Know Where the Jobs Are

Last Friday I kicked off a new series geared towards a successful job hunt. We talked about what is necessary to find the jobs that are out there. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the month of March was not a good one for current workers and job seekers alike. They reported that the U.S. lost 80,000 jobs in march alone and 232,000 in the first quarter of this year. What I wanted to talk about today is the knowledge to know where the jobs are. Not just the hot industries like hospitality and healthcare, but actually where to look. Jobs can be found in the craziest of places from storefront windows and newspapers to blogs and local networking.

Traditional Outlets:
The Employment Guide and recruitment newspapers - Still a viable source for jobs. These papers are geared towards a certain niche and are generally free to the public. Be sure to follow the directions of the ad in how to apply and take advantage of phone numbers as it can save time and cash in travel.
Storefronts - No better way to say we need help than with a Help Wanted sign in the window. Beware that heavily traffic'd areas get the most applications and therefore have more competition. Look for these signs on back roads or act fast / immediately when it pops up.
Job Boards - EmploymentGuide.com, Indeed.com and Job.com offer many great jobs from a wide variety of companies. The great thing is that they are easily searchable by keyword and location. The downfall is that they are overpopulated with positions and competition is great as they have a very large reach.

New and Untraditional Job Resources and Outlets
Niche Job Boards - The Employment Guide is proud to offer 2 great niche sites, CareersInGear and HealthCareerWeb that show you very relative results for these 2 industries. The benefit of these boards is they get right to the meat of what you are looking for and also offer great advice, tips and articles surrounding these industries.
Google, Yahoo and Other Search Engines - Try typing in some keywords and a location into Google for jobs you are looking for. The more narrow and specific the search the better the results get. Search broad and you will be bombarded with opportunities.
Network! - The oldest form of job hunting but in a new generation. Get out and talk to people at bars, restaurants, conferences, trade shows. Collect business cards and make contacts with friends and family.
Networking 2.0 - Your kids are on there, maybe you are a kid and you're on there. What is it? Social Networking of course. Use it to network with others in your field. Start on a site like Facebook and look for colleagues, old friends or past employers / co-workers. Participate in forums and discussions. Don't be shy, ask questions and also answer them.

This concludes Part 2 of this discussion. Tomorrow we will continue down the networking path and talk about blogging and branding yourself in a crowded niche. Until then, happy hunting Tampa!

Greg Rollett

Oh, and Drivers get ready for the Tampa Employment Guide and Careers in Gear 'Driver's Job Fair' this Saturday, April 12th. Get all the info by clicking here!