Glad Tidings Re: Job Openings

According to Indeed Inc., which runs indeed.com, one of the job search web sites I utilize which aggregates a lot of jobs in one place, there is quantifiable growth in job openings as proven by internet postings.

According to James Hagerty and Joe Light's article in the Journal, it looks like new areas of growth are in retailing (hey, must be! Growth in spending in 2010 at the busiest time of the year for retail, Christmas, is inching up towards double digits from year ago), accounting, consulting, health care and telecommunications.

Indeed Inc.'s data may be misleading (as statistics are wont to be). Some jobs simply aren't posted online. That's why it's always good to do things like network face-to-face or ask politely for informational interviews from someone whose successful in the field in which you want to work. (Don't mean to toot my own horn but I worked a lot in the help-get-people-jobs field: job coach, employment counselor, whatever you want to call it--I could shape up a resume and prepare someone for an interview in an hour.) Word of mouth is also important. Let people know who you are. Have a business card (you can make them cheap at different copy places around the city) to hand off to a busy person who might not remember you.

Sorry for the tangent. Farming, manufacturing and construction jobs aren't generally posted online, while computing and mathematical jobs are overrepresented, said June Shelp, an economist and vice president for the Conference Board, a private research group.

To be sure:

[T]he postings data offer only a partial and unofficial look at the labor market. Job losses in the recent recession have been much worse relative to output declines than in previous slumps, and official payroll data so far haven't shown signs of a big rebound in hiring.

While some big companies are expanding, others are merely replacing workers who are retiring or otherwise moving on. and many of the available jobs require experience and technical expertise that few job seekers can muster. Jobs that don't are still seeing a flood of applicants for each opening.

More on this article later. It's Christmas Eve Day and time for an egg nog break. I'll leave you now with some advice: in an interview, be there 5 minutes early. Show respect to everyone at the company on any level. Keep eye contact but don't stare at your interviewer as though your eyes were laser beams. And I totally recommend interview practice, practice, practice. That's what best friends are for.