Job Search Tips

Is your job search off to a slow start or stuck in a rut? These time-saving tips will help you jump start your job search and get into gear.

Job Search Advice

Given the concerns about the economy, new jobless claims up to over 400,000 last week and record high it shouldn't be a surprise that employee confidence in the job market and the ability to find a new job has declined.

Employment Confidence Survey reports that 56% of employed adults and 91% of unemployed adults survey think the recent volatility in the economy and financial markets will impact their career, job or job search.

When it comes to losing a job, employees are actually more worried about their co-workers than themselves. Employee concerns over being laid off themselves dropped to 16%, but 32% are concerned about co-workers being laid off in the next six months.

As far as finding a new job, 36% of unemployed job seekers report they are uncertain whether they will be able to find a job in six months. 33% of employees and self-employed workers believe it is unlikely they would be able to find a job matched to their experience and compensation levels in six months.

One way to alleviate concerns about whether you'll lose your job and how long it will take to find another position is to. Regardless of how good a job you do and how highly regarded you are by the company you work for, companies sometimes have to make tough decisions. Those decisions often involve staff cutbacks.

If you have an up-to-date (and, no, resumes are not obsolete regardless of what some people think), a draft you can tweak to match the jobs you're applying for, a that will attract recruiters and a strong base of networking connections, you'll be positioned to job search immediately - if and when you have to.

Even though losing your job can happen to anyone, the better prepared you are to find a new job, the easier it will be to find one and, sometimes, a layoff can be the push in the right direction you need to find a new and better job and career path.

The minimum wage will increase in eight states with minimum wages which adjust each year to keep pace with inflation. Colorado, Montana, Ohio, Oregon and Washington have announced increases effective January 1, 2012. Arizon, Florida and Vermont will be announcing minimum wage increases soon.

States With Minimum Wage Increases

• Arizona - TBD
• Colorado - $7.64
• Florida - TBD
• Montana - $7.65
• Ohio - $7.70
• Oregon - $8.80
• Washington - $9.04
• Vermont - TBD

The is $7.25 for covered non-exempt employees with some exceptions for certain types of workers, but, as you can see some states pay more than the minimum. Use the Department of Labor's to get information on the minimum wage in your location and information on when employers must pay overtime.

There are many options for getting career advice and resume and cover letter writing help online.

It's a time saving way to get career assistance, but it's important to choose the right counseling or resume writing service so you are sure you are receiving qualified and quality assistance.

There are many websites and individuals that offer fee-based expert career advising and services. When utilizing these it's important to consider who is an expert and how they are qualified to help you. Some are credentialed professional career counselors or resume writers. Others are not.

Wednesday October 5, 2011

September job cuts were 126% higher than August, according to the latest report on monthly job cuts from global outplacement firm with 155,730 layoffs last month.

Layoffs were 212% higher than last September, when employers announced just 37,151 job cuts. Last month's total is the highest since April 2009, when 132,590 job cuts were announced.

This is not good news, obviously. However, what makes it really bad news is that even though there hasn't been significant job growth, companies weren't laying off workers in large numbers - until now.

The increase in the number of layoffs means the economy is losing jobs again and not creating enough new jobs to offset the losses. The unemployment rate will go up and there will be even more unemployed workers competing for every single job opening.

To compound this situation, the federal long term unemployment benefits (up to 99 weeks for some unemployed workers), leaving the newly unemployment with state unemployment benefits of up to 26 weeks unless legislation is passed to reinstate them.

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