Introduction

America today has about 15 million or more people truly unemployed. The current unemployment rate, at the time of writing this book, is hovering around 9.1%. The unemployment rate has lingered around 9% and above, slightly close to the 10.1% peak level during the recession. A huge number of the population is also underemployed, cloistered in the middle of jobs they really don’t like. Many of these workers are now cycling off federal emergency unemployment benefits. Consequently, there are millions who wake up everyday, either yelling at their jobs, desiring to have something else to do, or wishing they could have another job to supplement their tight budgets. So there’s so much fear in millions of homes on the dining table, especially for most Middle Class families, regarding their finances and employment conditions.

To make matters worse, the commonest song people hear by word of mouth or by watching too much Television is this: “there are no jobs out there.” Imagine hearing “there are no jobs out there;” obviously the first thing that comes into your mind is, “what am I going to do?” The average jobseeker searches day and night without end, hoping to jump onto some good job that could possibly solve the fears of life for their family and relations.

The situation has become so political that most of the companies that were bailed out 3 years ago with tax payers money, have decided not to start hiring, albeit with the alibi of “economic uncertainties.” Many companies have also shipped the millions of jobs that Americans were to do, to overseas nations, likeChina, apparently for cheaper labor thereby denying Americans employment opportunities in their own homeland.

It’s believed in some quarters that some American politicians from both sides of the political spectrum are manipulating the jobs situation of millions of people, whiles they themselves are fighting hard to keep their own jobs. However, many of the employers who are hiring also require a certain level of academic and professional skills and expertise, which the average person doesn’t have to fill in the job vacancy available. So the simple questions being asked everyday by millions are: Are there jobs out there inAmericatoday? If there are jobs, where could they be found? Are there jobs that my High School Diploma, or Certificate, or even Bachelor’s Degree qualify for? Can I make some six-figure salary without the need for a College Degree? What do employers look for during interviews? And if at all, what should I do during an interview to get hired? All these and other questions have informed the writing of this book as a good guide to anyone searching for their first, second, third or fourth job, or for the underemployed looking for an olive branch in the job market to hang on to.

For all these questions, the clearest answers are these: Yes, there are jobs in America today than are being reported; yes, there are good jobs, some with six figure salaries that require no College Degrees; and yes, employers are still interviewing but the format has changed and you need to update your knowledge and interviewing skills to be able to measure up to the scrutiny attached to the posted jobs.

This book seeks to provide the commonsense approach to tackling all these issues in clearer terms, giving you the carte blanche for getting your next job. I will provide you the best websites and job outlets for seeing and getting informed of where the jobs are. And if you are still worrying about your lack of College Degree, I will catalogue at least 16 very good jobs with good salary that you can immediately search into. Finally, when God smiles on you and you are invited for an interview, I provide in this book, a Human Resource insight into how employers expect you to behave and what they expect you to tell them in an interview to get their attention and possible hiring.

PART 1
WHERE ARE THE JOBS IN AMERICA TODAY?

WHICH SECTORS ARE HIRING?

Job Growth Sectors:

Regardless of whether the unemployment situation improves in the next few years or not, certain areas of expertise are reported by economists and labor experts to continue to become increasingly good bets for jobseekers for employment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, Payscale.com, CNN Money and Forbes, all recently reported in various articles that the following sectors and job titles will continue to enjoy great growth in employment for the years ahead:

• Information Technology
• Software Architect
• Database Administrator
• IS Security Engineer
• Software/Development Director
• IT Manager
• Health Care
• Physician Assistant
• Physical Therapist
• Dentist
• Nurse Anesthetist
• Healthcare Consultant
• Occupational Therapist
• Consulting
• Management Consultant
• Environmental Engineer
• Actuary
• Risk Management Manager
• Construction, Architecture, Engineering
• Civil Engineer
• Retail
• Sales Director
• Business Services
• Certified Public Accountant
• Project Manager
• Scientific Research
• Biomedical Engineer

This list not conclusive; there are many more sectors and jobs with potentially great growth rates. But a look at these 20 jobs and popular sectors above reveals that a potential employee needs a certain level of expertise to qualify for something like, a Biomedical Engineer. It’s estimated that between 2008-2018, Biomedical Engineers job will grow by a whopping 72%. The headache for the jobseeker then becomes whether they have the requisite skills and expertise to get hired as a Biomedical Engineer.

It has therefore become necessary, and as many labor experts advise, that students and job seekers yet to enter into any job market inAmericain the near future are guided by the moving trends in the sectors, and get educated or trained specifically for these fields. Getting a degree alone isn’t enough inAmerica’s job market today; getting the right degree is what matters.

Who’s Hiring Now?

Everyday, hundreds to thousands of jobs are advertized in various places by hundreds of companies and in various media outlets. As you read on, I’ve provided a list of some of the best websites to see and search for the jobs that are posted. But for now, let’s look at some of the companies who are, as we speak now, in the hunt for people to fill the vacancies they have.

From UPS to the auto industry to big corporations, there’s a range of opportunities for all. Some of the best companies on Forbes’ Best Places to Work list are hiring right now.

This below is not in anyway exhaustive, but at the time of writing this eBook, the following companies, among many others are hotly hiring:

i) United Postal Services (UPS): Operating in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, UPS sends more than 15.5 million packages daily. They are searching for people for fill positions in Distribution/Shipping, Transportation, Manufacturing and Sales. Salary range for a sales person is between $40,000 and $100,000.

www.ups.com

ii) Bridgestone: A firestone tire and rubber company operating in 25 countries. Top positions Bridgestone is hiring are in Retail, Automotive, Installation/Maintenance/Repair;

iii) U-Haul: Headquartered inPhoenix,Arizona, this is the largest provider of Rental Trucks and Trailers. Some vacant positions are giving salaries ranging from $20,000-$60,000;

iv) Wegmans Food Markets (www.wegmans.com): Forbes places Wegmans in 2011 as the 3rd best place to work in. Wegmans is in the Food Industry, and is currently hiring for hundreds of jobs for positions in Management, Business and Customer Service.

v) Boston Consulting Group: The 2nd best company to work for on the 2011 Forbes Best Companies list, Boston Consulting Group is currently hiring for several hundreds of openings in all categories and practice areas. Majority of people hired join as consultants or associates, and salary payouts are also attractive.

www.bcg.com/careers/default.aspx

vi) NetApp (www.netapp.com): Ranked 5th on the Forbes list of Best Places to Work in 2011, NetApp has openings in several hundreds of positions with particular emphasis on engineering and sales.

vii) Edward Jones (www.careers.edwardjones.com): This financial sector company has hundreds of openings for financial advisors, branch office administrators and headquarters associates. Financial advisors alone have 500 openings to be filled.

viii) Cisco (www.cisco.com/careers): Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Currently there are openings in over 4000 positions in research and development, sales, professional services, software engineers, and customer support, as well as other corporate positions including finance, HR, IT, facilities, marketing and legal.

ix) Whole Foods Market (www.wholefoodsmarket.com): Whole Foods Market has openings in all positions across the company, including store team leaders for their hundreds of stores.

x) American Express (www.americanexpress.com): This American multinational financial services corporation is headquartered inManhattan,New York. The company is currently hiring for several hundreds of positions in mobile payments/technology, digital marketing, customer service and finance.

xi) Intel (www.intel.com/jobs): A leader in the designing and building of the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. Currently, there are openings for about 3000 positions in software engineering, platform engineering, technology development, and manufacturing.

xii) Deloitte (www.deloitte.com): It’s the second largest private professional services organization in the world. And currently, there are more than 3000 job openings going on in the company with positions in consulting (including technology, strategy and operations and human capital), audit and enterprise risk advisory, financial advisory, tax and internal services, and health care.

xiii) Marriott International (www.marriott.com/careers/default.mi): This hospitality industry giant is advertizing over 4000 job openings throughout the company, mainly in hotel operations, food beverage/culinary, engineering, and facilities maintenance. Opportunities are also available in sales and marketing, finance/accounting and human resources. There are also several hundreds of housekeeper positions.

xiv) Microsoft (www.careers.microsoft.com/gclp.aspx): This giant American company has over 6000 job openings all over the company, with concentrations particularly in engineering, sales and marketing, software development, customer service and support, and general business operations.

xv) PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwc.com/us/en/careers): Over 9000 job openings are available with positions in advisory, tax, accounting, and other professional services.

As indicated earlier, the list provided above isn’t in anyway exhaustive of what’s being advertized currently in the job market, but they point to the fact that there are still thousands of jobs available for the unemployed and underemployed to fill in. Hundreds of companies all over the nation are advertizing for thousands and thousands of positions. So apart from the official websites of the various companies, or by word of mouth, where else can one find information for jobs? I take you into a couple of sites in the next section.

WHERE DO YOU GET THE INFORMATION?

It’s very obvious that there are many sites and outlets that provide information regarding where to see and know about jobs being advertized. However, I have ransacked most of the websites we have in the country and I believe the 15 websites below are the best places to provide the average jobseeker the most current and authentic information on jobs. You can also help yourself well by searching from your local employment newspapers or from well patronized national newspapers.

The following are my picks:

i) USAJOBS: www.usajobs.gov
ii) Yahoo! Jobs:  www.yahoo.com. Search for Jobs; it actually takes you to monster.com.
iii) CareerBuilder: www.careerbuilder.com
iv)  Monster: www.monster.com
v) Simply hired: www.simplyhired.com
vi) Job Central: www.jobcentral.com
vii) Indeed: www.indeed.com
viii) AOL: www.jobs.aol.com
ix) Snagajob: www.snagajob.com
x) Job: www.job.com
xi) Government Jobs: www.usa.gov
xii) Dice: www.dice.com
xiii) LinkUp: www.linkup.com
xiv) The Ladders: www.theladders.com
xv) Best Jobs US: www.bestjobsus.com

Apart from these good websites, I recommend that jobseekers also search www.learn4good.com, www.5milliongreenjobs.org, www.manhattanjobs.com or www.wetfeet.com, as they are other very great sources of information concerning jobs in America.

Title: Jobs 101
Author: David Osei-Nimoh
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
ASIN: B005TI4BOE

Go to Jobs 101 page @ Amazon »

Job Hunting & Careers Business & Investing, Nonfiction