It's not the end of the world

The hundreds of thousands of workers who have been laid off recently probably don't see the current job market as one filled with prospects. However, a handful of those who have recently become jobless do not have to worry as much as the others: Elite CEO's and professional sports coaches and executives.

In addition to golden parachutes, contract buy-outs, and high net worth to fall back on, failed CEO's and coaches keep their tickets to a hiring carousel.

Conde Nast Portfolio has a pair of articles on careers that continue despite previous failures:

Carmen Noble on CEO Recycling and Neil Smith on Finding Talent in the Sports World.

Both articles provide insights you can use to redirect job seekers' frustrations in their own job searches. When someone complains about CEO's taking the money and running, remind them of two points:

1. ..."it's not uncommon to find a hire based on the idea that it's better to go with the devil you know versus the one you don't. Or ownership may have a personal bias toward a candidate that has little or nothing to do with their likely effectiveness." - Neil Smith

This certainly happens in all job searches.


2. Forces that job seekers can control (qualifications, hard work, applications) have the greatest impact on their success. Job seekers will not succeed if they focus their energy on the hiring and firing of CEO's, rise and fall of the stock market, and the housing bubble.