Two years after the start of the recession, the unemployment rate is still near double digits, which translates to millions of Americans looking for work. For every open job, employers have dozens or even hundreds of applicants eager to get hired. Yet many employers insist that finding qualified candidates is difficult, even in this economy. How can that be? These employers don't have a shortage of applicants -- they have a shortage of qualified applicants. For most positions, the necessary skills, experience and education requirements are firm and can't be loosened because of a lack of suitable candidates. Bad economy or not, employers need to know their workers are the best possible people for th....
While some people take their time choosing a job or career based on their passions or goals, others just want to know where they can get a job and when. During the economic downturn, it was difficult to be picky, but now that things are looking up, the abundance of jobs from which to choose should continue to get better with each passing year. Total employment is expected to increase by 15.3 million jobs during the 2008-18 decade, according to the most recent employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings from replacement needs (when workers retire or otherwise leave their jobs) are projected to be more than double the number of openings due to economic growth. Interested in....
For the past two years, as job growth has gone from nonexistent to lackluster, workers and job seekers have been waiting to hear good news. Job seekers on all fronts want good news. Unemployed job seekers need to pay the bills and get back in the work force. Employed job hunters want to get out of dead-end jobs and earn competitive salaries. College students on the verge of graduating are eager to embark on a career and use the education they accumulated over the past four years. The job seeker situation can be summarized in one word: frustrating. The economy is recovering, but the recovery is slow. If you're in need of a new job, it's too slow. You can't wait several years until things are back to t....
In the two years since the economy began its downward slide, health care has been one of the few industries that continued to rise. Because we're living longer than ever and the baby boomers are aging, demand for health care is growing. Understandably, many people think of health care as all about doctors and nurses. After all, when you go to the hospital or have your annual check-up, your interaction is usually with a nurse and then a doctor. All the lab tests and other work are done behind the scenes, so these positions get overlooked. The health care industry will continue to grow in the comin....
A good job can be hard to find these days -- but it could be easier, depending on where you live. Regional and state unemployment rates were basically the same for July as for June, with 18 states showing no change at all, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national average unemployment rate was initially given as 9.5 percent with 131,000 jobs lost. The BLS revised their numbers to reflect only 54,000 jobs were lost in July, which suggests workers had a better month than expected. Although 18 states and Washington D.C. reported unemployment decreases, you need more than a month-over-month comparison to see how a state is handling the recession. In order to give you an idea of wh....
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