How bad is the job market where you live? If you have not seen this cool interactive map from the New York Times, you should definitely check it out. Now, if you listen to news at all, you know that unemployment is at a decades-high level, just over 8%. Economists will tell you that if you add in all the underemployed people forced to work in part-time jobs, that number is more likely around 12%. But those numbers are not consistent across the country. Michigan has even higher rates, as do pockets of California. But the Midwest is well below the national unemployment average. So finding a job ...

The news hasn’t been good for weeks, but today America’s job market reached an all-time low. CNN reported this afternoon that 71,400 jobs were lost today. That’s the single highest job loss day since 1945. The companies affected include: - Catepillar, which is cutting 20,000 jobs - Drug-maker Pfizer, which is reducing its workforce by 10% — 8,100 jobs - Sprint Nextel, which is eliminating 8,000 jobs - Home Depot, which is closing its Expo Center and cutting 7,000 associates - Texas Instruments, which is slashing 3,400 employees - Financial group ING, which is reducing i...

Welcome to Wednesday! Yesterday I talked about how to make a good impression on your first day of a new job. If you’re still in the job market then file that post away and focus instead on today’s hot jobs. Every week, I give you a list of three exciting new opportunities from JobMonkey’s cool job board. Today I am switching things up a bit and featuring three different employers, all within the tourism industry (and who said tourism was a dying industry?). Alaska Wildland Adventures, Westin Hotels and Resorts, and Marriott International all have multiple opportunities in ...

The current economic recession (or wait, are we calling it a depression now?) has caused forced a lot of retirees to go back to work. The uncle of a friend of mine is 63. He has been retired for a year, but just went back to work last month as a bagger at Trader Joe’s. His boss told him the other day that over 1,000 people had applied for the job (!!!) and many of them were retirees just like him. Admittedly, the job market is tight these days. But if you are a retiree and you find yourself wanting or needing a full-time, part-time job or seasonal job, there are a growing number of on...

Did you all see that article I posted yesterday from MSNBC.com about how to get a job in the Obama administration?  Whether you are a red voter or a blue one (or none of the above), the salient point of that article still applies: Volunteering and networking are two great ways to get your foot in the door, especially in a hyper- competitive job market. Since we have talked pretty extensively on here about career networking, I thought I would take a look today at the power of volunteering. Now, you may have been motivated to volunteer by your Save the World ideology, but do not let your altrui...

TGIF, huh? I’m planning on fully enjoying my weekend, with apple picking and an art festival.  I’m just hoping the weather holds out. If it doesn’t, I’ve got plenty of good reading to keep me busy, including some of these great stories and posts I found this week: Since we talked about resume writing, I’ve been on the look out for some more helpful info on the topic.  Here’s a great article I found about the Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid when writing your resume.  According to this Massachusetts study, the #1 thing people are looking for in an ...

Until now, I’ve been focusing on introducing you to JobMonkey’s vast resources about paid employment. Here and there, I have mentioned internships or summer jobs, but even still, most of these opportunities offered some kind of monetary compensation. And let’s face it; money is pretty important if you want to put a roof over your head, food in your belly and gas in your car. But there are times in life when money truly isn’t everything. If you are looking for an incomparable life experience and can afford to take the time to do some incredibly meaningful work that is...