Category: Job Market

Volunteering to Gain Experience

It’s a challenge to break into a new a career.  Companies want experience when hiring, but you can’t get the experience they want without getting hired first.  This catch-22 is frustrating and difficult to overcome.  For college students, gaining experience is also important.  The job market for college students has been very tight.  Gaining a little work experience during college can help a person standout and land a job. 

The solution for many is to work internships.  An internship is a short term position where the intern is exposed to some of the work in a career field.  The company tries to provide an experience that will help develop the intern while gaining some benefits from the work performed.  Internships can be vary in length from a few weeks to more than a year. 

Historically, there have been both unpaid and paid internships.  Many people recognize the value of the experience they will gain and are willing to work for free to gain that experience.  For a college student, who is paying tens of thousands of dollars a year for an education, gaining experience without having to pay tution can be a good deal. 

The rules are changing, though.  The Department of Labor has indicated that it may crack down on unpaid internships.  The DoL considers an unpaid internship a violation of minimum wage law, since the company is not paying the intern the minimum wage. 

This change in policy could have a significant impact on the way college students gain experience.  Many companies will cancel their internship programs.  For many firms, the cost of managing the internship program and mentoring the intern exceed the value the intern provides.  Companies offer the internships to assess students they may one day hire and to help develop a new generation of professionals in their industry.  Rarely will the company gain significant value for the work the intern performs.  Usually, the company could have completed the same work much faster and cheaper by using the companies employees instead of an intern.

By requiring companies to pay interns, the government will eliminate a valuable professional development tool many college students rely on.  If you are in college, it will become even more important to land a paid internship while in school, and competition for these slots will increase.

Internships aren’t the only area where companies do not pay employees.  Many business startups rely on the contributions of a team of people before the company can start hiring.  Usually, these people are owners in the business and exempt from minimum wage law.  Occasionally, they are friends and associates who are willing to invest some time to build the business on the hope they will be hired when things take off.  For a senior executive, this tactic – trying to create the job you want – can be effective.  While job hunting, the individual contributes to a startup without pay.  Eventually, the company grows and the executive is hired into a key role.  These situations are likely to also be reduced by the DoL’s new policy.

Trends in the Job Market

We’ve all heard the unemployment rate, and that it will get worse before we start to see some improvement. On a national basis, this is a serious problem. For an individual job seeker, the concern is more personal – landing a single job. No matter how high or low unemployment is, the primary (or only concern) is whether you can land a job for yourself. Despite this, there is some interesting and useful information in the jobs data.

We’ve all heard the unemployment rate, and that it will get worse before we start to see some improvement.  On a national basis, this is a serious problem.  For an individual job seeker, the concern is more personal – landing a single job.  No matter how high or low unemployment is, the primary (or only concern) is whether you can land a job for yourself.  Despite this, there is some interesting and useful information in the jobs data.

Unemployment Claims

Yesterday, it was announced that 505,000 people filed new unemployment claims last week.  This is just over a hundred thousand people per day.  It’s a huge number.  Fortunately, the number does have some positives.  First, it’s 100k lower than were we were at the start of the year.  Second, we’re approaching parity with jobs created.  The number I keep hearing is 400,000.  At that level, the number of people losing jobs each week will roughly equal the number landing jobs each week. 

The 400k figure has some significant implications. First, it means 400k people are getting hired every week.  That’s 80,000 people every day.  If you are worried about the economy as a whole, that doesn’t mean much, but it you are a job seeker, it means a lot.  Every day you search for a job, 80k people are going to be successful.  Searching for a job is far from a hopeless activity. 

Job Postings

Looking at Indeed’s job posting trends, in October, there were just over 1.8 million job postings.  That’s a lot of jobs.  Divide that number by 22 (the number of work days in October) and you 81,000 – approximately the number of people landing jobs each day.  So, the job postings are also getting filled.  Companies are hiring people, even if it is at a lower rate than a couple of years ago. 

The competition for these jobs is high.  There’s no arguing that.  Right now, we have approximately 15 million people unemployed.  That’s roughly 8 people for every job opening last month.  Of those 15 million, roughly 1.8 million should land jobs in November, while 13.2 million won’t.  On a national basis, this is a major problem.  For your job search, there are 1.8 million positions out there and you only need one.

Geography

All locations are not equal.  Indeed.com has a great trend page showing the number of job seekers compared to the number of open jobs for different metro areas.  It’s no surprised Detroit is at the bottom of the list, and with all the government jobs, Washington, DC is on top.  (Check out the data: http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends/unemployment) 

If you’re in a city with a low ratio, you should be in good shape.  If you are not, your prospects are still not hopeless.  You just have more competition you will need to beat out.

Bottom Line

Some people will look at the stats above and get energized (80k people will be hired today) and others will despair (13.2 million people won’t get a job this month).  If you want to be in the 80k getting hired every day, you need to work at it and maintain a positive, energetic attitude.  If you don’t, you are much more likely to be in the 13.2 million.  Discouraged job seekers are making up a larger and larger percentage of the population and their prospects are very low.  They are much less likely to actively network, customize their resume and cover letter, prepare thoroughly for every interview and do all the little things you need to do to be successful. Staying positive during your job search can be as important a factor in your success as all the skills and experiences you possess.

Finding a New Career

In every recession, some companies and industries decline, never to come back. As painful as this process is, it is a natural component of our economy. Periodically, we clean house and get rid of companies who are not competitive. For the employees of these companies, the process is painful, frustrating and depressing. Making the situation even more difficult is the fact that the recovery will not bring back a lot of the jobs that were lost.

In every recession, some companies and industries decline, never to come back.  As painful as this process is, it is a natural component of our economy.  Periodically, we clean house and get rid of companies who are not competitive.  For the employees of these companies, the process is painful, frustrating and depressing.  Making the situation even more difficult is the fact that the recovery will not bring back a lot of the jobs that were lost. 

We have industries in decline and the recovery will not happen overnight.  The US auto industry will be much smaller in the future.  Cuts made at GM and Chrysler will lead to more foreign made cars and less domestic made cars.  For people in the auto industry, this means jobs are going to be few and far between.  Other industries are undergoing similar transformations. 

The strength of our economy is the ability to bounce back and reinvent itself.  Time and time again, we have had industries decline and collapse, only to be replaced by other industries.  This has led to mass migrations of people to areas with better job prospects.  One of the strongest images of the Great Depression is the small farmer packing up and moving from the mid-west to California.  This pattern continually recurs.  I grew up in Pittsburgh and watch hundreds of thousands of steel related jobs disappear in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s.  It’s part of the reason Steeler fans are everywhere.  Hundreds of thousands of people have moved to other parts of the country.

We’re going to see the same type of transformation over the next several years.  This could happen quickly, or it could take a while – in either case, it will happen.  If you are a job seeker, letting go of a job, employer, industry and home can be extremely difficult.  Many people struggle with imagining what their possibilities really are.  They also are reluctant to start over completely in a new field. 

If you are considering a career change, picking a new field or industry can be difficult.  There are some tools that can help.  One tool that can help narrow the search and uncover jobs you may not have heard off is O-Net.  O-Net is a website that allows you to search skills and identify the jobs that match your capability. 

O-Net provides detailed information on the jobs it recommends.  This includes information about the skills, education and experience required.  It also provides an assessment of the demand level for the positions to help you focus on careers with more demand than job seekers. 

Breaking into a new field can be difficult.  It’s humbling to go back to an “entry level” status after progressing successfully in an alternate career.  In the long run, starting over can pay huge dividends.  The new career can also provide a faster career path.  An experienced professional starting over should move up faster than someone without experience, and in a growth industry, there will be more opportunities to progress upward.

Sharpening the Saw

I spent several days last week in a training class. Professional development is important if you want to improve in your career. In today’s economy, it is even more critical. Unemployment continues to increase and job seekers continue to become more frustrated with the job market.

I spent several days last week in a training class.  Professional development is important if you want to improve in your career.  In today’s economy, it is even more critical.  Unemployment continues to increase and job seekers continue to become more frustrated with the job market.

There is a lot of talk about the recession being over.  We’re now in recovery!  Unfortunately, it’s being called a jobless recovery.  Companies have downsized to a point where they are profitable at lower volumes.  They are not in decline any longer.  They are also not growing or adding staff – they are only replacing key losses.  This could make the job market very difficult for an extended period.  It won’t last forever.  Job creation will return, but if you need a job now, that’s not much of a consolation. 

In the training class I attended, there were people stable in their careers looking to add a new skill, there were individuals looking for work who wanted to give themselves an edge in the job markets and others were looking to move in a new career direction and needed to add new skills to make the career change. 

These are great goals.  Additionally, by taking the initiative to find and attend a workshop, these individuals demonstrated a commitment to their professionals above what most are doing.  They are not sitting still. They are striving to move forward and grow. 

This is an important lesson in an economic downtown.  The number of discouraged job seekers has been climbing.  There are a ton of people who are out of work and have given up searching for a job.  An extended job search is frustrating and depressing.  There’s no way around that.  Being rejected over and over can make a person feel that their job search is pointless.  Unfortunately, if you adopt this view, you will be right.  Giving up will ensure an unsuccessful job search.

So what are you going to do?  Asking this question is a critical first step.  Running out and signing up for a training class is an answer, but it is far from the only one.  What is critical is what you are doing during your job search.  This could be enrolling in school, attending a workshop, volunteering at a local charity or any other activity that keeps you on a path of learning, growth and development. 

In additional to gaining some new skills, you will also help your marketability.  For people who have been out of work for an extended period, they are likely to face the question, “what have you been doing while out of work?”  Many will only answer “I’ve been looking for a job,” while a few will describe substantive activities related to their career that could make them more marketable.  If you were hiring, who would you pick?

Employment and Unemployment Trends

There’s a lot of talk about the economy and unemployment levels. Depending on who you listen to, you will hear the economy has turned around and is starting to improve or the economy is in a downward spiral and getting much worse. The truth is much more complicated.

There’s a lot of talk about the economy and unemployment levels.  Depending on who you listen to, you will hear the economy has turned around and is starting to improve or the economy is in a downward spiral and getting much worse.  The truth is much more complicated.

The reports can be confusing, especially if you only read the headlines.  For example, the most recent report showed a drop in unemployment, from 9.5% to 9.4%.  The same report showed the number of jobs in the economy decreased by 247,000.   So, how can we have less jobs and lower unemployment?  A big reason for this is the season adjustment to the figures.  The government adjusts employment data based on normal seasonal changes. 

Looking at the unadjusted figures paints a clearer picture.  Below are the unadjusted numbers for May, June and July (in thousands):
 

 
May

June

July

Change (May-July)

Number Employed

140,363

140,826

141,055

692

Number Unemployed

13,973

15,095

15,200

1,227

Total Workforce

154,336

155,921

156,255

1,919

Between May and July, the workforce grew by 1.9 million people.  Much of this is a result of students graduating and entering the workforce.  During this time, the number employed also grew, with 692,000 jobs added.  This lead to an increase in the number unemployed, as the number of new workers vastly exceeded the number of new jobs.

So, how could we added so many jobs at a time when the government is reporting job losses?  The government adjusts for seasonal changes.  For examples, many companies in the tourism industry add summer help, and then eliminate the same positions in the fall.  Ordinarily, these companies would have hired a lot of more people.  After adjusting for the typical summer hiring, we have had a loss in jobs. 

Is the economy improving?  The number of people employed hit a bottom in March and has improved since then, with over a million more people employed in July compared to March. During this same time, the number of people unemployed increased by 2 million.  Employment is increasing but at a slower rate than the workforce.  You can use these stats say the economy is getting better or worse.  Add in the seasonal adjustments and you can paint any picture you want.

The overall numbers are good to know, but what is really important is the affect on individuals.  Are people able to find jobs?

The most disturbing statistic is the number of discouraged workers.  A discouraged worker is a person who wants a job but has given up and stopped looking.  The government removes this person from total workforce.  Over the last ten years, we have averaged around 400,000 people who are discouraged.  In July, this total reached 796,000, almost 400k more than normal.

If you are discouraged, frustrated and can’t find a job, giving up may be tempting.  There are nearly 800k people who have done just that.  The economy is tough and jobs are scarce, but there are jobs.  Maintaining a positive attitude  and working hard in your job search are the keys to success.  It isn’t easy, but it is essential. 

Job Market Update

Career Builder recently released their 3rd Quarter forecast. It shows some encouraging and discouraging results. The number of companies reporting plans to reduce staffing levels in the next quarter has declined. That’s good news. In the 2nd quarter forecast, 17% of companies planned to cut staff, and now the figure stands at 10%.

Career Builder recently released their 3rd Quarter forecast.  It shows some encouraging and discouraging results.  The number of companies reporting plans to reduce staffing levels in the next quarter has declined.  That’s good news.  In the 2nd quarter forecast, 17% of companies planned to cut staff, and now the figure stands at 10%. 

Unfortunately, the report also shows that companies are slow to start to hiring.  The percentage of companies reporting that they plan on increasing staffing levels also declined.  The result is an increase in the number of companies holding staffing levels even.

This is good news if you are employed.  The odds of getting downsized are declining.  Companies made substantial cuts very quickly.  They are now leaner and able to weather a recession.  If you are unemployed, the outlook isn’t as positive.  Companies will replace workers that leave, but won’t add to the workforce.  This will make the competition for jobs high for the foreseeable future. 

Eventually, every recession will naturally come to an end.  People and companies are using up inventory and will need to replace it.  At home, this is putting off repairs to the house or keeping a car for an extra year or two.  In business, this is delaying equipment upgrades and replacements, new product introductions and investments in new product development.  At some point, everything will wear out and need to be replaced.  At that point, we will have tremendous pent up demand and the economy will start to expand. 

This may sound good in theory, but if you’re out of work and need a paycheck, it doesn’t put food on the table tonight.  To land a job, you need to show the value you will provide to the company.  The best way to do this is to show how you contributed in the past above and beyond expectations. 

Check out the full report at http://img.icbdr.com/images/jp/content/pdf/Q3-09-RBU.pdf

The Job Market for New Graduates

The job market is tough. Experienced and successful professionals are finding it very difficult to land an interview let alone a job. So, what are people with no experience that are just entering the workforce facing?

The job market is tough.  Experienced and successful professionals are finding it very difficult to land an interview let alone a job.  So, what are people with no experience that are just entering the workforce facing? 

For new graduates, there are less opportunities than in past years.  There three reasons for this.  First, we all know the economy has slowed and there are less jobs.  Second, companies are able to hire experienced workers much easier and prioritize skills that can make an impact immediately.  Finally, older workers that planned to retire are staying in their jobs, limiting the number of new openings.  All this is conspiring to create one of the worst hiring seasons for new graduates we have seen in decades. 

The situation is not hopeless.

The baby boomers will retire.  Many may be delaying their retirement, but they won't do this forever.  In the next five, ten or twenty years, our economy will undergo significant changes and there will be tremendous opportunities. 

If you are looking for a job right now, the potential opportunities five or ten years from now probably aren't getting you excited.  This potential doesn't pay your student loans.  You can position yourself to succeed faster.  A recent report from CareerBuilder shows some of the activities that give you an edge in your job search.  Their list includes:

  • Internships
  • Part-time jobs in another area or field
  • Volunteer work
  • Involvement in school organizations
  • Class work
  • Involvement in managing activities for sororities and fraternities
  • Participation in sports

If you just graduated, many of these are not possible.  The list does have a pattern you can use, though.  Each of the items lists an activity to demonstrate what you have done. 

If you just graduated, finding work in your field is critical.  This may require some creativity in your search.  Consider pursuing an internship or volunteer to work without pay for a specific time period.  If you can get in the door, work hard and show your potential, you will have a substantial edge over others when the company does hire.  

To do this, use you network.  Contact managers and executives you know and outline your plan to gain experience even if it means working for free.  Explain to the person how critical it is for you to gain experience for your long term potential. Most executives will try to help if they can.

To be successful, you need to do a few things.  First, you need to commit to work every bit as hard as you would if you were getting paid.  You will learn more by working harder, and you will demonstrate your work ethic and maximize the chance the company will hire you.  Second, you need to commit to a normal schedule.  Being on time and working the full day will show your commitment.  Third, track your activity throughout the internship.  You will use your work and accomplishments to land a job. Finally, make a commitment to the company that will give specific notice when you leave – one week, two weeks or more.  Be upfront about this.  You are more likely to land the internship and to get challenging work if the company knows you won't quit on a whim.

If you take an unpaid position, don't stop looking for a job.  Your goal is to land a job in your career field – not volunteer.  Gain experience to improve your marketability and leverage that experience to get the job you really want.  If you do this, you will have a substantial edge over your peers that just sit around waiting to get hired.

I'm sure there are a lot of people thinking, that after four years of college, it's crazy to go work for free.  In a booming economy I would agree.  You don't want to stagnate.  There will be new graduates that stay unemployed or take an unskilled hourly job for the next year.  If the economy is better a year from now, they will be behind the eight ball.  There will be a new class of graduates entering the workforce.  Who do you think will have the edge – the new graduate, or the person that graduated a year ago and has done nothing with their education? 

Supply Chain Career Trends

I added a number of supply chain career trends to the Palladian website this week. The job market has slowed, but some skills have held up better than others. The trends are taken from Indeed.com’s job trends, and track the number of job postings that include a specific keyword or phrase.

The job market has slowed, but some skills have held up better than others.  You can see trends in the job market using Indeed.com’s job trends and track the number of job postings that include a specific keyword or phrase.

One of the graphs I created lists major supply chain functions.  The graph shows distribution is much more common than the other terms, but logistics careers are holding up much better in this downturn. There are also graphs showing trends in job titles, terminology, technology, process improvement terms and professional certifications.

When you write your resume, include the keywords for your field.  Many companies use automated systems to do the first resume screen.  If you don’t have the keyword on your resume, it may never get read.

Job Market Statistics

Career Builder released their 2nd Quarter job forecast recently. The report showed a slowing in hiring – just as we would expect in our current economic situation. Companies are laying off workers, cutting hours, reducing benefits and freezing hiring. There were a number of positives in the report, though.

Career Builder released their 2nd Quarter job forecast recently. The report showed a slowing in hiring – just as we would expect in our current economic situation.  Companies are laying off workers, cutting hours, reducing benefits and freezing hiring. There were a number of positives in the report, though.

The hiring forecast surveyed more than 2500 hiring managers. As expected, more firms reduced the number of full-time employees as compared to the number of firms who increased staffing. In fact, the number cutting employment was double the number expanding. What is interesting, and a reason to be optimistic, is the number reducing staffing was only 26% of the hiring managers surveyed. The other 74% of firms either maintained staffing levels or increased them.

For many firms, maintaining staffing levels requires continued hiring. Employees will still leave and need to be replaced. In fact, some of the companies reducing staffing levels may still need to hire to replace the loss of key employees. Although only 13% of the hiring managers said they were increasing staffing levels, the number who are doing some hiring could be as high or higher than three out of four companies.

The hours worked per employee were less positive. Again around a quarter of the firms made cuts, but this time only 5% increased the hours worked. The difference between this measure and the measure of the number of employees is a results of how companies are reacting to the recession. They are cutting hours and benefits, while trying to maintain staffing levels. Every manager knows that the company who maintains their staff and is ready to grow coming out of a recession will gain market share. The challenge is cutting enough to survive the recession, but not cutting too much.

You can read the full report at http://img.icbdr.com/images/aboutus/pressroom/Q22009forecastreport.pdf

Job Trends

Indeed.com released a new tool providing trends for a dozen industries. The tool displays job market data from the job postings on Indeed.

Indeed.com released a new tool providing trends for a dozen industries. The tool displays job market data from the job postings on Indeed.

Indeed is a job aggregator. The sites pulls job postings from a wide range of websites, including job boards and corporate websites. It is a great resource for job seekers that want to search for jobs from a large number of sources at once.

You can see the job market trends at http://www.indeed.com/jobtrends/industry