JobsStat

This summer, Baltimore City’s YouthWorks program was able to provide many youths with a first-hand look at what a Baltimore job might be like.

The program places well-trained, multi-skilled high school and college students into a six week summer employment program with a partnering business, government or organization.

While the program benefits youth by allowing them to explore careers and better understand the value of education, it also enriches businesses by giving them access to a talented and energetic labor pool of motivated workers.

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Chances are if you’re planning to apply for a job, you should plan on undergoing a background check.

So how do you know what will turn up on a background check? While the Fair Credit Reporting Act regulates what information an employer can and cannot use to make a hiring decision, there is plenty of information that employers can access.

According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the chances that an employer will find any surprising information.

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Constant mentioning of the national recession in the media maybe shaking the confidence of New York job seekers. According to the latest Spherion Employment Report, the New York Employee Confidence Index decreased by 2.1 points in June to 43.8.

The survey, which polls workers in New York monthly, was conducted by Harris Interactive® on the behalf of Spherion Corporation. The most recent report found that workers’ economic concerns and job market-related anxieties are growing.

Of those who participated, 77 percent said that they personally believed that the economy is weakening. This is an increase of 11 percent from the previous month. Up 5 percentage points from May, a total of 63 percent said that they felt that there were fewer job postings.

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Springtime in Nevada usually means one thing: more workers to account for the state’s hot tourism and construction industries. That wasn’t the case this year, as the state and national economy have caused Nevada jobs to decrease.

From February to March, according to the Nevada Workforce Informer, Nevada usually sees a significant increase to the state’s construction and tourism industries. From 2002 to 2007, the construction industry added an average of more than 2,500 jobs from February to March. Over the past six years, employment in the leisure and hospitality industry increased by an average of 3,400 jobs in March.

This year the construction industry lost 300 jobs from February to March, and employment in the leisure and hospitality industry grew by only 1,500 jobs. The Nevada economy as a whole only created 2,000 new jobs in March, below the usual average of 12,000 jobs.

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Recruiting the right talent for any job can be difficult, but finding the perfect employee for positions that involve the care of others can be particularly troublesome. Since such jobs require that a person have a very specific set of skills employers need a method to test applicants.

Clearview Staffing Software recently released a brand-new nationally validated set of tests and skills checklists for home health, nursing and social work along with its release of RSS 3.7.1, which is a hiring software solution designed for both recruiting and qualifying medical professionals. These additions expand upon the existing tests and checklists. Included in the software are features such as online employment applications, skills checklists and competency tests.

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Background checks on employees have become routine and acceptable at most every level. People expect to be asked to sign a consent form for a background check when they apply for job postings. But many are misinformed about what a former employer can and cannot say about them.

If a potential employer contacts a prior employer, they can talk openly about your work history and performance. But there are some very clear and serious stipulations.

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The national unemployment rate is on the rise. The economy is suffering and many employers are having to layoff workers. Still, Washington DC continues to fair better than most of the nation, according to a report recently issued by the Greater Washington Initiative.

The economic slowdown which started in 2007 has yet to have a great effect on Washington DC jobs. The report found that the federal government once again provided a large portion of jobs in the area last year. This sector also spent $62 billion in the city, which has gone along way to keeping the local economy strong. The amount of money spent for the federal government is up significantly from 2000, when it spent approximately $30.5 billion in the region. According to the GWI, which is part of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, found that sector had an average growth rate of around 10 percent a year.

During the ten year span from 1997 to 2007, approximately 721,000 new Washington DC jobs were created. This means that the area has the second highest growth out of all of the country’s major metros, second only to New York City. Of the new Washington DC jobs added during this time, nearly 23 percent were in the professional and business services sector, which is the largest industry in the region.

Chairman of GWI, Sam Schreiber, said in a recent statement that the report draws notice to the fact that the region is a great place for business. “Greater Washington’s economy is strong, diverse and resilient, our work force is highly educated and we have the highest median household income in the nation,” he said. “This is where business thrives.”

The report used data from 2006, which is the most recent available at this time. It also found that two years ago, 21.2 percent of the city’s residents who were 25 or older had graduate or professional degrees. According to the GWI, this is the highest ratio in the country. This means that residents are more prepared for the workforce but that completion for Washington DC jobs that require advanced education is likely more intense.

In 2006, the median household income in the area was $79,500, which is also the highest in the nation. Of the counties that make up the metro area, 11 made the list of 25 highest median household incomes in America. Topping the list was Fairfax count, where the-middle-of-the-road resident makes $100,300. The report did not mention whether or not the cost of living was taken in to consideration when deciding which areas made the list.

Although the city has one of the top job markets in the nation, those looking for a job in Las Vegas may be surprised at the declining trend the tourist hot spot seems to be facing.

According to Nevada Job Connection’s April Nevada Economy in Brief, the state as a whole is continuing to suffer through the ongoing housing related adjustment. The city’s unemployment rate is at 5.7 percent, one tenth of a percentage lower than in March, but 1.1 percent higher than the unemployment rate in April 2007.

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The suffering economy has caused the job market to take a hit. Many industries are shedding jobs at a rapid pace as employers try to keep their businesses profitable. Because of this, few fields are to offer workers job security. One industry that seems to be fairly immune to this problem is the healthcare industry.

Healthcare jobs are necessary no matter what condition the economy is in. Because of this, the industry is No. 1 on the list of Yahoo.com’s eight fastest growing job markets. The need for qualified workers to fill the abundance of vacant healthcare jobs also means that those who work in this field are less likely to get the ax.

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Through state funded incentives and money from private investors, the state of Ohio has enticed ViewRay Inc. to relocate both its headquarters and manufacturing operations to Cleveland. After relocating, the company has promised to create 25 Cleveland jobs within the first year. These positions will include both software and hardware engineers, according to the CEO of ViewRay, Will Wells.

The move will not only create new jobs in Cleveland, but will also put it in a center of biotechnology. ViewRay was attracted by the area’s history of work in medical imagery and it’s academic institutions that specialize in medical instruction. Wells told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the company is “lucky to find extremely talented people who have advanced degrees and a broad history in the imaging field.” He went on to say that this is the reason they chose to move to the area.

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