Health Care Employers Are Hiring

While the recession injured many industries in 2008, health care was one of the few bright spots in the employment picture, growing by 372,000 jobs last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ January 2009 Employment Situation Summary. The large aging population has health care employers in need of qualified workers: stat. Therefore, despite the current economic conditions, health care employers will continue to increase staff in 2009, according to CareerBuilder.com’s annual health care hiring forecast, conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive.

Close to one-in-five (17 percent) of large health care employers (50 or more employees) plan to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees in 2009, while 67 percent foresee either making no change in the number of employees or are unsure.

"The health care industry continues to boast high demand for qualified workers. Employers are reacting to this need by continuing strong recruiting efforts this year," says Jason Ferrara, Vice President of Corporate Marketing for CareerBuilder.com. "Half of health care employers, the highest among industries we surveyed, have open positions for which they can’t find qualified candidates. In response, health care employers will have to adjust their recruitment and retention strategies to find and keep top talent."

Health care recruitment trends for 2009
1. More Flexibility. Flexible work options continue to be an important benefit for health care employers to provide in an effort to attract new candidates and to prevent employee burnout. Forty-one percent of health care employers will provide more flexible work arrangements for employees in 2009, including:

· Alternative schedules – come in early and leave early or come in later and leave later

· Compressed work weeks – work the same hours, but in fewer days

· Telecommuting

· Job sharing

· Summer hours

2. Recruitment Tools. As demand for qualified workers continues, health care employers will leverage a variety of recruitment tools to reduce the time-to-hire cycle and fill open positions. Health care employers plan to spend more money on the following recruitment tools in 2009:

· Online recruitment sites

· Newspaper classifieds

· Career fairs [click the "Job Fair Calendar" tab at the top of the page]

· Staffing firms and recruiters

· Social networking sites

3. Freelance Workers
To help alleviate their employees’ demanding work load, health care employers are hiring contract and freelance workers to help get the job done.

4. Green Jobs
Being "green" is a burgeoning movement within the health care industry as companies seek ways to run more efficiently. Health care employers plan to be more environmentally aware in 2009, as 14% plan to add "green" jobs, up from 7% in 2008. "Green jobs" are positions that implement environmentally conscious design, policy and technology to improve the conservation and sustainability.

With the growing job count in the nursing profession, NursingCrossing, a job site catering to nursing professionals, has reportedly added 12,255 nursing jobs in a single week, bringing the site's job count to a staggering 89,923.  As reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs related to nursing and residential care facilities grew by 19,600 from January to August 2008.

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How to Make Your Resume Discoverable on the Web

This article is about “why” and “how” you should publish your resume on the Web. You do not have to be a computer geek to do this. If you know of someone who is well versed in this area I would tap into that person’s expertise.

First, that’s talk about the “why”. Putting your professional history on the Web provides an opportunity to make your experience and background come to life. Recruiters and managers want to review the most candidate data in the shortest period of time. Recruiters and hiring managers are pressed for time to identify potential employees. Because the Internet becomes an indispendable recruiting tool more Recruiters are defecting to search engines and other Internet communities to actively recruit job seekers.

There are many ways to post your resume on the Web. “How” you post it is up to you. There are job boards with a resume data base. The majority of the sites I am familiar with do not charge a job seeker with a service fee. And some sites allow Recruiters to review resumes for free.

There are a number of no cost resources on the Internet that offer tools that can help you publish your resume online. I listed a few below.

• Google Docs is a free Web-based word processor. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users.
• ThinkFree is a free office suite package and the interface is designed to look, feel, and behave like Microsoft Office, eliminating the learning curve.
• I have not used it but I foundZoho Writer very interesting. It has a whole host of productivity and collaboration applications. I may play around with some of the applications.
• Scribd is a way to easily put your resume online and publish it.

Publish your resume on your website or blog.

But before posting your resume read my tips on resume writing:"Is Your Resume Recruiter Friendly??? ", " Resume and Cover Letter Blunders " and " Resume Formats and Overview ".

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Job Growth for 2009

Despite the daily news reporting on a downturn economy, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that the nation's total workforce actually increased by 2.2 million workers during the last 19 months.

The most recent report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that at the end of October 2008 there were 3.1 million job openings. And although unemployment rose to a 14-year high of 6.7% in November 2008, one notable, unreported fact is that between 4 million and 5 million people have been hired each month during 2008. While the media may report that no company is hiring, the reality is that many companies are. And while many industries have shed jobs during the past 12 months, the education, healthcare, and government sectors have actually created 400,000 new jobs (read my article "Where the jobs are" ). Job seekers have distinct advantages because of the Internet and the job creation initiatives articulated by President-Elect Obama. You should use the Internet to focus your efforts on industries targeted by the presidential initiatives. These industries are likely to include construction, Internet infrastructure, alternative energy, education, and healthcare. President-elect Obama has discussed multiple initiatives to improve the nation's transportation, energy, and communication infrastructures, as well as advance healthcare and education. These initiatives should stimulate job growth.

Here’s more encouraging news. As companies begin to feel the effects of the economic downturn, many are ramping up their workforce planning activities. Workforce planning is the process by which an organisation aligns its workforce requirements to the business strategy using business analytics. The most prevalent concern among employers is the scarcity of critical talent. While they are under enormous pressure to trim down their workforce in preparation for 2009, it’s important to consider the implications their actions will have on their future workforce needs. Some employers reported that they are experiencing challenges retaining critical-skill employees and top performers. Having the right number of people performing in the right roles will be crucial for companies to position themselves strongly for when the economy recovers.

What does all of this inside information mean to you? Do not give up on your job search. There will still be a job market in 2009.

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The Secrets of Successful Networking - Part 1

Looking for a job is a job in itself. We've all heard this. So those on a serious job quest polish their resumes and dutifully distribute them around town.

For many, the concept of networking conjures thoughts of calling up people they know and having lunch or coffee with them and talking about opportunities that may exist in that person's company. Aggressive networking carries this a step further.

First, make a list of people you know who have jobs in your line of work or related to your line of work. Then sit down and call each person on your list and suggest that you meet for a coffee or something equally brief. There are two reasons for this. One, you don't want to take up a lot of the other person's time and two, lunches and dinners get to be expensive if you have many of them to buy.

Take networking seriously. That is, don't spread the meetings with your list of contacts out over a month-long period. Start on a Monday morning and call everyone to book a get-together for later in the week or at the latest, early next week.

When you have the meeting, keep it light. Don't show up with your resume and ask, "Do you know of any jobs?" This is simply a reconnaissance mission. The person you're having coffee with is in the business and knows what's happening. Ask for this information. Try saying something as simple and straightforward as: "You're plugged into what's going on around town. Any suggestions on who I can talk to about what might be coming up in the future?"

By the end of the week, you may have a couple of dozen names of people in the industry. Sit down the next Monday morning and call them. Introduce yourself, explain where you got their names and ask if you can have 15 minutes of their time. Suggest meeting for a coffee near their office. Often, the person will say something like, "Why don't you drop in around 3 p.m. We can talk here in my office."

Schedule your week, filling in time slots to meet people. And again, get three names from each of these people. After a while, you may notice an overlapping of names as your contacts give you names of people you have already contacted.

Don't ask for a job. Just the same as meeting with your acquaintances, keep it light. Say that you're looking for a place in the industry and in the meantime, you're making an all-out effort to keep plugged into what's happening.

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