How is employment in the Chicagoland area? (Phoenix: sales, how much)

[maverick_72]

How is Chicago's job market? Outlying suburbs?

I'm in Phoenix looking for work. I've been to Florida, Iowa and Arizona to find work.

Cannot find work. Any ideas?

I am a former teacher. Looking for a career change.
I have some sales background. Would prefer hotel sales. But, I am willing to try anything at this point.

[pvande55]

Not what it should be. True, the whole country is short on jobs, but a little worse than average here. Believe it or not, some manufacturers complain they can't find the right employees so that may be a place to start.

[nikitakolata]

The job market here is okay, but it is tougher if you are changing careers. I've been applying for jobs in fields other than the one I've been working in for the last 9 years and I'm basically spinning my wheels. I customize my resume and cover letter for every application and I have a lot of transferable skills, but that doesn't seem to matter. In the past I've never had trouble getting new jobs within my field (financial services) and I suspect I could probably get another job in the field now... the only problem is that I really don't want one!

[asliarun]

One way is to get into a company as a contract employee or "consultant", and then show solid performance and try to get it converted into a permanent job. Doesn't work all the time, but it sometimes does.

The thing is - a prospective employer will be much more open to hiring someone they have worked with personally, even if that person has some shortcomings in their resume. You'll be surprised how much they will want to keep you in their team if you can prove to them that you are dependable.

But be careful, many companies have a policy of keeping a large number of staff as permanent contractors - they want the manpower but don't want the permanent employee headcount to increase in their books. You need to avoid those companies.

[maverick_72]

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[maverick_72]

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[maverick_72]

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[maverick_72]

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[maverick_72]

hello

[MSchemist80]

Originally Posted by asliarun

One way is to get into a company as a contract employee or "consultant", and then show solid performance and try to get it converted into a permanent job. Doesn't work all the time, but it sometimes does.

The thing is - a prospective employer will be much more open to hiring someone they have worked with personally, even if that person has some shortcomings in their resume. You'll be surprised how much they will want to keep you in their team if you can prove to them that you are dependable.

But be careful, many companies have a policy of keeping a large number of staff as permanent contractors - they want the manpower but don't want the permanent employee headcount to increase in their books. You need to avoid those companies.

I can name several companies particularly large corps that are like this with the armies of perma-temps. It is especially bad in my profession. I'd say the infiltration of staffing agencies is particularly bad in Illinois and the only companies screaming about having trouble filling positions either have very poor compensation, insane purple squirrel requirements, or an inept HR/recruitment staff.