Anyone out there job hunting and notice a change in recent weeks?

[Kennah]

Been out of work since April, but been looking actively since December when I learned I was getting the axe.

In that time, I had two in-person interviews, plus got called back for a follow up interview. Still not working.

Now, in the last few days, I've had one in-person interview, called back for a second in-person interview, plus another in-person interview scheduled with a second employer. By Friday, in just over a week, I'll have accomplished as much as I had over the previous 10 months.

The gig I was called back for is a state job, plus I have three other state job apps for which I think I'm all but assured of getting at least one interview.

Unsolicited calls from recruiters finding my resume online various places has also picked up.

Friend of mine appears to be in the final stages of a new perm gig. I saw it, thought of him, sent it to him, he applied, and was told he all but has a slot--all happened within about a week.

Two people at one of my Job Clubs landed a new gig in the past 2 weeks.

Anyone else experiencing positive signs of an uptick in the economy?

[Safetykitten]

1. No.

[The Doctor.]

6. So sorry.

Do you have a personal story, or is it a 'wet blanket' thing?

[PETRUS]

2. Guess they don't want more people in the streets carrying signs. nt

[MADem]

3. That's good news -- let's hope it continues. nt

[Selatius]

4. By the jobs reports coming out monthly, the answer seems to be no.

The problem in the economy is that there isn't enough aggregate demand for employers to start adding more hours and adding more staff. Until that problem is resolved, employers won't increase production to meet demand that does not exist.

[Brigid]

5. What kind of skills do you have?

What kind of employers are contacting you? You've got me curious now.

[Kennah]

9. Software Developer

Mostly mainframe COBOL, which doesn't sell all that well these days. Many a COBOLasaurus will look up in the sky, and see a pretty light. I see a meteor.

Gig with the state is a .NET developer job, and I appear to have been able to attract their interest with my VBA experience. Customer service was also very important, and I think I was able to pitch that effectively with examples.

The other interview is for a Business Analyst gig. Private sector. Bicycle distance to work.

The other state gigs for which I've applied, and not yet heard back, were mainframe COBOL.

[whistler162]

24. Sounds like a friend of mine.

She had a job, after leaving the same company I worked for, with the local school district then was laid off and just found a new job after about 1 year. Good luck.

[LooseWilly]

7. The full-time position I was looking at advancing into from free-lancing... continues to not exist.

Maybe, in the future, the position will be created... at which point I can begin competing for it.

Meanwhile, after 3 interviews, I was able to secure 3/4 employment at a retail job... to replace someone who was fired for being late a couple times too many.

The fact that a job that I applied to half as a performance-art-esque joke actually called me back for one, two, three interviews... leading to nearly full-time work that I'm over-qualified for... ironically, seems like it could be seen as "an uptick in the economy".

I can't help but suspect, however, that it's just a sign that people working relatively awful jobs don't value them highly and thus often crack/split ... and I just happen to have been in a place at a time to take advantage of an opportune moment of misery of someone recently fired... an advantage that will last as long as I can tolerate the corporate retail job without cracking (and without any other opportunity presenting itself).

I suspect I could find better opportunities in Mexico... perhaps teaching cartel smugglers the sort of proper English that keeps the cops a little bit off one's back.

[AverageJoe90]

8. Maybe where you are.........nt

[Mr Deltoid]

10. I have noticed

That the huge container port in Seattle has stood largely idle for the last few months. Some ships coming in but NO ships shipping stuff out. Some ships have been berthed for months empty, something you never saw here before. Not good.

[CoffeeCat]

13. Do you watch the Baltic Dry Index?

You mentioned container ships. Do you watch the Baltic Dry Index? The BDI is a chart that
tracks the price of shipping containers full of goods/raw materials.

If consumer demand is low, demand for shipped raw materials/goods also sinks--and lowers the price
point that these big ships charge to ship the goods.

The BDI tanked horrendously in 2008-2009. It has been incredibly low lately.

I love the BDI. It's one economic marker that the mucky mucks can't spin or fudge. I look at it all the
time to guage what's really happening--despite the MSM spin/lies about the economy. You can distort
the unemployment numbers, inflation, etc--but there's no distorting the BDI.

Linky http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm

Edited to add the HARPEX graph. Harpex measures shipping rates for goods that are shipped. The BDI tracks
ships that mainly move raw materials, but the Harpex measure includes rates for more finished consumer goods, as
well as raw materials. The HARPEX appears to be in a steep free fall.
http://www.harperpetersen.com/harpex/harpexRH.do?timePeriod=Years10&&dataType=Harpex&floatLeft=None&floatRight=None

[Mr Deltoid]

20. I just look off my deck

For years the port was always humming. Now it isnt. Doesnt get much simpler than that. Thanks for the links, awesome stuff.

:)

[Rhiannon12866]

11. Congratulations! And great news!

I hope that you get the job you want. Sounds like you're very qualified. :hi:

I didn't get the job I thought I was very qualified for, back in August. :(

[MrSlayer]

12. I'm not. Over a thousand members of my Union out of work.

A couple hundred of them for more than a year. Guys have lost their houses, some of them are actually on the street. It's bad, really bad, for construction right now. Hell, it has been for three years now. Even the old timers who have been through bad times twice before have said it has never been this bad or lasted this long. I've been out for two months now with no prospects in sight. I'm heading up to New York on Wednesday to join OWS.

[NNN0LHI]

14. I can remember when a thousand of us workers at one factory would get laid off in a single week

Sometimes for two years straight or more. And the same thing was going on at every plant in our system.

Watched good friends who lost everything they had. Some of them committed suicide. It wasn't a pretty picture.

And Reagan was on TV declaring Morning In America.

Don

[MrSlayer]

17. Yep. And Reagan would seem like a reasonable person compared to what they have now.

That's how bad it is. This is how far we've come.

[geckosfeet]

15. Seasonal cycles. I think you will find that most companies increase hiring

activities towards the end of the year into the new year, then hiring drops off dramatically.

Make hay while the sun shines and best wishes.

[JohnyCanuck]

16. Get used to the end of growth.

The End of Economic Growth
written by: barath

We’re at the end of growth. Growth of the economy, of consumption, of wealth. That this would happen isn’t news to those who’ve followed the writings of Meadows, Heinberg, and many others. What’s different now is that it may have actually arrived. I’d like to briefly look at our current situation in this context and synthesize the various ideas we explored in previous posts.

On Friday we learned that after only two years of expansion (mid 2009 – mid 2011),the U.S. economy is re-entering recession:

snip

There’s a simple cycle that we can now step back and observe clearly, and we’re going to be stuck in it for at least the rest of this decade if not the next one as well:

A recession occurs (2007-2008)
Demand falls due to the recession (2008-2009)
Oil/gasoline prices fall (2008-2009)
A recovery begins (2009)
The recovery self-sustains for a short period of time (2009-2010)
Oil prices rise due to increased demand (2010-2011)
The recovery falters due to increased oil costs (2010-2011)
A new recession begins (2011)

When oil prices hit $90/barrel last December, those watching oil prices were worried this would cause a new recession. By May I expected we’d see a recession within 12 months due to the persistent high oil prices we’d seen from December through May, as did many others.

http://contraposition.org/blog/2011/10/02/the-end-of-economic-growth/

[Possumpoint]

18. You Cite Oil Prices

I think the picture is broader then that in the affect of excessive debt has on this economy. Excessive debt, both governmental and personal, acts as a damper that is not being offset by value of personal holdings. In other words, the drop in housing prices has closed the avenue of borrowing more against it to buy more things. Lack of demand is driving the turn to another recession.

[FarCenter]

19. There seems to be an upsurge in IT recuiting activity

[LiberalEsto]

21. No.

Three years this month.

[underpants]

22. I got a call from a recruiter

I haven't updated my resume on Monster for over two years - but I have an accounting degree - and he may be trolling long lost clients.

[whistler162]

23. I started working a civil service job(IT) last week and had one

other offer and was waiting on a third, the company that took over my former employer and laid me off three months earlier. I have also been getting a increase in telephone calls from recruiters. Then there is the temp, one month job, I would have loved to have taken because it came with a basic government security check.

The guy I started with, same job they needed multiple people, was out of work for nearly two years.

[gkhouston]

25. No, but I'm glad things are looking up for you. n/t

[GoCubsGo]

26. Nope.

There are barely even any jobs for which to apply, let alone even first interviews.