Although it doesn’t feel good to be unemployed for over 60 days, new regulations actually makes it smart for employers to hire you.

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Every day I hear from people who tell me that they have sent out dozens of resumes and are not getting calls. Some of these people have very good resumes so what’s the problem here?

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I have to say that I am not a fan of web-based resumes and portfolios. Although some resume services push these, I do not see the sense in having them.

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There is a lot of noise regarding the state of the labor market. Here are some promising statistics.

First, remember that unemployment is what is called a trailing indicator meaning it is one of the last things that will be affected as the economy improves. When bad times occur, employers will quickly react by cutting staff and then try to get the most they can out of their existing workers until they just can’t get any more. Then they will start hiring on a cautious basis, often starting with temporary workers first before they commit to full-time employees. So let’s see where we are.

 US productivity in the third quarter rose to 9.5%, the fastest surge in 40 years. Normal productivity growth is about 3.0% so this shows that employers have reached the limit of what they can get out of their existing staff.

 There were only 11,000 jobs lost in November, the lowest rate in 2 years.

 Hiring of temporary workers grew by over 52,400 personnel in November, the highest surge in 3 years.

 In October, companies announced they plan to hire 57,250 new workers which is the highest level since July 2007.

 For executives, job postings on ExecuNet are up 30% since the summer, and last week postings were up 26% from the week before. Executive recruiters and hiring decision makers state that they expect 2010 to be much brighter than 2009. And there has been a 50% rise in new jobs obtained since September 2009.

Remember that February is the biggest hiring month of the year so be prepared. Make sure your resume presents you well and build a job search plan that includes recruiters, job board postings and networking.

Connecting with people in LinkedIn is an important way to build your network. For example, my network of about 100 people I know directly yields over 40,500 people 2 degrees away and over 3,510,800 people 3 degrees away. So here are 2 simple tips for building your network.

First, have rules as to who you allow into your circle. You should have some relationship with the person at the very least. So don’t just allow anyone into your network.

Second, when inviting someone into your network, take the time to override the default invitation and put something personal in. It is more effective, and just more polite. Every week I get invitations from people and sometimes I have to say, I just do not recall how we know each other or why we should be connected. So improve your acceptance rate by taking 30 seconds to put in a personal greeting.

Linkedin has become a must for job seekers so use these tips to make sure you are appropriately managing your network.

A lot of people I speak to think that they should have a 1-page resume. While this is true in some cases, in general the notion of a 1-page resume is not appropriate in today’s market.

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Hundreds of thousands of positions were obtained by job seekers last month, so employers are definitely hiring. If you are frustrated in your job search, then perhaps you should rethink your job search plan. Here is a recap of job search techniques and how to get the most out of them.

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Here is a good article from CNN on companies that look for people working from their homes.

Check out:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/worklife/12/01/cb.home.based.workers/index.html

Here are some online resources for retirees looking for part-time or full-time work, many of which target anyone 50 or over:

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Unemployment recently hit a new 5-year high of 6.1% with 605,000 jobs leaving the market. This will only get worse as the turmoil from the financial markets causes more layoffs. Here are 5 things you need to do TODAY to protect yourself.

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The internet has a wealth of tools that can help you in your search. Below are a choice few:

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I have often been asked whether you should send a Follow-Up letter. This is a letter used after days/weeks have passed since an interview and you are waiting for a decision. The letter is designed to ask how the process is going and when a decision could be expected. The answer is simple – NEVER SEND A FOLLOW-UP LETTER! Here’s why.

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