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Job Support Group Leader Newsletter
October 2007
Job market talking points
In last month's edition, we noted the hope that the Federal Reserve would step up and take action to reduce interest rates, which lowers the cost of borrowing for both consumers and companies. The Fed reduced the Federal Funds rate (the rate charged to banks for borrowing money) by 1/2%, easing the pressures on the credit markets and possibly saving many mortgage holders from large increases in their monthly payments. So there's good news for the economy for 2008.
As we enter the final months of the year, there are recent indicators that the growth path of the economy will continue. Consider the following:
- Job Growth: In September, the economy added 118,000 jobs, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics revised the two prior months with an additional 110,000 jobs. So the economy is on track to create 1.8 to 2.0 million jobs for 2007, over four years of solid job growth.
- Income Growth: According to a current study by Buck Consultants, an HR consulting firm, compensation plans for pay increases for 2008 will be above the expected rate of inflation (2%), which means real after-tax income gains for employees. The pay increase averages planned for 2008 are:
- Non-exempt staff: 3.8%
- Salaried staff: 4.3%
- Job Postings: In September, there were 4.2 million jobs posted on the job boards of the internet. Of the total, 2.9 million (69%) were new jobs posted in September. The strongest job groups were:
- Healthcare practitioners and technical workers (334,500)
- Management positions (303,400)
- Office and administrative support (268,500)
- Business and financial occupations (257,300)
- Computer and mathematical occupations (250,300)
- The uneven recovery: Every expansion period of the economy is unique. As of August, 2007, the top five states with the lowest unemployment were Idaho (2.4%), Hawaii, Utah, Montana, Delaware (3.0%) . The five states with the highest unemployment rates were: Kentucky (5.6%), South Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, and Michigan (7.4%). Clearly, some states are lagging behind the national average of about 4.6%.
Comments:
With total unemployment at about 7 million, there are enough jobs posted to quickly reduce the unemployed group if all those jobs were filled. In advising your clients about job search, the job posts with the most activity above may be helpful in giving them direction. Depending upon the state level unemployment rate where you operate, you may need to provide additional support and coaching to get results. Good luck in this mixed environment!
Job search successes
Have a job search success story to share? Email your comments!
Special Announcement
What Color is Your Parachute? author Dick Bolles offers support and comments on Work Ministry in the 2008 edition of his upcoming book! Thanks for your support Mr. Bolles!
Connecting with employers
One of your challenges as a job search coach is to assist job seekers in the effective use of time in job search. Helping them to set priorities and work toward those priorities should be driven by what works. Here's a survey by Mark Anderson, Execunet, on how Executive Search firms (and employment agencies) fill jobs:
- Source of Candidates & % of total candidates
-Networking 39%
-Online Search Engines/ Corporate Information Services 14%
-Online Job Postings 13%
-Firm’s database/resume file 10%
-Online Resume Databases 8%
-Advertising 4%
-Online Social Networks 3%
Comments:
Recruiters at search firms and agencies are filling 39% of their job orders using networking techniques. Recruiters network by calling people at their workplaces. In advising your clients about job search, are you advocating that they network? If so, their networking efforts, to be most effective, must include making contacts with people in their field who are working, because those are the people the search firms can most easily find. Attending networking meetings to get referrals to people who have jobs is essential to networking success since that's how they get connected to recruiters.
The "Online social networks" noted refer to sources such as Linkedin.com, myspace and facebook. Linkedin.com is the most important. Job seekers, especially at professional levels, should have bios on Linkedin.com that include an email or other contact information. Recruiters are actively using Linkedin.com as a source of candidates and it should be part of the job search strategy of every professional level job seeker in today's job market.
Alliance Partners
We support the following resources in service to job seekers:
- BPWUSA.org Business and Professional Women USA
- HACE: Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement
- Jobkabob.com: sell your skills, not your work history.
- Career Concepts USA: Job Fair resource
Have a success story or best ideas for job search to share? Send an email to leader@workministry.com.
Reminder:
Workministry.com has a growing list of job posts as well as continual improvement in resources for JSG Leaders and job seekers. Please make a
point of asking your group members to check the site, review the job posts and respond or send along to a friend, relative or former group
member.
Editor’s Note:
The Job Support Group Leader newsletter and message board are all about you. Our goal is to create a forum for
sharing information that helps you fulfill your mission. If you have feedback, ideas or suggestions for either the newsletter or the message
board, please send email to: leader@workministry.com.
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