Seven job seekers contacted me yesterday looking for assistance in finding something in the region. California, Texas, Georgia, and Richmond are where some of the seven currently reside, but want to move to Roanoke.

You can look at it in one of two ways. Unemployment is on the rise or people are beginning to find out about the RNR (Roanoke and New River Valleys) and want to move. From our Roanoke Connect database, we are finding more people on sites like Wikipedia and Ask.com that are bringing people to our database. Certainly, we find many people looking to go from underemployed to gainfully employed especially as inflation continues to rise.   

Jobzcafe.comhas been trying to tap into helping these folks with their new site and Talking Tuezday events. Other efforts, such as The Roanoker magazine, are being proactive in assisting and encouraging the relocator. 

All of these efforts appear to be merging nicely and viral activity is taking over. Keep talking it up, blogging it, mentioning it at functions, and staying involved in the process. Thanks for your time and efforts.  

Jobzcafe is hosting a free seminar - Talking Tuezdays - on Tuesday, June 3 at 6 pm at WDBJ 7.  This seminar will provide job-search assistance, techniques and strategies that will enhance your employment opportunities.

The event will also be on streaming video.

Please make an effort to attend.

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.

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.  

I met with a middle-age woman yesterday who wants to move to the region from another Southern state. I was impressed with her education, career background and commitment to other people. This is the type of person we need to drive the region forward.

Click to view our recent eNewsletters for job postings in the region. Please share this with others.

We receive many requests from employers asking for assistance in finding candidates. We send these eNewsletters to our 2600 person database. If you would like to join our database, then submit a profile.