Career Resource, Jobs, News, Opportunities and More: 2016

Friday, January 22, 2016

Top 5 Industries for Job Hunters in 2016

Employers added 2.65 million workers to their payrolls in 2015, marking the second best year for job growth since 1999.

As 2016 kicks off, the outlook for jobs remains rosy. “The overall job market is very strong. There’s more security for job seekers and people can try out new things since there’s more access to jobs,” says John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an outplacement firm.

Certain industries have more room for growth, however, and those companies are actively recruiting people. “Workers don’t have to apply like they used to,” Challenger says.

Below are the five industries that are expected to be active employers in 2016:

Technology

As the tech boom continues expanding in the U.S., so have the number of jobs. “Right now there are labor shortages and one of them is in technology,” Challenger says.

Programmers, database managers and IT support staff are in demand, as companies — not just in the tech industry — are struggling to find workers to manage and update their computer systems and develop new applications. “Technology now is so pervasive, so ubiquitous, that demand for people to manage and develop software programming has outstripped supply,” Challenger says.

Corporations are also looking for workers who specialize in cyber security, as data theft and disruption of services become more of a threat.

Another area in tech that’s expanding is social media marketing. These days, people have more money to spend on consumer products, and companies are competing with each other to reach customers in the most effective ways possible. With so many people on social media, marketers are scrapping dated methods and trying new avenues. This requires new hires who specialize in social media marketing and are effective at drawing people in.

Health Care

As the baby boomers get older, medical services are going to be in greater demand. There are also more individuals with access to health care because of the Affordable Care Act. One result: The healthcare sector is projected to boast the fastest employment growth and add the highest number of jobs between 2014 and 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In addition to doctors, nurses, dentists and pharmacists, other healthcare jobs like nursing assistants, home healthcare aids and technicians of varying kinds are in demand. Areas where technology has really progressed — ultrasounds and MRI equipment — are in high demand.

Finance

As the Fed begins to hike interest rates, financial industry margins should begin improving and boosting profits, allowing companies to increase hiring.

The biggest area of growth is actually in compliance and risk management, not banking. Driven by scores of new regulations and massive fines that have cropped up since the Great Depression, financial institutions are now spending heavily to ensure that they’re going by the book. Investment managers, hedge funds and banks are all frantically looking for people to add to their compliance teams amid discussion of shortages of candidates with ample experience.

“Financial-services firms are finding it challenging to attract experienced employees in risk management and compliance,” Laura Sejen, managing director at Towers Watson, told the Human Resource Executive Online.

Certified financial planners are also hot commodities.

Recruiters/Talent Management

Because unemployment is at a seven-year low of 5 percent, companies are beefing up recruiting and staffing departments. “They’re hiring people to help them find people,” Challenger says. And recruiting isn’t just sifting through cover letters anymore. Recruiters are now pouring through LinkedIn and Facebook profiles to add to their roster of professionals.

Companies are trying to hire people who already have jobs, so potential hires have the upper hand and it’s going to take a lot more time and effort to woo them away. Recruiters and talent managers need to have savvy customer service techniques, a slick sales pitch and superior communication skills now that “workers are in the drivers seat,” Challenger says.

Professional Business Services

The strong economy is causing a big spike in demand for skilled workers such as accountants, bookkeepers, lawyers, architects and engineers, according to Challenger. On the plus side, those jobs typically pay well because they require a certain level of education and experience.

Professionals in those fields can work independently, but companies are also looking to fill those kinds of jobs. “Every company needs an accountant, bookkeeper, financial reporter and financial analyst,” Challenger says.

According to Career Builder’s 2016 U.S. Job Forecast, companies are planning to hire skilled workers outside of the U.S. in response to the labor deficit. Nearly 20 percent of companies plan on hiring workers with H-1B visas in 2016, which are for skilled foreign-born workers. That means job opportunities are ripe for skilled Americans.

Monday, January 18, 2016

3 job-hunting tips for senior citizens

Image result for senior citizens pictures

Although retirement can be a time to rediscover interests, travel and spend time with grandchildren, the slower pace often has financial implications for senior citizens.
Augmenting Social Security may be something to consider.

A part-time job can be a way to supplement Social Security, discover new interests and keep busy.
Many seniors may not know where to even begin the job-hunting process.
"It's easiest to start with the people they already know, explaining their current interests and needs for work, and then asking those people who they know who might be of help," says Brie Reynolds, a career adviser and director of online content at the website FlexJobs.

Reach out of your comfort zone

You don't necessarily have to stick to applying for part-time jobs that are in your former profession, but a network of contacts from your career days may help, says Jeff Adams, a career coach with Charlotte Works, the workforce development board for Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Seniors shouldn't discount the professional network they built up throughout their careers. Even though they're pursuing part-time work that is not based on their previous work, their network can help them connect with lots of other people in other fields," he says.

Use your social circle

Start the network approach through those closest to you. Adams says those who are job hunting after retirement should tell everyone -- family, friends, church members, fellow Rotarians, even the teachers at your grandkids' school.
He even suggests taking job hunting to a higher level. "Your bridge club or neighborhood association that goes on trips or to exercise class -- any group of people that you meet and socialize with regularly becomes one of your networking groups," Adams says.
"Start by asking someone things like, 'You used to be in X field? That's interesting, because I'm exploring that same field. Tell me about what you used to do,'" Adams says. This exchange can help you to learn about the field, the specific jobs, how the industry has changed or is changing, and the opportunities.
"Find out what contacts your source still has in the industry and/or in his or her former company," Adams says.

Embrace social media

Social media is important in any part-time job search or career change, and a tactic that retirees or seniors can't afford to ignore.
"Active social media profiles also demonstrate an aptitude to learn new skills, which is certainly important when switching careers or trying to break into a different industry," FlexJobs' Reynolds says.
"Knowing that a candidate isn't afraid to venture into new territory, which social media is for many seniors, sends a great message to recruiters about willingness to take on and embrace new challenges," she says.

UM forecast: Michigan will add 126,000 jobs by 2018

Job gains in Michigan will go from growing faster than the national economy this year to slightly slower than the U.S. next year, but the state should regain all 750,000 jobs lost since 2000 some time after 2020, a University of Michigan economist says.

While anything beyond 2017 isn’t part of his formal projection for the next two years, “It’s just a matter of when,” said George Fulton, who leads UM’s Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics. “We will get all the way back, and I’ve been saying for a while it would be sometime in the early 2020s.”

According to the annual forecast, Michigan is on track to reclaim two-thirds of the jobs lost in the state since 2000 by the end of 2017, as it adds about 126,000 jobs in the next two years. By then, the state will have added a total of 586,000 jobs between 2009 and the end of 2017.

“Even though the growth is a little more moderate over the next couple of years, we’re going to continue to grow,” Fulton said Friday. “If we do that, it will amount to eight consecutive years of recovery. Considering what we went through in the first decade, that’s pretty heartening.”

The UM economists predict that overall job growth in the state will continue to slow down as the economic recovery continues, projecting a gain of 61,100 jobs for 2016 and 64,800 jobs in 2017 — down from estimated gains of 84,600 new jobs by the end of this year. The study — written by Fulton, Joan Crary, Gabriel Ehrlich and Donald Grimes — says those job gains will push the statewide jobless rate down from its current level of 5 percent to 4.8 percent at the end of next year, and 4.5 percent at the end of 2017, moving in tandem with the national jobless rate.

Specific projected job gains by the economists through 2017 include:

■About 32,000 jobs in the professional and business services sector. That includes professional, scientific and technical services; management of companies; and administrative support services, including temporary help. Six out of every 10 jobs in this sector will be in “knowledge-based” positions, with the rest occurring in administrative support.

■About 22,000 jobs in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, including wholesale and retail trade, transportation, warehousing and public utilities, with about 60 percent coming in retail trade.

■Another 22,000 jobs in the hard-hit construction industry.

■20,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector.

■ Only about 10,000 manufacturing jobs — down from an annual average gain of about 20,000 jobs during the last four years.

In a forecast devoted to the national economy released Thursday, UM economists predicted that the U.S. economy will grow at its highest rate in a decade next year, with gross domestic product rising from 2.4 percent last year and this year to 2.6 percent in 2016 and 2.9 percent in 2017.

That growth would drop the annual unemployment rate below 5 percent next year, with the country adding 4.7 million jobs during the next two years.

In the state’s vital auto sector, the UM forecast sees this year’s finally tally of North American light vehicle sales hitting 17.4 million units by the end of the year, a gain of 1 million sales over last year’s figure. Sales are projected to climb to 18 million in 2016 and edge up to 18.1 million during 2017. The economists also forecast that Detroit’s Big Three will take a slightly bigger cut of those sales, going from 43.7 percent this year to 44.2 percent next year and 44.4 percent in 2017. That would take Detroit automakers from selling 7.3 million units in 2014 to 8.1 million in 2017.

While the employment growth and auto sales figures are encouraging, Michigan also will continue several negative economic trends in other important aspects, such as per capital income, per capital GDP, the employment-to-population ratio and educational attainment. By these vital measures of economic success, the UM economists warn, Michigan ranks “closer to the caboose than to the engine,” the study says, adding that there is, “still too much slack in the state economy, and a fair number of residents still need to join the recovery.”

Some of that weakness is evident in where the jobs are coming from, such as temporary help and retail, as opposed to the high-paying auto manufacturing jobs that led the state out of the recession. And even those jobs don’t pay as well as they did at the beginning of the century. Meanwhile, a large number of Michigan residents remains outside of the labor force, neither working nor looking for a job.

Since 2007, nearly 300,000 Michigan workers have given up looking for a job. Workers older than 60 retired early after finding no jobs available after the recession hit. And many of those younger have been staying on the employment sidelines by remaining in school, where they can borrow to cover their tuition. However, others in the peak of their working years lack the education and skills needed for modern jobs after being laid off from unskilled factory jobs. Add them into the unemployment calculations, and the official unemployment rate would more than double.

Although some discouraged workers have started to come back in the labor pool, the number of available workers in the state is down by 16,000 people from January 2014, and has declined by 31,000 workers since just January.

“In the forecast, our story is the continuing recovery of the economy since the bottom of the downturn,” Fulton concluded. “We’ve had some pretty good years and I think the fundamental story is that we think we’re going to have a couple more good years, not growing at quite the pace we have in recent years, but still at a pretty good pace.”

boconnor@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @BrianOCTweet

(313) 222-2145

Associated Press contributed.