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State of the Job
Market Columns |
January 31, 2003
By Brian McCullough, Head Writer,
ResumeWriters.com
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As always, this column and our data is provided by the
professionals at ResumeWriters.com.
Learn how we collect our data here.
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For our first State of the Job Market
report, we thought it might be valuable to explain the data, and show you
how to read it. This index can be used as a tool to reflect the general
strength or weakness of various job sectors, as well as the job market on
the whole.
About the Data
Resume Writers are some of the only
professionals in the world who deal with the job market, day in and day
out.
Resume Writers tend to know what is working and what isn't
working in the never-ending battle to find people new jobs. They have to,
if they're going to successfully help their clients. The ground-level,
real-world nature of the profession means that professional
resume writers also know which industries their clients are being
successful in, and which industries are proving difficult. In other words,
they know which industries are hot, and which are cold, when it comes to
the job market.
At ResumeWriters.com, we noticed this from our first weeks in business.
We saw the tech meltdown coming months before the NASDAQ collapsed. We
often know if a given industry is about to suffer a wave of lay-offs, even
before anything is announced. We can see this because 1) we suddenly get
flooded with clients from a given industry and 2) our clients report that
available positions have dried up.
We've always wanted to find a way to make this knowledge available to
the general job-seeking public. After all, knowing which industries are
hiring and which are not... knowing which sectors give you the best shot
at success... this sort of information can help people find work faster,
and help others know ahead of time when they might need to start looking
for a new job.
Our State of the Job Market data is designed to get our unique insights
out to the public.
Please note: This data is not
entirely scientific or statistical. Our process is simple: every month, we
contact a cross section of our writer network and ask them for their
impressions. We then combine that with our sales data, reflecting the
number of clients we have worked with in each industry. By synthesizing
the professional opinions of the writers and the hard numbers of our sales
figures, we come up with a rating that we feel reflects the current
strength or weakness of a given job market.
Here are some examples of how this might
work:
One month, our sales data show a
flood of new clients in the banking and finance industries. When we poll
our banking and finance writer specialists, they report that clients are
telling them layoffs are on the way. According to the writers, the flood
of resumes is coming from clients currently employed, but preparing
themselves for the possibility of a job chance. Sure enough, the weeks pass and we
hear of layoffs at brokerage firms.
Or...
The writers across our network report that their clients are having
great success finding jobs in law enforcement, security and homeland
defense positions. The writers say that no sooner does a client send out
their resume, then they have half a dozen interviews lined up. They also
report that clients from other industries and making career changes,
entering this industry for the first time. Thus, we can deduce that those industries are hot and
expanding. All we are trying to do with this service is help keep the
job seeker informed. Our overriding philosophy is that looking for a new
job is one of the most excruciating processes in the world, and there is a
woeful lack of support and resources for people in this difficult stage of
life. By providing this information, we hope to help job seekers gain a
strategic advantage. Reading the Data
Obviously, we are using a 10-point scale. A job market
rated "9" would mean it's extremely easy for a qualified candidate to get
a job in a given sector. A rating of "2" would mean just the opposite:
even highly qualified candidates are having a tough time finding work.
Obviously, each job sector has it's own unique nature.
That is to say, the job market is inherently different depending on if
you're looking to work in a call center, versus becoming a brain surgeon.
Obviously, anyone can get a job asking if you want fries with that, but
not everyone can get a job working as a nuclear physicist. We do our best
keep this in mind. Thus: let's say Customer
Service/Retail and Biotech/Science are both rated a "4". That
doesn't mean becoming a physicist is just as easy as getting a job folding
sweaters in the mall. It just means that for qualified candidates,
the job markets are similar in strength. So
what rating constitutes a strong job market versus a weak one? We think
it's helpful to consider that any rating between 5 and 6 constitutes a job
market in normal health. Any rating below 5 means that the job market is
depressed. Any reading above 6 means the job market is hot in that
industry. Composite and Average
The composite figure gives a number value to the
overall job market. A rating of 150 would mean a job market at normal
health. Above 150 would mean a strong overall job market, and below would
mean a depressed job market.
The average figure uses the 5 to 6
point scale mentioned above to judge the health of the overall job market.
The
above reporting is taken from polled evidence and personal impressions, collected from the career
professionals at ResumeWriters.com.
ResumeWriters.com does not collect or share personal data
from it's clients. Information reported is of a macro, and not personal
nature.
Learn more about how we collect our data
here.
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