I was fortunate to be interviewed by Peter Clayton for his Total Picture Radio podcast. Listen to the podcast here.

Losing your job is one of life’s most stressful experiences – surpassed only by death and divorce. To help departing workers deal with the trauma of transition, corporations have long turned to outplacement consulting, which has been jokingly called “the industry that guilt built.”

Since their emergence in the 1960s, outplacement consulting firms have collected large sums from corporations to provide their transitioned employees with career counseling, the temporary use of office space and supplies, and other support services. However, these firms often come up woefully short in addressing employees’ most pressing need: finding a new job.

Outplacement today is a $3 billion industry – but it is one that is frustrating to both transitioned employees and their employers. Employees are frustrated because they have little use for what traditional outplacement services give them. For example, these services provide transitioned workers with the use of Grade A office space. That’s expensive for the employer, but the employees could care less. They don’t want to be looking out the windows of glass offices; they’d rather be at Starbucks networking online on their laptops.

Employers, meanwhile, are frustrated because they are tired of paying top dollar to outplacement firms for results that are rarely adequately measured and quantified. They’re also frustrated with having to buy everything (including the use of Grade A office space) in one packaged price, which includes enormous overhead.

RiseSmart Transition Concierge is a smarter solution. We provide high-touch, results-oriented outplacement services at a fraction of the cost of traditional firms. Our Web-enabled “Outplacement 2.0” approach is a disruptive innovation in a marketplace that has been paying too much for outplacement services for too long.

RiseSmart Transition Concierge: Outplacement 2.0

RiseSmart Transition Concierge provides transitioned employees the services they need most during this challenging time: help with marketing themselves through a rewrite of their resumes and cover letters; guidance from a transition specialist, including assistance in using online social networks; and – most importantly – actionable job leads from across the Web based on their specific criteria, for a period of up to six months.

To identify these job leads, a dedicated RiseSmart HR professional is assigned to each transitioned employee. Utilizing state-of-the-art search technology, the HR professional searches more than one million job listings across the Web, returning only the listings that best match the employee’s specific criteria. RiseSmart then listens to employee feedback to continually enhance the results it delivers to each transitioned worker.

In addition to its standard service package, RiseSmart offers an executive package that incorporates resume distribution services, weekly phone counseling sessions, and other high-touch services.

With both service packages, corporate clients receive a custom, company-branded portal where they can access detailed reports showing RiseSmart’s results for their transitioned workers. For more information about RiseSmart Transition Concierge, visit www.risesmart.com/transitionconcierge or e-mail transition@risesmart.com.

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Young Money magazine this week published my article offering career and financial advice to workers under 30. It’s called, Do You Have an Investment Plan for Your Human Capital?

An excerpt:

With all the hand-wringing going on these days about investments, home values, and the economy, the most important aspect of personal finance—particularly for younger adults—is often forgotten.

That forgotten element? Human capital.

Human capital is defined as “the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value.” Put another way, it’s the earnings capacity of your work. And at a time when stocks, bonds and other forms of capital are not looking like the best investments, there’s never been a better time for you to focus on maximizing your human capital

I go on to offer the following tips for growing your human capital:

1. Negotiate for a higher salary when you are offered a job.
2. Ask for a raise when you believe you deserve one.
3. Earn an advanced degree or gain high-value experience.
4. Network inside and outside your company to learn about new job opportunities.

Read the full article at Young Money.

We’ve been delighted at the attention we’ve received from news media and bloggers since our funding announcement on Tuesday. People are excited about the opportunity RiseSmart has to transform the way the Web works for $100K+ jobseekers, as well as for companies that are experiencing layoffs.

So please, tell a friend about RiseSmart — or sign up yourself today for a free three-day trial.

Here’s a sample of the coverage we have received:

VentureBeat:

While you may know TheLadders as a site to go to when you’re looking for $100K+ jobs, RiseSmart differentiates itself in that its human resource team searches for job matches on your behalf. Some people will undoubtedly appreciate that burden being lifted when compared to TheLadders, which focuses on self-search.

Mashable:

TheLadders.com claims it has about 35,000 recruiters and over 56,000 jobs while RiseSmart boasts a search of over 1.1 million listings across its sources, including Indeed, Jobster, CareerBuilder and Monster. It also includes many niche sites as well as the corporate sites of Fortune 1000 companies. The larger selection pool is a plus, especially since you aren’t the one sifting through it … If you’re going to pay for your job search, why not have other people do it for you?

The Deal:

Like peer TheLadders.com Inc. …, RiseSmart targets earners of six-figure salaries (and higher), but adds a wrinkle that allows people to search for jobs somewhat passively … RiseSmart’s Job Concierge product allows job seekers to enter their job preferences, then receive weekly reports of available jobs that match their desires…

San Jose Mercury News:

Silicon Valley startup called RiseSmart has raised $3 million in first-round funding from Norwest Venture Partners in a bid to outwit the outplacement industry … RiseSmart, [Sanjay] Sathe claims, can do a better job of helping people find new work at a fraction of the cost of the industry’s leaders…

RiseSmart typifies the valley’s knack for using technology to disrupt standard business practices. RiseSmart uses search technologies to scour and aggregate job postings that would be filtered to a client’s stated requirements, such as a locale or industry. Warm-blooded “human resources professionals” further refine the search, Sathe explained…

RiseSmart’s job transition package combines the “concierge” service with help in preparing résumés and marketing via social networks such as LinkedIn…

Cheezhead:

Sanjay Sathe, CEO of RiseSmart, said that while traditional job boards are struggling, RiseSmart is seeing success because their model is built around the job seeker. “The biggest problem for jobseekers is that finding the right job using job boards is extremely time-consuming and inefficient.,” Sathe said. “It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack. This is the problem RiseSmart was created to solve.”

The announcement was also covered by the San Jose Business Journal, Dow Jones VentureWire, paidContent.org, Silicon Valley Wire, Alarm Clock, Texas TechPulse, and the New York Times DealBook, among other outlets.

RiseSmart is pleased to announce that we have received $3 million in Series A financing from Norwest Venture Partners of Palo Alto.

As some of you may know, RiseSmart relocated from Dallas to Sunnyvale a few months ago; we did so partly in anticipation of this announcement and working closely with NVP’s Venkat Mohan, who has joined RiseSmart’s board of directors. We are proud of the confidence NVP has placed in RiseSmart.

So, what will we do with the money?

RiseSmart’s business model is based on listening to our customers. We adjust the job results we deliver to jobseekers based on their feedback. We have made important improvements to our outplacement service based on the suggestions of our corporate clients. We expect to continue to grow and enhance our services to better serve our customers.

Here’s the full news release:

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec 09, 2008 — RiseSmart, a $100K+ job site and HR service provider that delivers human-powered job search and corporate outplacement services via the Web, today announced that it has secured $3 million in Series A financing from Norwest Venture Partners (NVP). RiseSmart also announced that NVP general partner Venkat Mohan has joined the company’s board of directors.

RiseSmart uses Web technology supported by a global team of HR professionals to free senior-level professionals from the labor-intensive task of online job search, and to provide corporate clients a cost-efficient, results-oriented alternative to existing outplacement services. The company was founded in February 2007 and received $1.5 million in seed funding across 2007. RiseSmart launched services commercially in February 2008.

RiseSmart’s consumer service offering is RiseSmart Job Concierge(TM). RiseSmart Job Concierge identifies and screens job openings for $100K+ jobseekers, saving them time and frustration in their Web-based job searches. For corporate clients, RiseSmart Transition Concierge(TM) bundles RiseSmart Job Concierge service with resume preparation and other transition management services to assist a corporation’s laid-off workers.

“Norwest Venture Partners is excited about the opportunity RiseSmart has to transform the way jobseekers and employers use the Internet for job search and transition management,” said Mohan. “While other service providers may talk about personalized service, RiseSmart is the first company to truly deliver on this promise - with sophisticated technology backed by trained HR professionals who are engaged in every search.”

“RiseSmart has made significant progress since introducing service earlier this year. Our RiseSmart Job Concierge customer base is growing steadily, and we are making great strides with RiseSmart Transition Concierge - securing agreements with Fortune 500 companies to provide ‘Outplacement 2.0′ services for their transitioning employees,” said Sanjay Sathe, founder and chief executive officer of RiseSmart.

“With the current uncertainty in the economy and job market, people and businesses are looking for new job search solutions that save them time and money - which is exactly what RiseSmart delivers. The infusion of capital from NVP will enable us to expand our offerings to more fully serve the needs of both jobseekers and employers.”

RiseSmart Job Concierge: Human-Powered Search Assistance

A 2008 survey by Kelton Research reports that the majority of online jobseekers spend an average of 50 hours per month searching the Internet for jobs. For $100K+ professionals, this kind of time commitment represents a significant opportunity cost.

RiseSmart Job Concierge is a subscription-based service for $100K+ jobseekers that assigns each member a dedicated HR professional who searches more than one million senior-level job listings across the Web, returning only the listings that best match the subscriber’s specific criteria. The global RiseSmart Job Concierge team, supported by state-of-the-art search technology, listens to customer feedback to continually enhance the results it delivers to each subscriber.

RiseSmart Transition Concierge: Outplacement 2.0

RiseSmart Transition Concierge is a Web-based transition management offering that provides high-touch service and tangible benefits to laid-off workers, while delivering real value to employers. By combining a sophisticated online interface with hands-on interaction with employees, RiseSmart Transition Concierge delivers the next generation of transition management services - Outplacement 2.0.

At a significantly lower cost than other transition management services, RiseSmart provides one-on-one telephone consultation, resume preparation and other career services to its corporate clients’ displaced workers. Then, RiseSmart provides RiseSmart Job Concierge service to each laid-off employee for a specified time frame or until a new job is secured.

About Norwest Venture Partners

Norwest Venture Partners (NVP) is a global venture capital firm that has actively partnered with entrepreneurs to build great businesses for more than 47 years. NVP focuses on investments in information technology including: software, services, enterprise and communications systems, semiconductor/components and Internet, media and consumer. The firm currently manages more than $2.5 billion in venture capital. It has offices in Palo Alto, California, and Mumbai and Bangalore, India. NVP has funded over 450 companies in the U.S. since inception, as well as several overseas investments.

About RiseSmart

RiseSmart offers job search and outplacement services for $100K+ jobseekers and corporations via the Web. For $100K+ jobseekers, RiseSmart Job Concierge is a human-powered job search service that prescreens online search results for time-starved managers and executives. For corporations experiencing job reductions, RiseSmart Transition Concierge offers high-touch transition management services through a cost-efficient and results-oriented “Outplacement 2.0″ model. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.RiseSmart.com.

In the midst of rising unemployment rates, it can be easy to worry where your next paycheck will come from. However, you can take steps to prepare for the threat of joblessness. Here are four tips to keep your career recession-proof —

1. Network. The more people you know, the better your chance of bouncing back in the event you lose your job. The more people you help, the more people want to help you. Sometimes, you can even network for your current employer with your next career move in mind. This is especially helpful if you can sense that layoffs are coming soon at your current workplace.

2. Save sufficiently. An adequate savings cushion will alleviate some financial pressure while you hunt for jobs. It can also help you pay for COBRA insurance, the costly option to extend your employee-sponsored health insurance for up to 18 months after you no longer work there.

3. Cut back expenses. If you can cut back on unnecessary expenses, you can save more for the future. It’s an obvious statement, but one that is much easier said than done. In the midst of working a steady job with good pay, it can be tempting to live a short-sighted life and spend frivolously. However, you can amass a savings cushion relatively quickly by cutting out extras like satellite television, massages, manicures, gourmet coffee, and reducing your food and clothing budget. Staying mindful of the long-term benefits makes it easier to save for rainy days — particularly with the media warning of an economic tsunami ahead.

4. Make yourself more marketable. Learn all the new career skills you can, make all the new contacts you can, and brainstorm ways to diversify your income. Remain focused and alert, always one step ahead. When it comes to your career, you hold the reigns, so don’t let anything take you by surprise.

Expect the unexpected and prepare in advance, and the worst-case scenario — should it come — will be a lot less painful.

A RiseSmart Blog reader posed a question in comments that I’d like to address as a separate post. In fact, I’d love for other readers to leave their career-related questions as well; I’ll definitely take the time to answer them whenever I can.

The question, from Deborah Tangeman, reads as follows:

I have just closed my mortgage company after being in business for 16 years. I am looking for a job and/or maybe a career change. I also have a BS Management degree from Pepperdine University.

Would Market Research be a good job with my background or should I stay in the mortgage industry?

What companies would you recommend with my experience and my age of 55 years? Can you help?

Deborah, I want to tell you how sorry I am that you’ve gotten caught up in the current housing and credit crunch. As I’m sure you know, there are thousands of others out there in exactly the same position.

Only you can decide whether it’s time to leave the mortage business. But I can tell you that making the decision to change careers is never easy.

First, there are the psychological aspects; if you’re like most people, your sense of identity is very much attached to your job. Even though the skills you’ve developed over the years can be applied to other careers, most of us tend to think of our experience in the context of a specific job, which can hold us back if we let it.

Start with a hard look at your resume. If it’s very industry-centric, you will need to disconnect the skills from their context if you are interested in changing careers. For example, “leading a 10-person sales team” is a skill that most companies would value, whereas “leading a team of 10 mortgage brokers” might be too industry-specific and get screened out when you apply for jobs.

The next step is to choose the career (or careers) you want to target. Think about things you want to do — market research, if that sounds interesting to you — and then study up on the field to learn the skills and experience required to succeed.

Perhaps in your job in the mortgage industry, you’ve had the opportunity to put together business plans, prepare competitive analyses, research industry trends, or do other work that requires the same kinds of research and analysis capabilities sought after in market researchers. In your resume, cover letter and interviews, you’ll need to map the skills to the job you want — not the job you had.

In a competitive job market like the one we’re in now, making a career transition is never easy. And it’s certainly not a picnic for workers 55 and over, because age discrimination is a very real problem. I’d recommend the following to increase your chances of finding your next job –

Shorten your resume. If a company says it wants 10 years of experience, it might not want to pay for 30 — and may screen you out without bothering to ask your salary requirements.

Network aggressively. Most jobs for 55-plus executives — particularly those in career transition — come from personal referrals. In situations where you’re seen as a individual rather than a demographic, you’re going to have a much better chance. (To make more time to network, we also encourage you to spend less time searching for jobs online by using a service like RiseSmart.)

Target “gray-friendly” companies. Through your networking and research, you should seek out employers where the leadership team skews older; these companies are less likely to view you as a fossil simply because you qualify for AARP.

Finally, Deborah, it’s important to be patient. I hate to tell you this, but research shows that when you’re 55+, finding a new management or executive job generally takes twice as long as it does for younger executives. Perseverance is the key to success — and this is truer the older you get.

We wish you the very best of luck in your search.