August 28, 2011

New vacancies often require new training

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Last week, a small ray of hope shined down on the bleak local job landscape, like a Seattle sunbreak on a cloudy spring day. The Employment Security Department's twice-yearly Job-Vacancy Survey was released, showing that spring 2011 job vacancies were at their highest point since just before the global financial collapse in 2008.

According to the data, collected from April, the number of job vacancies in Washington state topped 60,000, which is a 55 percent increase since the same period last year and almost double the number of vacancies since the darkest recessionary days of 2009. This is certainly a good sign that employers are warming up to hiring more workers, but the picture is not as rosy as it appears.

Despite this growth in vacancies, the unemployment rate of 9 percent has been essentially unchanged as more people who have been out of work for extended periods are deciding to re-enter the market. Also, a large percentage of the new vacancies created were either low-paying jobs in the food service industry or skilled positions in the software or health-care fields, which usually require some kind of two- or four-year degree.

The ESD study reminded me of the words by career expert Laurence Shatkin in his book, "Top 100 Careers Without a Four-Year Degree," which was recently released in its 10th edition. Although the book was aimed at people who did not have college degrees, he did warn that the universe of jobs that only require a high school education is shrinking.

"Jobs that require education and training beyond high school are projected to grow significantly faster than jobs that do not," he writes. "People with higher levels of education and training are less likely to be unemployed, and when they are, they remain unemployed for shorter periods of time."

Shatkin also laments that the average worker will change careers five to seven times in their lifetime, yet they spend more time watching TV than they do trying to learn the new skills required for these changing positions.

So do we all have to enrolling in nursing school or become computer engineers to get by? Of course not. But this study is a sobering reminder that our education as professional workers is never quite over. Even if you have a college or vocational degree, or if you think you're a wiz at Excel, Access and SharePoint, there is always more you can learn about your chosen field.

"Whatever your age, consider upgrading your job-related computer and technology skills if they are not up to date--and plan to keep them current on your present and future jobs," Shatkin writes. "This may include taking formal courses, reading work-related magazines at home, signing up for on-the-job training or participating in other forms of education."

While you continue your search, check out the associations in your field and see if there are some classes you can take to help you brush up on the latest technology changes. During networking events, chat with your colleagues about the latest developments in your field and let potential employers know how you can use your skills to solve their problems.

So, as the kids head back to school next week, a little schooling of your own may be just the edge you need to turn one of these new vacancies into your next job.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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career change, returning to the workforce, skills, training, unemployment