Search Results
Hire Ground: Private sector provides encouragement for job seekers
Before getting into the list of job-seeker events for the rest of this month, I thought it was necessary to point out some recent jobless figures this week that may have gone unnoticed amid the good news down in the Gulf of Mexico. On the same day the knuckleheads at BP finally found a way to cap its spewing oil well after three months, the job seekers of Washington state quietly received some encouraging figures about the steady trickle of new jobs being created. For the last three months of...
Hire Ground: Don't let the 'unemployed' stigma hold you back
In an ongoing crisis, such as this country's appalling unemployment rate, some job seekers begin to see bad news around every corner. When a weeks-long job search starts to be measured in months and years, it's easy to let fear run rampant in your mind about conspiracies and the like. Take the recent flap on some blogs and news reports about companies that are posting want ads explicitly stating that no unemployed people will be considered for new positions. In the echo chamber of the Internet, this story has rattled...
Career Center: As economy improves, employees gain confidence to quit jobs
More people quit their jobs in the past three months than were laid off — a sharp reversal after 15 straight months in which layoffs exceeded voluntary departures. The trend suggests the job market is finally thawing.
Career Center: Summer jobs for teens dwindle
This year is shaping up to be even worse than last for the millions of high-school and college students looking for summer jobs.
Nine to Thrive: What's your summer vacation situation?
So how was your long holiday weekend? More important, how are your summer leisure plans shaping up? [Image by Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com] For months, we media types have been regaling readers, viewers, and listeners with hiring and shopping statistics in an effort to prove that the once-falling sky has been shored up at long last. And with summer travel season officially underway, we now have a new yardstick by which to measure the nation's tortoise-like economic recovery: whether people plan to travel this June through September, and how they plan...
Career Center: Job picture brightens; older workers struggle
Washington's economy added 5,800 jobs in April, the third monthly gain this year. Along with a drop in the state jobless rate to 9.2 percent, from 9.5 percent in March, the data suggest that Washington is finally — albeit slowly — starting to climb out of its recessionary pit.
Hire Ground: Construction jobs build hope of sustainable recovery
For most of the last two years, when there was news of yet another bad report of job losses, it was a safe bet that the leading industries were construction and manufacturing. After the housing bubble burst in 2007 and building projects everywhere ground to a halt, construction and manufacturing firms began shedding jobs by the thousands. That dreary context made yesterday's news from the Washington Employment Security Department (ESD) such a welcome surprise around the Seattle area. According to the state data for April, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate...
Hire Ground: What a year it's been -- No foolin'!
Today marks a full calendar year since I carved out my little cyberniche with this Hire Ground column. So far, I've posted more than 140 entries about interviewing tips, networking events, resume advice, development of interpersonal skills and some random thoughts about the state of the economy. My hope is that I've educated, inspired or at least entertained you during your job search. Gosh, it's been a great year to search for a job, hasn't it? In honor of my first trip around the sun as the Hire Ground scribe,...
