November 26th, 2008 
Journo I’m not sure who sent out the memo that everything we have done in the past to get jobs has changed, but it seems a lot of people have gotten it.
In my post the other day I made mention to how many teams are being inundated with resumes. In the last couple of days I have heard of other organizations that are feeling the onslaught; so much so, for some of them, it is affecting productivity.
People in this business know better than to drop off resumes or make excessive phone calls to a team. “No you cant speak to the owner, and no we are not hiring.” Those are the messages you are likely to receive from worn out receptionists across the area. As I say time after time (I think I am going to make it my new mantra) it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. In instances where I know teams are hiring right now, they are not calling people from the their filing cabinet full of resumes. Instead, new team hires are coming through recommendations by existing employees to team managers and crew chiefs.
Right now the teams being targeted are small organizations with stability. And you can bet as more and more of these teams make announcements for next season, the resumes will come pouring in. The important thing to remember with these teams though is how tight knit they are. It may be as hard, or harder to get on with one of these organizations right now.
I know times are hard and people are starting to get desperate, but now might be the time to take a step back and look at opportunities outside the sport for at least the immediate future. I think a lot of teams believe things will be drastically improved by this time next year. I’m sure many of the organizations without sponsorships will begin to pick them up as we move through the season.
Remember that just because times are hard, that doesn’t mean the game is any different. If you are looking for a job, do the same things you have always done. Make phone calls, cultivate leads and let people know you are available. Eventually things will get better.
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Right now, the strategy with the teams not named Roush, Hendrick, Childress and Gibbs, is to try and hold their breath long enough and somehow survive this.
Anyone who is still working for one of these organizations should be thankful they have survived the cuts, so far, and bust their hiney to do whatever they can to help their team make it.
If you’re out of a job or trying to break in, this is next to an impossible time to expect something positive to happen. As Journo said, do what you have to in order to survive this and stay in touch with those who have kept their positions. There’s an old saying that’s never been truer, “If its meant to be, it will happen.”
I think the short term economic mess after 9/11 deceived many people about the overall strength of the US economy. For years, I’ve felt that this has been a house of cards that was just waiting to collapse. Nascar is a microcosm of the US economy. There was and still is way too much strength at the top and not enough shared prosperity. You can’t run a prosperous sport when all of the power is held by a chosen few. When that happpens, this is what you get.