Job Search Data & Career Branding Tips

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The data doesn’t lie; it is all how you interpret it.

The hiring malaise continues, but some signs of life have emerged. Below are some interesting data points I have seen in various career and human resource trade magazines, websites and blogs over the December holidays.

• There will be over 15 million unemployed US works seeking jobs in January.  That is a staggering number.
• The Wall Street Journal reported job postings are currently at about 4.7 million, which, if true, is just about the highest number in 3 years.
• If you are seeking a position that pays over $200,000 or more, there is an 80% chance it will never reach a job board or company website.
• Approximately 80% of all companies in the US utilize LinkedIn on some level when recruiting new personnel.  (This one came from a vendor selling social network recruiting software so be careful.)
• LinkedIn is approaching 100 million users.
• Over 80% of all firms with over 250 employees utilize applicant tracking software.  The trick is to get your resume read by a hiring manager.  If you are lucky enough to get it in their hands, 18% claim to only look at it for 30 seconds or less while 38 percent will look at it for up to one minute.
• Healthcare and Medical positions represent over 30% of all job postings currently on  job boards.
• AT&T, Sears and IBM  advertised the most open positions in 2010.
• Thinking of warmer weather? New government statistics say Brazil has record employment levels — and even shortages of workers in some sectors.

Five Career Branding reminders for 2011:

1. Stay positive and work hard at your personal brand. No one else is going to do it for you.
2. A well written resume is very important in your job search, but very unlikely to be a top reason you get a particular job.
3. Leverage technology in everything you do.
4. Online identity matters.  Utilize the following to take control of your Internet Brand: a personal website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogs and Vizibility.
5. Every successful company thinks through how their solution helps the purchaser.  Approach your job search with this same frame of mind.