Need headhunters/employment leads in NoVA (Annandale, Springfield: sales, 2014, lawyers)

[Lizzy67]

Hi all...my company is transferring me to the Northern VA area...now my spouse very much needs employment leads. Do any of you know of any good headhunters/executive recruiters in the area?

Also...Is it possible to commute from Stafford (Aquia Harbor) up to Fairfax within an hour?? Thanks!

[dullnboring]

I can only answer the second question, which is that I'm sorry to say that a commute from Stafford to Fairfax will take well over an hour on your average workday. I think driving during off-peak hours even, it would take probably just under an hour or so Well, this is assuming by "Fairfax" you mean the city of Fairfax. I would say that a commute would run around an hour and a half each way to the city of Fairfax. Now if the commute was to a different part of Fairfax County like the southeastern edge around Lorton, the commute would be less and doable in an hour.

[kitkatjmu]

yeah it all depends where you would be commuting from. I used to have a coworker that commuted from Stafford to Annandale/Springfield area, and it could take her on a good day 45 minutes and on a bad day 3 hours!!!!!! One way!!!!!!!!!!

What kind of job would your spouse be looking for? I wouldnt' think it'd be hard to find a job in nova.

[mormegil27]

^^ Not true, my wife has been underemployed in Nova for 5 years. Only can get part time contracting work. We really struggle to get by, and she has an advanced degree. It all depends on what field your spouse is in. At least half of our friends are in similar positions.

Local govt, hospitality, healthcare, retail, and tourism are on the rise. Low wage work is likely plentiful, best of luck making it on that.

Business services is poor, as is defense contracting, because of the recent cuts to the DoD by Congress (contracting is heavily represented in Nova). Law jobs are down, probably true everywhere. Fed govt is bleeding jobs, many people retiring and no money, again due to Congress, to replace them. Obama also has been cutting Fed pay for 4 years straight, which makes younger workers look for better prospects. The Dept of Justice is supposedly using unpaid intern lawyers to prosecute criminals now, which may very well be against the law in its own right.

The DC area has had terrible job growth in 2014, some economists are predicting local resession. Nova has done a bit better in the last 2 months, we'll see if it holds. Home sales (and values) are plateuaing because of poor job growth, maybe local peak and decline to come.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by mormegil27

Obama also has been cutting Fed pay for 4 years straight, which makes younger workers look for better prospects. The Dept of Justice is supposedly using unpaid intern lawyers to prosecute criminals now, which may very well be against the law in its own right.

Wrong on both counts.

Pay rates for civilian non-SES under the General Schedule stayed flat under Obama from 2011 through 2013, with exceptions. For 2010, there was a 1.5% COL raise over 2009. Previously, such raises were on the order of 2%-3%. For 2011-2013, base pay was flat but not cut. (Note that people still got scheduled step increases, as well as performance bonuses.) In 2014--because Obama proposed it and Congress passed it--we got a 1% COL raise. (Is Obama to blame for those 3 years we had no COL raise? Not really. Congress would not have gone along with it; remember, in 2012 there was a near-Government shutdown, and in 2013, there was an actual shutdown. If Congress won't bass basic legislation, it's certainly not going to approve a raise for Federal employees.)

I can guarantee you DOJ is not using interns to prosecute criminals. Interns may be doing routine paperwork, but only lawyers prosecute.

Where are you getting your information? Whoever it is, I would stop listening to them if I were you.

[ChristineVA]

OP, what type of industry does your husband work in. That might give us a better idea of his prospects and where to begin his search.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by ChristineVA

OP, what type of industry does your husband work in. That might give us a better idea of his prospects and where to begin his search.

The OP started the thread 8 years ago....While no guarantee, I certainly hope their spouse is employed now.

[ChristineVA]

Oh man. I hate when that happens. I guess we have mormegil27 to blame for this zombie thread arising.

[HB2HSV]

On the topic of using headhunters (is this still a PC term in today's environment? Considering some object the team name "red skins" ) when job searching?

I don't think most companies pay for headhunters anymore short of executive search given today's online presence. It would be foolish for a job seeker pay money to headhunters these days. Most of the time one can go to company's website and submit application directly.

But it is still a "not what you know but who you know" when it comes to job hunting. It gives you a tremendous advantage over the next person. So develop a personal network is always best.

[mormegil27]

Originally Posted by Carlingtonian

Wrong on both counts.

Pay rates for civilian non-SES under the General Schedule stayed flat under Obama from 2011 through 2013, with exceptions. For 2010, there was a 1.5% COL raise over 2009. Previously, such raises were on the order of 2%-3%. For 2011-2013, base pay was flat but not cut. (Note that people still got scheduled step increases, as well as performance bonuses.) In 2014--because Obama proposed it and Congress passed it--we got a 1% COL raise. (Is Obama to blame for those 3 years we had no COL raise? Not really. Congress would not have gone along with it; remember, in 2012 there was a near-Government shutdown, and in 2013, there was an actual shutdown. If Congress won't bass basic legislation, it's certainly not going to approve a raise for Federal employees.)

I can guarantee you DOJ is not using interns to prosecute criminals. Interns may be doing routine paperwork, but only lawyers prosecute.

Where are you getting your information? Whoever it is, I would stop listening to them if I were you.

No, actually I am not, in fact, wrong. I don't give a **** whether he would not have gotten a raise through Congress, it is the right thing to do and he should have fought for it. Inflation is 2%. Let me say that again so no one misses it: inflation is 2%. Any wage "increase" below 2% is a pay cut. I don't care about nominal values, I care about what my money can actually buy.

I read about the unpaid interns in an article, probably in the Washington Post. I will look for it and post it. The WaPo is, of course, often full of BS, so I might be wrong there.