What's really going on with the Job Market in the Triad (Greensboro: credit, relocating)

[2UBPeace]

After attending the Job Fair on yesterday and going to numerous job interviews, career centers and employment staffing companies, I have a couple of questions regarding the job market:

--In speaking with fellow job seekers yesterday, the consensus is that it quite challenging to find a job as a result of hundreds of workers being laid off from manufacturing jobs. In all the research done prior to coming. The Triad area has always been presented as an area of growth and opportunity. Which view is the accurate picture?

--I was told by different Recruiters at the Job Fair to: (1) Not openly flaunt that I am new to the area. Many feel that new people are relocating and taking the locals jobs. (2) To dumb down my resume so employers would not feel intimidated. (3) Network, network & network. Although it is really hard to network when you don't know a soul.

Any thoughts, comments, suggestions about the Job Sector in the area is greatly appreciated

[SunnyKayak]

but networking is such a vital point in finding the right employment.

You are doing the right thing far as searching but you need to put yourself out there so that people will get to know you join a church, civic group like the jaycees, meetup.com, local events and mingle, mingle, mingle. You will be bound to run into someone who knows something about a job you might be interested in.
Or they might know where some openings are coming up.
The triad is one of the tighter knit communities of the state but it is up to you if you want to break the ice to get in the water or just sit on top

[ibeg4sushi]

Why would they ask you to "dumb down" your resume??? I don't think I've ever heard that one before! It smacks of the 1950's: "The man is always in charge." :P Just kidding. I've been out of the job force for a few years, so I'm wondering if this is some kind of trend I haven't heard about yet.

But Sunny is right - NETWORK! Think about it, it's the information age, and everyone goes to Hotjobs on yahoo and Monster, and the employers are simply flooded with hundreds upon hundreds of resumes at times. All the ones with typographical errors or messy appearance are thrown out immediately. The ones where you don't fit the requirements, also, thrown out. In fact, if you don't have any reason to look better on paper than all the other people like you (or me), then the resume in a way is just a neccessary formality. Still, it has to be perfect.
Networking is the way for the employers to help cut to the chase: they have someone they already like who works for them, when that person makes a recommendation, they hope they will be getting more of the same.

Make conversation wherever you go. Yes, go to a church if you fancy, if you're more spiritual than that, go to a yoga class, or special workshops on meditation. Spend the next year trying extra hard to open up to people and be active in your contacts. I do think it's possible to get a job, even if it's only a floater until you find the thing you are really looking for, but people want real people. If you've got the work ethic down, play that strength - do homework on the company or boss who will be interviewing you. Strike up a personal note during the interview. It's not a-kissing if you find something in common. In fact, lots of friendship can blossom from it! And if they like you, but you still aren't as qualified as they'd hoped, perhaps they can direct you further.

Good luck! Keep us posted on the situation out there!! *my yogic prayers go out to you* ;D

[absentchaos]

Originally Posted by ibeg4sushi

Spend the next year trying extra hard to open up to people and be active in your contacts.

Most of us can't wait that long for a job. My job is ending in Nov and after that I'm screwed for the Christmas holiday if I don't get a job before then. This job market is just plain-out bad, I think.

[2UBPeace]

Thanks for the advice several recruiter shared the same sentiment. What I have been trying to do is compartmentalize vs. integrate. My passion is naturopathic health and this was my occupation in MD. Therefore I have been jumping for joy at the various workshops and places I have been thus far. My thinking is that I'd just get an administrative gig 9 to 5 and do the rest on my own time. However, the universe is integrative in nature and I must be the same.

Didn't mean to digress at the end I think it was the "meditation workshops" and "yogic prayers" that did it :-)

[Markey]

Wow that's interesting to hear what those recruiters told you. Makes me feel a bit better because when I was in the Triad I had absolutely no luck finding a job. I went to temp agencies and had a few interviews but nothing materialized and I finally threw in the towel. Like others mentioned networking will help but unfortunately in my situation every organization/committee I tried to join never returned my calls or emails either. It was very bizarre because when I moved to the area I was really excited to meet new people and see a new area of the country. I just always felt that I was swimming upstream and I had one friend who mentioned that outsiders would be given the lowest priority when it came to jobs and opportunities. Sad and in my case very true. I wish you the best!

[TiredOfSFL]

Wow! This thread is pretty discouraging. I've been out of the job market for a pretty long time so I guess if I went there I might not make it. I'm not a professional so the types of jobs I would do (clerical, cosmetology, retail) would probably be a little easier to get but my resume is going to look "bad", I also don't know if whatever little references I could provide would mean anything to anyone there.

It's easy to say "network, network, network" but for some of us that's not so easy to do and waiting for the results of that (even a year???) is not practical at all.

What I see wrong with the picture is for people to be so afraid of "outsiders" taking the "locals" jobs... sounds like what is said of the illegal immigrants so I'm beginning to think it's just an excuse people use against "strangers", period. People, it's the United States of America and people here are "nomadic", this "us" against "them" mentality has got to go!

I wish I were a writer so I could write an article about what I said above. I think it's time for a lot of people to start revising their own attitudes, those that perpetuate situations like this. I don't see why I should stay somewhere where I'm unhappy and where my health is suffering just because some insecure people will feel threatened because another AMERICAN moves in "their" town. Don't we all pay FEDERAL taxes anyway???

And to dumb down a resume??? I've advised my son who's looking for a job here to actually "enhance" his because he's felt at times like he didn't know enough (impossible to know everything in his and many other fields...). I just wouldn't like to work for an employer who's so dumb he/she'd be intimidated by what I knew, period! But sadly, it happened to me in the past and there's nothing worse than to have to take directives from someone who doesn't know what end is up and who later takes all the credit.

Maybe this is what I needed to read. I've been trying to decide between the Triad and Greenville, SC. Now I need to hear what's the deal down there.

2UBPeace:

I'm a future Holistic Nutritionist so I felt a kinship with you. Wish you best of luck, and if not, explore Greenville, I hear they are more receptive to "alternative health"!

[d_Random]

Tired, you should get in touch with the people that run this magazine, Natural Triad - Holistic Health Magazine Greensboro - High Point - Winston-Salem - North Carolina - NC - Natural Health - Cultural Creatives, in greensboro. They would know if there were jobs in the triad. Best of luck to you!

[Carolina Texan]

Originally Posted by TiredOfSFL

What I see wrong with the picture is for people to be so afraid of "outsiders" taking the "locals" jobs... sounds like what is said of the illegal immigrants so I'm beginning to think it's just an excuse people use against "strangers", period. People, it's the United States of America and people here are "nomadic", this "us" against "them" mentality has got to go!

i know two posters have mentioned this in the thread, but i haven't seen such a "local bias". I'd be especially surprised if the larger companies have that bias. Not trying to dismiss the two anecdotes here, but just provide a different perspective.

this is a great area for the traditional health care field, so perhaps there is an untapped market for non-traditional approaches.

p.s. just found this link... Naturopathic Clinic of NC. It's in Winston-Salem.

[ibeg4sushi]

Perhaps it depends on the field one is pursing? Just a guess...