Photo by Doreen Salcher
Escape Your
Unemployment
Trap
By Ginny Grimsley
There’s good news for jobs in the United States.
• In June, the private sector added 288,000 jobs, according to
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• The unemployment rate has shrunk to 6.1 percent, the lowest
since September 2008, when the Great Recession was just starting. The rate has dropped nearly 2 percent since the beginning of
2013.
• The U.S. Payroll to Population employment rate (P2P), as
tracked by Gallup, now stands at one of its highest points since
tracking began in January 2010.
• More companies, states and cities are either raising their minimum wage or considering it.
Does this mean that we can put our minds to rest regarding jobs
and prosperity? Not exactly, says Richard B. Alman, principal and
chief career/employment strategist of Recruiter Media, owner of
RecruiterNetworks, the world's largest owner/operator of career
websites.
“It’s great that reports show improvement, but the good news
comes with an asterisk; we need to keep in mind the term that
has become so common since 2009 – the ‘new normal,’ which,
in part, refers to a lower expectation for prosperity,” says Alman,
who has managed human resources for Fortune 100 and smaller
multi-national companies.
• Volunteer in positions that will build your resume´. “When you
volunteer, you can update your skills and resume´, which shows
potential employers that you’re not lazy,” Alman says. “Ask for
jobs that use the career skills you have. For instance, if you have
a background or degree in marketing, look for opportunities to
volunteer in marketing for a non-profit.”
For those with stretches of long-term unemployment on their
resume´, volunteering is the best way to show future employers
that you value staying active and building new skills. And, if you’re
a low-wage worker at a fast-food restaurant, for example, you can
have a whole new headspace in which to consider your future.
“Raising the minimum wage, for example, is a step in the right direction for many, but it’s certainly not happening everywhere and
it doesn’t guarantee a living wage. California raised its minimum
to $9 per hour, but that’s a state with a very high cost of living.”
• Work on developing leads. “You can be just like everyone else
who’s desperate for a decent job or you can be proactive and
build professional relationships, which do more than resume´s to
earn interviews and employment,” he says.
The non-profit sector attracts people who are passionate about a
cause, a wide range of associated professionals and, frequently,
people who are in high income brackets.
What is the quality of these new jobs, and how many hours do
they offer? What about the Catch 22 ensnaring the long-term unemployed, who can’t get work because they don’t have jobs? And
where’s the hope for the recent college graduates who are deeply
in debt and can’t find the jobs they’ve prepared for