In case you missed  my appearance discussing the current state of the jobs market on First Business on Tuesday, June 26, 2012: please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/media.php and scroll down to “Television Appearances” to view.

President Obama’s recent policy change allows some people who came illegally to the U.S. as children to apply for work permits. Unfortunately, it does not solve the larger question of immigration reform. Instead, it was a very calculated move by a very calculated and skillful politician who fears losing re-election.

Despite our current employment woos, we need major immigration reform. Immigrants are the backbone of this country and provide a huge infusion of ideas and labor, which can help our country grow. Therefore, we should spend a lot of time on developing a comprehensive plan that:

1. Rewards those who came into this country legally.
2. Allows easier access to top-notch talent (especially technical and scientific experts in growing fields such as nanotechnology).
3. Provides more extensive standards for entrance (e.g. service to the country).
4. Provides more barriers for criminals and terrorists from entering.
5. More quickly and easily deports criminals and terrorists if they do slitter in.

The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) recently reported that the unemployment rate rose to 8.2% in May because only 69,000 new jobs were created. However, many fields have continued to grow including: a) Health Care, which added 33,000 in May and 340,000 over the year, b) Manufacturing, which added 12,000 in May and 495,000 since a low point in January, 2010 and c) Transportation and warehousing, which grew by 36,000 last month. This has created a shortage of key talent in countless areas. What can a hiring manager do to win this war for talent and gain differential advantage?

On Saturday, Saturday, September 8th from 9 to 11 a.m. CST in Chicago we will host a symposium sharing many of our top recruiting techniques. The foundation will be our 12 Commandments of Recruiting. Please go to http://www.strategicsearch.com/technical-recruiting-tips/technical-recruiting-tips.php to view. Normally only offered during on-site, ½ day client workshops at $5000! However, as a special introductory offer for only $199, you will gain both: a) much of the same benefit and b) insights working beside peers who are experiencing similar recruiting problems.

During this special event, we will sequentially discuss each of the 12 Commandments and then break up into small work groups to practice them. We will critique your applications and offer suggestions for improvement. Then we will repeat this process for each of the twelve. At the end, will be a summary and question and answer session.

Space is limited so please sign up quickly.

The prospects are grim these days for high school grads who look for work after graduation rather than going to college, according to a recent study by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.Only three in 10 of these recent grads are employed full time, according to the study, which tracked the employment outcomes of 544 young people who graduated from high schools across the country between 2006 and 2011.

The Great Recession has had an impact on everyone, but for young people without a college degree, the employment picture is crippling.Only 16 percent of those who graduated during the recession (2009-2011) are employed full time, although nearly half are looking for work. A third are unemployed and 15 percent are working part time. One in six have left the labor market altogether. Thirty-seven percent of students who graduated pre-recession (2006-2008) are employed full time, according to the report.

It’s a debilitating reality faced by many young people in D.C. face every day, explains Raymond Bell, founder of the HOPE Project, an IT training and development program in Washington (the inititiave’s moniker stands for Helping Other People Excel). “They’re unable to get McDonald’s, Wendy’s, retail,” he said. “Twenty years ago in D.C., you could graduate from high school … and you could go work for the federal government or the postal service. Now they’re competing with a kid from George Washington University with a 3.9 GPA.”

The study shows that although employment is better than the alternative, the jobs young high school grads are landing are predominantly low paying and often are temporary. Nearly 90 percent of those surveyed said they were paid hourly. The average hourly wage was $7.50, only a quarter more than the federal minimum wage. Three quarters of the jobs reported were temporary. “With this combination of temporary, low-wage work, it is likely that few of the recent high school graduates would have been able to earn an annual income of $10,890 to exceed the official federal poverty level for a single household,” wrote the study’s authors.

Of those who worked part time in their first job after college, about 58 percent earned considerably less than a poverty-level income, according to the study. That has consequences for everyone, Bell said. Young grads without prospects for solid employment are more likely to be teen parents, become homeless, or engage in petty crime, he said.

The Great Recession depressed wages for all young graduates, according to the report. Wages for young high school grads dropped 10 percent from 2007 to 2011. Pay for young college grads also dropped by about 5 percent. In 2011, young college grads earned an average of $16.81 per hour – about $35,000 annually, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

The unemployment rate for all workers ages 16 to 19 was three times the national average – 24.6 percent in May, according to the Labor Department.

Therefore, I have three suggestions:

1. Stay in school if you can. Also, try and keep your grades high.
2. Try and focus on quantitative classes such as math, science and other technical fields.
3. If you have to end your schooling after high school, try and keep current with current technologies.

The BLS reported two alarming statistics today: a) paltry jobs creation and b) a spike in Americans involuntarily working part time. Only 69,000 new jobs were created in May as the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.2%. Furthermore, the number of reluctant part-time workers, because they could not find a full time job, rose by 200,000. This means that the total number of U.S. workers who are either unemployed or underemployed (i.e. involuntarily working part-time or just giving up and as a result not being reported) reached 23,200,000 or a gain of 400,000 over April. This is 1 in 6 of all Americans! Fortunately, a cure exists in applying SEO to job-hunting.

Because of my coverage of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) over the last several years for several media outlets, I have come to realize its importance to energizing job searches. As a result, I launched the largest, non-profit, professional SEO group in the Chicago area with almost 600 members. Our main objective is to explore cutting-edge SEO techniques. On Saturday, August 4th starting at 10:30 a.m. at 200 S. Wacker we will host our first ever symposium devoted to analysis of one’s online presence. Two major goals are: a) to evaluate one’s Internet footprint (or lack thereof) and b) to suggest improvements. These techniques can significantly increase a job seeker’s chances of getting noticed by prospective hiring companies and being hired.

If you would like more information about this topic, attend our upcoming symposium or to interview Mr. Sargis about his expertise on jobs, careers and workplace issues, please call 312-944-4000 or e-mail ssargis@strategicsearch.com