We are more than half way there. What are your thoughts and experiences with your own job search process? Please share my commenting to this post.

  The region is blessed with a lot of high-profile companies who hire people from the outside for their specialized fields (i.e. health care and higher education). As a result of the success and growth of these entities, there are a significant number of trailing spouses who are looking for good solid positions. Often times the lead spouse will not commit unless there is a career opportunity on the table for the trailing spouse. Virginia Tech has hired a person to handle job searches for all trailing spouses to help close the deal on the lead spouse. Carilion and Radford University also mention this as an issue in recruiting their top talent. Assisting these larger enterprises with their trailing spouses helps secure more economic and population growth for the region. However if the trailing spouse does not have the billable skill set desired in the region and private entities are not financially motivated to assist, then this may affect hiring the lead spouse. Ultimately the lead spouses of these entities, which are driving the regional economy, will not be hired and thus further stunt regional growth. 

If you define yourself with any of the following characteristics: ·        UNDERemployed; ·        Some form of higher education;·        Do not have a billable skill sets, but other good skill sets;·        Typically a member of Generation X or Y;·        Have potential in the workplace;·        Are looking to make $30-$50k a year in a professional job, then Who is available to help you in your job search? Great question. Unfortunately, there are not many and here is why.  Private sector headhunter firms are typically only going to help this segment of the workforce if they know they can make money off of you – that is an employer will pay the headhunter 20-25% of the first year starting salary. Typically, local companies will not pay $8-10k to fill a $40k position. Also, local companies have their pick of candidates for these jobs because it may not require a certain expertise to complete the job.  Public sector entities like the Virginia Employment Commission, to their own admission, have said they are not equipped to help a college educated person. You are not reaping the benefits of these state-funded programs because of the prevailing myth – a college graduate does not need help in finding a job.    Therefore, the Un-Serviced Workforce has few places to turn. Ultimately, these people are contributing to the region’s brain drain phenomenon.  

The common saying among knowledge base workers is “there are no jobs in Roanoke and that is why I move to larger metro areas”. However, if the place you live is more important than your job or profession, then perhaps one would have seen the demand for skill sets in the region before deciding on a plan of study. Instead of saying there are no jobs in Roanoke, which is a myth and inaccurate, the true response should be, “what are you doing to make yourself employable in the Roanoke labor market?” There are plenty of companies with a lot of jobs to fill, but what skill sets does a job seeker bring to the company? A job of $40,000 a year is not an entitlement for a college graduate. Recent college graduates have been fooled by society that a degree will automatically result in a job, and that is not necessarily the case, especially with degrees in non-billable skills.  

  Further, because most local firms are small companies, they do not have dedicated recruiters at college job fairs because they only hire 1-2 persons at a time. Nor do they have a dedicated recruiter who can spend an entire day away from the office and spend $500+ to attend the fair. It is just not an effective use of time and resources by small companies, but that does not mean they are not interested in hiring college graduates. Finding creative ways to identify these small local companies and the needs they have is critical.