Simply Hired Blog

Simply Hired Releases 2009 U.S. Job Trends Report

Today, Simply Hired released its inaugural 2009 U.S. Job Trends report, outlining year-over-year employment trends by metro region, state and industry. The report is based on Simply Hired’s extensive analysis of unique jobs from the first quarter of 2008 through the close of 2009.

The information gathered and analyzed from the Year-Over-Year Trends Report allows Simply Hired to provide insight into which industries and metro areas have the most open positions. For example, one industry that has recently been growing and continuing to hire is healthcare. We have seen unique jobs for Chiropractors increase by 43 percent, Dental Assistants by 20 percent, and Massage Therapists by an amazing 166 percent. The financial industry also appears to be on the rise with Loan Officer unique jobs up 81 percent and Financial Services Sales Agents up more than 40 percent.

Check out some of the other trends we are seeing below, and utilize these statistics in your job search! Maybe now is the time to consider that job you’ve always dreamed of but never pursued – like teaching or tutoring?

Other positive Year-Over-Year findings by occupation include the following:   

• Teachers and Instructors—unique jobs up 389 percent
• Detectives and Criminal Investigators— unique jobs up 276 percent
• Fish and Game Wardens— unique jobs up 200 percent

On the flip side, some of the positions that experienced an extreme decrease in postings include:

• Actors— unique jobs down 87 percent
• Proofreaders and Copy Markers— unique jobs down 85 percent
• Petroleum Engineers— unique jobs down 84 percent
• Amusement and Recreation Attendants— unique jobs down 67 percent
• Photographers— unique jobs down 63 percent

Year-Over-Year findings of interest by geography include the following:

• St Louis, Missouri takes the prize for being the only metro area that remained in the black, with more than nine percent more jobs available today than in 2008
• California has 21 percent less jobs available overall, but remains strong with more than 400,000 available jobs today—the most of all the states
• Virginia lost the least amount of jobs, down just 12 percent over last year

Read the full press release.

New Year, New Job!

It’s a new year and a new decade, so why not start it off on the right path to your dream job? Finding a new job is top of mind for many people this year--even for those currently employed. In a recent poll, 27% of users on SimplyHired.com were already employed, but are planning to look for a job in 2010 because they are either unhappy with their current jobs or looking to move up in their careers.

Job search is even staking a place in the time-honored tradition of making a New Year’s resolution. Taking the place of resolutions such as "get in shape" or "quit smoking," resolutions for over 7 out of 10 Simply Hired users polled (72%) related to their career. This seems to be reflective of the current economic situation as we start the year at a national unemployment rate of 10%. While a majority of people are making the career resolution to "get hired" in 2010, the next most popular career resolutions are related to learning new skills and improving their work/life balance. 

 In 2010, overwhelmingly the main goal for users on SimplyHired.com is to "find a job I love" with 82% of user responses. The next most popular goals include "challenge myself" and "get a raise."

Here’s to finding a great job, keeping resolutions and a great 2010!

Vote for Simply Hired in the Shorty Awards!

The Shorty Awards have returned for their second year, and are in full-swing of accepting nominations for the best people and organizations on Twitter in a variety of categories. The Shorty Awards are unique awards designed for the Twitter community, by the Twitter community. Categories include everything from best applications to best nonprofit. Check out the full list of official and community-created categories here.

Simply Hired has been nominated as the best in two categories: jobs and careers. If you have an active Twitter account, you can easily give Simply Hired a little love and vote for us as the best company on Twitter for jobs and careers. Rules and directions on how to vote are below.

To find out more information on the Shorty Awards visit their website, and check out the video from last year’s awards ceremony. Voting ends on Friday, January 29th at 12pm PST, so get your votes in before then!

Rules:

• You must have an active Twitter account prior to voting. If you create an account just to vote, your vote won’t be counted.
• Votes must appear publicly. If your Twitter account is private, your vote will not count.

How to Vote:

• Go to http://shortyawards.com/
• In the text box, type: “I nominate @SimplyHired for a Shorty Award in #jobs because…” Fill in the because section with whatever you would like to say.
• Then, you can vote for Simply Hired again in the careers category: “I nominate @SimplyHired for a Shorty Award in #careers because…”
• If you vote for Simply Hired twice in the same category, your second vote will just overwrite your first vote.

Thank you for voting for Simply Hired in the Shorty Awards!

Share the Job Search Love

With all the enhancements that we have recently made to our search results page, one in particular that we would like to share is well, our new "Share" feature. Searching for a job is something that doesn't have to be done on your own. In fact, since many jobs are filled through referrals and networking, the more people that aid in your job search, the sooner you will be employed!

So say you’re searching for software engineering jobs on SimplyHired.com and you find one from Apple that sounds perfect for you. But maybe you have a question about the work there, or you want to send a note to contacts you know there to see if they could hand in your resume. The Share feature allows you to email the job listing, or share the job listing to your Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter accounts.

After you click the Share link below any job listing, the Email option automatically pops up. Just type in your name and email address, and the email address of the person you want to send the listing to (or even your own as a reminder to apply later), then click send. An email will be sent containing a link to the job. 

You can also share job listings on Facebook as a message to specific friends, or use your status to post the link and broadcast to your friends. Just click the Facebook link and sign into Facebook. There you will be given the option to include you own message along with the link, such as "Hey Tom – could you hand in my resume to the hiring manager?" or "Anyone know someone at Apple I could ask about this position?" Hopefully some of your Facebook friends can help you out!

In addition, you can share links to job listings through your Twitter account after following the respective link. Your tweet is pre-populated, however feel free to tweak your tweet to the message you’d like to convey.

Finally, you can share job postings with your connections on LinkedIn. You have two basic options here: share the job and a message with connections that you specify, or to any of the groups you are a member of on LinkedIn along with your own comment.

Informing your networks about your job search and the kind of job you're looking for can actually expedite the job search process. Leveraging your social networks transforms your job search from a one-person task to a team activity. You may be surprised at the opportunities that arise when you have help!

Best Companies to Work For in 2010

CNNMoney / FORTUNE just released their 2010 Best Companies to Work For list this morning, containing the top 100 companies with the best pay, benefits, culture, and work life. Interested in working at one of these best companies? We make it easy for you. In addition to a blurb about the company on each employer’s profile page that made the cut, you will also find a Simply Hired widget listing openings at that employer.

This year, the top 5 companies on the Best Companies list are

1. SAS
2. Edward Jones
3. Wegmans Food Markets
4. Google
5. Nugget Market

FORTUNE also highlighted 22 companies on the list that are doing some major hiring. These companies each have over 500 positions open right now, totaling over 87,750 jobs! Not surprisingly, many of the companies that topped the 100 list also made the hiring list. The top five hiring companies include:

1. Edward Jones
2. Wegmans Food Markets
3. Google
4. Qualcomm
5. Cisco

There are plenty of opportunities still out there. Find your next job at one of the nations best companies!