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Job Support Group Leader Newsletter
March 2007
Job market talking points
As a Leader of a job support group, there’s a lot of help and assistance you can provide to your members. One of your valued roles is to get good information in the hands of people who need it. Here are some factoids of interest:
- Average hourly earnings in the US in January 2007 are $16.76, which is up 20% from 2000. So the average employee is making more money.
- Spending power of consumers is all about low taxes and low inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, after-tax income is up for all levels of income. Inflation, which was 2.5% in 2006, seems to be under control as well, with expectations of 2.0%+ for 2007. So consumers can anticipate more spending power in 2007, if inflation continues at low levels and they get pay increases above the rate of inflation.
- College hires for Spring 2007 are expected to be up 17% versus 2006. Why does this matter? Such hiring activity has a “bottom up” push effect on job creation. If 50-75,000+ more college graduates are hired, that creates hundreds of Supervisory and Manager roles to lead and train the new hires.
Job search successes
A few months ago, a job seeker with a background in manufacturing and quality was really struggling to find opportunities of interest. He finally got a job offer and started in January. In late January, he got a follow up call from a company that had a position available several months ago, but was very slow in making a decision. He was pleased to hear from them, and despite just starting a new position, he decided to interview further and awaits next steps. He enjoys the comfort of knowing he has income and can stay where he is now or make a change for a better offer. We encourage job seekers to continue to maintain a low level job search after starting a new position, an effective backup strategy. Think of landing a job as just an interruption of the ongoing job search!
Connecting with employers
Job Fairs can be very productive time spent by a job seeker, enabling a person to meet representatives of up to a dozen or more companies in a few hours. But the time is most productive when a job seeker can provide the information essential to the recruiter to determine next steps. Some thoughts:
A company representative sorts resumes into three piles: follow-up, maybe and no interest. To get to the follow-up pile, a job seeker must:
-Do research on the company and know what potential roles they have to offer
-Do a presentation of skills and aptitudes relevant to the potential needs of a company
-Ask what the company is looking for related to the career area of interest
-Close with a statement of genuine interest in the company as a potential employer
Job seekers who seem uninformed or just “shopping” tend to end in the “no interest” resume pile. But if they perform a few basics steps well, it could produce a call or email!
Alliance Partners
We welcome a new alliance partner: Business and Professional Women, an association dedicated to women's issues of career management. Check out their site: www.bpwusa.org and explore their services as a resource for women. Find a chapter meeting near you and connect!
We support the following resources in service to job seekers:
- 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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