 minutes of somebody's agenda to do this unless it is somebody you have a closer relationship with. Still, I wouldn't ever take more than 1 hour of anybody's time to have a conversation like this.
You can split the info you want to get on:
1. The Person: What are the tips that have made him/her successful on his/her field e.g. education, training, personal characteristics, etc. What are the lessons learned you could get from his/her track record and any tips for you.
2. The Business: Is it expanding or contracting? Are there any 'hot' skills in demand?
3. Feedback and Potential Referrals: Share in a very professional, tangible results oriented way your background and ask him/her to take a look at your resume, question on reference to potential strengths or areas you may consider to market more (or less) aggressively. Once you get good constructive impact and you consider there has been a positive conversation ask kindly whether he/she could refer you to potential employers on the field. e.g. Would you refer me to other people in the field who may have some useful info for my job market exploration process? Could I use your name as a referral to contact them? Do you know any organization that could be interested on my set of skills?
4. Be grateful, keep on touch but do not overwhelm your contacts with more info than they need to know. It is good to keep a presence among potential employers but do not ever push too much as any perceived despair could potentially leave you alone on your search.

Remember to be S-M-A-R-T in achieving your goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely).

Keep on top of relevant employment/unemployment data. Do not hide your head like an ostrich but keep it up looking for clues.

See below the link for the Immigration Latino Unemployment report published recently by the Pew Research Org and a brief summary of it.
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1120/immigrant-latino-unemployment-rises

“Unemployment and Job LossesChanges in unemployment during the recession reveal a rapidly worsening situation for foreign-born Hispanics, native-born Hispanics and blacks in the labor market. The unemployment rates for these groups increased by similar amounts from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. However, the number of unemployed persons increased at a much faster rate for foreign-born Hispanics.The unemployment rate for foreign-born Hispanics increased from 5.1% to 8.0%. The 2.9-percentage-point rise was greater than the 2.0-percentage-point increase in the overall economy as the unemployment rate for all persons rose from 4.6% to 6.6%.3 The unemployment rate for native-born Hispanics increased from 6.7% to 9.5%, and the rate for blacks went up from 8.6% to 11.5%. The increases in the unemployment rates for these groups were similar to the increase for foreign-born Hispanics. The number of unemployed persons in the U.S. economy rose by 3.1 million from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 44.3%. The percentage increase in the number unemployed was highest among foreign-born Latinos-58.3%, or 348,000 persons. Unemployment among native-born Latinos increased by 49.1% (329,000 persons) and among blacks by 34.4% (502,000 persons). Job losses are now widespread across the economy, but the construction sector remains the leading source of job loss for both Hispanics and non-Hispanics. Hispanics lost 343,000 jobs in this industry, and non-Hispanics lost 844,000 jobs. "

Having said that, look at the contrast between foreign-born and native-born Hispanics data regarding employment.

"Outcomes for foreign-born Hispanics were the worst by both key indicators of employment -- the percentage change in the number employed and the change in the employment rate.Employment fell for all groups except native-born Hispanics.
(...)"The percentage drop in employment was highest for foreign-born Hispanics. Their number employed fell 2.6%, in contrast with a loss of 1.7% for whites, 2.0% for blacks and 1.6% for Asians. "The employment rate for all groups, including native-born Hispanics, fell from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. The decrease was greatest for foreign-born Hispanics -- 2.8 percentage points. The employment rate for white, black and Asian workers fell 1.3, 2.0 and 1.5 percentage points respectively. "

A Final Thought: El hombre bien preparado para la lucha ya ha conseguido medio triunfo.Miguel de Cervantes

Global Nomads and FIGT Intn'l Conference

I had an amazing opportunity this last Friday to be part of the International Families in Global Transition Conference here in Houston where +300 people from everywhere came to join a wonderful dialogue and set of presentations and round tables oriented to maximize the learnings each on his/her particular field has gained by either living/working abroad or researching the subject.
I met a lady who has lived in 20 places in the last 20 years and some women who have faced the challenges of raising 'Third Culture Kids' by managing global careers around the world. Challenges are immense but the bridge that is being built for the new generations to cross is a wonderful and solid one full of inclusiveness, dialogue, listening, understanding and growth.
The connection among participants was very high as all of us some way or another had been a nomad or expatriate or inpatriate or foreigner or a returning local ...and we can all share the same boat by moving just forward using the tools available by the wonderful sharing achieved thanks to some pioneers on knowledge management on this field.
In conclusion, there are options, sources, blogs, web sites, people to talk to...but never again think you'll be alone crossing that bridge on your next move abroad.
Opportunities are infinite and it is up to you to grab them wherever they are.

As one of the facilitators shared:
'The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes'
Marcel Proust

Surprise! I've been cheated on and dumped!!!

'How did it happen?'' How did I not see the signs?'' I am just as surprised as anyone about this' 'It's been unexpected in so many levels' 'I thought it would never happen to me', after all, 'I've been always a top performer...'
Well, as much personal it may look like it is about being fired, terminated, downsized or whatever way you want to call it but as many may feel 'dumped'!

Were there signs you missed or just happened from nowhere? It is very likely there were signs indicating changes were on their way in the organization... or not.
1. Less clients or business profit.
2. More time to navigate on the web, to pause yourself during your day, to take a proper lunch out of the office sitting actually on a chair that is not the one in front of your computer.
3. Busy managers in very busy meetings.
4. A salary reduction, salary freeze, review of benefits...
5. Or none of the above.

Some phrases I've heard are:
'I had just played golf with my Manager three weeks before my termination and as I expressed some concern on the business situation he told me to relax as I was well appreciated in the company'
'My manager and I had a talk few days before and he told me I was a top performer that the company would never let go'
' I got a bonus the month before and then, this happened out of nowhere'

What does this mean? Can you do anything to stop it? Maybe yes or maybe not but there are certainly ways to minimize its impact and the transition between jobs.

Some ethical and very basic rules are:
1. Do the best with what you have as long as you have it=your job. Keep performing, do not allow the gossip get in between what you do and your achievements, do not be the 'bitch' at the office and keep the negativity outside of your vocabulary.
2. Keep networking extensively even more on these particular times. Do you still have a job? Great! now keep it that way. Ensure you can effectively highlight your professional contributions and job outcomes to managers, go and meet people from other departments, interact with other managers, expose yourself for success even outside the company. Have mentoring lunches with senior colleagues from other companies you admire, get their sense of the market and even some coaching on how to enable your success.
3. Use simultaneous resources to keep 'live' on the memory of key stakeholders in the job market. Get a linkedin profile, build an anonymous profile at a career job board (e.g. rigzone), google yourself and build your own brand not just on the virtual world but among your contacts.
4. Do not believe you are 'untouchable' but do not over stress about it, either. Keep the perspective and allow the benefits all of the above can bring to your career no matter what.

Build your future today, the one you have worked so hard to get, no matter what.

When it comes to the future, our task is not to foresee it, but rather to enable it to happen. — Antoine de Saint-Exupery