Category: Your Career (Page 25 of 62)

      Job openings for truckers

      June 25, 2012 /

      Here’s another area where plenty of jobs are open:

      Attention out-of-work Americans: Want to be a trucker?

      A worsening shortage of truck drivers is pushing up freight rates and delaying some deliveries, defying the weak economy, high unemployment and falling gasoline prices.

      “It’s getting harder to get drivers,” says Mike Card, president of Combined Transport of Central Point, Ore., and incoming chairman of the American Trucking Associations. “I could hire 50 guys right now.” He now employs 393 drivers.
      Many Baby Boomers are retiring and fewer young people are interested in long-haul-trucking careers that often require drivers to be away from home for weeks at a time, says Ben Cubitt, senior vice president of Transplace, which manages freight delivery for businesses.

      Despite the 8.2% national jobless rate, many unemployed construction and factory workers can’t afford the $4,000 to $6,000 cost of a six-week driver-training course, says Rosalyn Wilson, senior business analyst of consulting firm Delcan.

      The training costs are certainly an issue, but this can be a an excellent option for plenty of people looking for work. Do your research and see if this might apply to you.

      Your Career

      Working on projects during job interview process

      June 23, 2012 /

      With a very competitive job market, prospective employers are getting much more demanding in their interviews. Basically, they don’t want to just talk to you. They want to see what you can do. So job applicants end up doing work for free as they work through projects developed by the prospective employer to test actual skills.

      In today’s competitive job market, employers are increasingly asking candidates to show — not just tell — what they can do. Top candidates are asked to solve problems on the spot, give feedback on products, and research new markets. “Companies ask for whatever they want, and people do it,” says Cynthia Shapiro, an L.A.-based career strategist. One of Shapiro’s clients created 10 greeting cards in 24 hours to win a graphic design job, while another client did market research and made a formal presentation to top executives — only to hear that the company was no longer filling the position.

      These case study-style interviews, also known as situational, scenario, or behavioral interviews, have been common among i-banking and consulting firms but are now permeating all sectors. Career experts say the techniques are relevant to even the upper echelons of executives — those used to being wooed with box seats. SHL, the world’s largest employment assessment provider, saw a 65% jump last year in employers using such techniques to vet candidates.

      This is new in many industries, even if it’s been commonplace in the tech world for years. Software jobs in particular involve hacking sessions as part of the interview process. That said, it’s a new trend that you have to be prepared for.

      Your Career

      Jobs opening up in insurance industry

      June 23, 2012 /

      Around the world we’re all still grappling with the after-effects of the financial crisis from several years ago. Now we have troubles with Greece and other countries in Europe to contend with, though we might finally be seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

      That said, we are seeing some healthy trends as various industries get back on their feet. In the United States for example, record low mortgage rates have spurred job openings as banks have had to keep up with demand for refinancings. This has helped to offset some of the cutbacks in the financial services industry. While workers in this area won’t be seeing the huge bonuses from the last decade, these are still very desirable jobs.

      The insurance industry also appears to be improving if you look at the news on jobs in insurance. InsuranceJobs.com recently announced that demand is still strong for insurance jobs.

      Currently InsuranceJobs.com is showing nearly 5,000 new positions for insurance employment from hundreds of companies. Areas of the strongest demand from companies appear to be for insurance claims jobs, claims adjusters, insurance sales, insurance agents, and insurance customer support representatives. These type insurance career opportunities are coming from prominent insurance companies such as; AAA, Allstate, Farmers, Florida Blue, MAPFREE, UNUM, and USAA just to name a few.

      Workers with solid office, computer, clerical and phone skills can do very well in this area, and these jobs are opening all around the world as well. In the UK for example you can check out insurance jobs with Direct Line Group. Professionalism is very important in this field, so make sure your resume is updated and that you’re prepared to interview well. These jobs are often best for workers who enjoy an office environment, yet there are many positions like insurance adjusters that can spend time out in the field. Look for positions that match your strengths and interests. If you’re good in math, perhaps an actuary job is right for you.

      The insurance business will also be growing worldwide as emerging nations like China and India start consuming these services with the growth of their middle class, and US and British companies will likely be very active in trying to penetrate those markets, so insurance might also be an interesting field for workers interested in international business.

      Your Career

      Salaries keep rising for tech jobs

      June 11, 2012 /

      The stories are getting interesting again about what technology companies are willing to do to find qualified tech workers. Engineers in particular are seeing salary offer rise considerably. In the late 1990s we saw the dot com boom drive the frothy growth in salaries. This time around, giants like Google and Facebook are the big drivers. There’s just so much competition for qualified workers, and this is particularly true in Silicon Valley.

      The other driver is a new wave of innovation that’s being driven by cloud computing. You have all sorts of companies pushing the envelope on what is possible now that we have the tremendous resource of the cloud. You have companies like Amazon offering server space for incredible prices, and then you have Apple linking up all of their devices through the cloud. When you take a photo on your phone, it now shows up in iCloud and is then accessible from your Mac. But it’s not just the big companies getting in on the act. Startups are popping up every day to take advantage of these trends.

      All of this results in an excellent job market if you’re an IT worker or an engineer. It’s another reason why you can never go wrong learning technical skills, and it’s a field that many should consider if they’re looking to be retrained after losing a job. If you have base math skills, this might be an area you should strongly consider.

      In the 1990s, the dot com bubble burst and many tech workers found themselves looking for work. Of course the business cycle is still an issue, and the current frenzy will probably abate a bit, but now the foundation for technology workers is very strong, and the level of innovation seems to be accelerating. So long term job security in this area is probably a safe assumption. Salaries might level off, but the need for tech workers seems to be something we can all count on for the future.

      Your Career

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 Professional Journey

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑