Best cities to find work

One definite advantage to finding a job is living in a city or state that has a low unemployment and plenty of jobs. If you find yourself in this category then you are indeed fortunate. However that isn’t the case for most people especially in this economy. It’s easy to say that the solution to this problem is to move where there are more opportunities. If you are young and with little obligations then you should be packing your bags and moving as soon as you can, but if you have a family and connections to a community it can be another matter entirely. Your spouse may have a job they don’t want to leave and your children don’t want to be uprooted and taken away from their friends and schools. It’s a tough decision that some folks do make.


So where are the cities and states with the jobs?

If you have a bit of pioneer spirit and you can rough it out for a while then the oil fields of North Dakota might be for you. In a previous post I wrote about the vast number of jobs available not only in the oil fields but also in the businesses surrounding it. Of course the downside to this type of “modern gold rush” is that the town isn’t really ready for an influx of people moving in which translates to lack of housing and services.

Forbes magazine recently came out with a list of best cities to find jobs. I was surprised that the top city was San Jose, California and Washington D.C. came in second. You would think that any place in California would be ranked high due to their financial problems and Washington seems out of place also because of the cut back in government employees. Forbes uses a ranking system of the number of posts per thousand people to rank the cities.

Usnews.com has also come out with a list of cities with low unemployment, unlike Forbes their list is comprised of smaller cities. The cities were ranked not only by low unemployment but also how much the unemployment has dropped in the past year or so.

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Finding your career and potential employers

Before you begin any job search you have answer a few questions, such as what kind of career do I want and what companies offer those kinds of jobs. For some folks that isn’t much of a challenge because they know exactly what they want to do and they probably have a good idea what potential employers to target for those jobs. But a lot of people are unsure about their career paths even if they have been in the work force for a while.


Researching career paths

In order to find out what type of career or second career you want you have to do some researching. One of the best places to start is on the Federal Government‘s website Occupational Handbook which gives a vast amount of information on all types of occupations. They describe the type of training and education needed, the average salaries, what the job entails and the general outlook of employment chances now and in the future. The website is very user friendly and the information is updated every year.

Targeting potential employers

As you probably already know the internet has taken over as the best place to look for jobs. There are numerous private jobs sites as well as state and federal sites that have current job listings. Since there is a great amount of information to go through, make sure that you do specific searches on your particular type of job.

Here are some related posts on job research

Research and job hunting

Job hunting in the internet age

Precise job hunting

Finding jobs through the stock market

Finding employers to target

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Are there more opportunities on the night shift?

Working late and overnight shifts can be difficult for some folks to get used to. We all have an inner clock that tells us when to go to sleep and when to wake up; if you mess with that there could be trouble. But there are some people who have no problems with sleeping during the day and working at night, in fact there are a lot of folks that do. If you are unemployed you might want to check out any opportunities working the night shift.


What are the advantages of working the night shift?

Usually companies have to offer an added incentive to working the night shift or the late afternoon shift and that is with a shift differential (money added to hourly wage). If you can stand the hours it can be a real bump to your paycheck. Another good reason for working at night is the lack of meetings and management that you would have to deal with during the day. You still have to work but without the distractions that occur during the regular hours.

Now if you are someone that doesn’t need a lot of sleep you can also get things done during the day such as running errands and outside work.

The Department of labor has a good website on all things pertaining to night work, check it out.

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Too old for certain jobs

If you were in your late 30s and you played football in the NFL you would definitely be considered old and on the cusp of retiring and that is certainly true of a lot of professional sports. However the vast majority of folks work in fields where age shouldn’t be a problem especially if it is in an office setting. So why are there people who are considered too old for certain jobs?


One of the most interesting fields where age is a factor is the technology and information field. For whatever reason companies love to hire young people for programming and IT jobs. I guess they feel that there are the only people who can keep with the all the changes taking place. It seems that kind of thinking would definitely waste a lot of potential talent that comes from older folks who have had to put up with tech. changes for many years.

Hopefully with the population getting older and the increased awareness of the value of older workers this idea of being too old for certain jobs will fade away. Unfortunately there are still people who believe that age should be factor when considering hiring someone or just keeping someone on the job. While there are age discrimination laws on the books some employers will find ways to circumvent them. If you are in that predicament you may want to think about seeking legal advice.

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Best jobs in 2012

This time of the year you will probably find quite a few articles on the best jobs of the year. Despite the bad economy 2012 will be no different although many of the jobs will sound familiar such as health care and technology. Besides best jobs there are also the stressful jobs and the top jobs for women. They are definitely worth checking out.

 

• From AOL: Best bets for jobs in 2012. The list starts out with biomedical engineering that should reach job growth rates of over 72 percent between 2008 and 2012. Engineering is always a good bet for job growth. Two of the top ten are in technology while the other positions are filled with retail, customer service and three entries with the health care industry. Retail comes in at number 10. 
• Forbes has a list of the most stressful jobs in 2012. Not surprisingly the top spot enlisted military soldier followed by firefighter and airline pilot. The rest of the list is Military general, police officer, event coordinator, public relations executive, C EO, photojournalist and taxi driver. I thought that a taxi driver would have been a little higher up on the list. 
• Monster.com has a best job list for 2012 as well. The first listed is an actuary, who helps determine insurance rates. It pays very well at 137,000 although I can imagine that it would probably take a while to get to that level. A security consultant Is next on the list followed by a physician’s assistant. It seems that you see more and more physician’s assistants in doctor’s offices which is probably why it is on the list. The last three are marketing consultant, biomedical engineer, and financial planner. (there was only six on the list) 
• Forbes also has a list for the top jobs of 2012 for women. The top position goes to secondary education which should have a 15% growth rate in the coming years. Anthropologist is the second on the list which is surprising because I ever remember it ever being on any top job list that I have seen. But I imagine that it would be very rewarding but the number of openings wouldn’t be that great. The rest of the list also has some interesting choices as well such as oceanographer, clergy and geoscientists.
• CareerBuilder.com also has a list that is pretty much the same as the one from AOL

Older workers competing for jobs

No one has to tell you that the competition for available jobs is fierce. Employers that are hiring find that they have plenty of folks vying to work for them. Just having the experience and the education wouldn’t really guarantee anything unless you are in a field that seems to always have job openings like the health industry or some technology fields. And if you are older and competing for jobs than you might think that your experience will win out over younger job seekers, of course that isn’t always the case.


What advantages does the older worker have?

Experience is probably the biggest advantage that older workers have and that isn’t just pertaining to work it also includes life experience that is gained by being in the workforce for so many years. they are seen a lot over the years and that makes them a valuable asset to any company.

Reliability is another feather in the hat of older workers. They see the whole picture and understand how important it is to be considered as someone who can be relied on. They know and appreciate that work is important.

A common misconception is that older workers are too set in their ways to learn anything new. That’s nonsense just because they have become a little older that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn anymore. There are lots of older folks that are going back to school today.

Just remember that you have a lot to offer any employer no matter what age you are.

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Fresh start to your job search

Another year ends and hopefully the one that just ended was a great one. You accomplished what you wanted and you were satisfied. You found that job that you wanted too. That doesn’t sound like last year does it? Well the New Year is upon us and as always the first thing that you need to do is stay positive because you have to believe that 2012 is your year of accomplishments! This is the year that you will find that job that you are looking for.


Forget 2011?

Well you don’t want to completely forget last year you need to remember enough to learn from it. You might have found some things that didn’t work very well and other things that were beneficial during the year. The key is not to dwell on the bad things or mistakes that occurred.

Start 2012 with a plan

You probably already have a job search plan but now is the time to reevaluate it. Are you spending too much time in one area and not enough in another? Maybe this year you can concentrate a little more networking and leaving your comfort zone. Or even a little creativity in your resume might also help.

You should also reexamine what type of work that you want to do. Are you heading in the right direction or is it time to change your course?

The New Year is a wonderful time to restart your job search with vigor and optimism.

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