The Toughest City to Find a Job

Miami has a lot going for it–sun, Art Deco style and carb-loaded Cuban food. But just try finding work there.

A new report from job search engine Juju.com ranks the job search difficulty in 50 US cities. Washington DC is the locale where you’re most likely to score a gig–it has 1.18 unemployed people per advertised job opening. Miami, meanwhile, comes in at the bottom of the batch. For every job ad, there are more than nine people looking for work. Check out the rest of the rankings…

Six Ways to Avoid Blowing Your Job Interview

For nearly five months, I’ve been trying to fill a few positions at our human capital firm, and along the way I’ve learned quite a lot about the many ways job candidates can blow their job prospects—obvious and not so obvious. In this still-challenging economy, it is not what the company can do for you, but what value you bring to the company. You should focus addressing any issues that could keep your candidacy from moving forward, and try NOT to shoot yourself in the foot with one of these moves.

Being Arrogant

Hiring managers want people who are confident—but most also want team players who work well in groups. There is a very fine line when it comes expressing confidence in an interview and what hiring managers see as being arrogant or cocky….

Job Market Best in Year and a Half, Gallup Says

We’ll see what sort of effect the Dow bustage has on this bit of positive news, but according to polling company Gallup, the job market is back to where is was at the end of 2008.

Wait, 2008? Wasn’t that a few months after Lehman went bankrupt, Fannie Mae had to get rescued and Congress approved the $700 billion bailout? Well, yes…

Screwed: 1,019 in Long Beach Unified School District

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 1,338

The Long Beach Unified School District this week starting giving layoff warning notices to 1,019 employees, mostly teachers…The Pasadena Unified School District is cutting more than 164 jobs to help close a huge budget gap…

Recession Briefing: Hiring Finally Happening

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Job openings rose sharply earlier this year, evidence that employers are slowly ramping up hiring as the economy improves. The number of openings in January rose about 7.6 percent, to 2.7 million, compared with December, the Labor Department said. That’s the highest total since February 2009. (Associated Press)

IRS agents will be more flexible with taxpayers who have seen their incomes drop during the recession. (USA Today)

The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more — excluding wealth derived from a primary residence — grew 16 percent last year, according to a new report. (Huffington Post)…

Screwed: 2,000 at Chevron

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 5,788

Chevron will lay off 2,000 workers this year… The financial crisis described by Westchester County Exec Rob Astorino may result in up to 1,600 county layoffs… Irish airline Aer Lingus is laying off 670 employees under a new restructuring plan…the Montgomery County Public School System in Alabama is axing 600 people…St. Mary’s paper in Canada will let go 300….Ceva Logistics in Indiana is letting go all 200 employees…The Minnesota Department of Human Services will cut 200 jobs from a mental illness care program… 110 workers have been temporarily laid off as Sierra Pacific Industries abridge operations at the Chinese Camp, CA cedar mill…NRG Energy will eliminate 70 jobs in Connecticut… 20 police officers are in danger of being laid off in Atlantic City… 18 special education teachers have been laid off from the D.C. School System… The Daily Press, subsidiary of the Tribune Co., will be instituting about 10 percent employee layoffs among the staff of 84…

How to Keep Your Job by Becoming Irreplaceable

At the risk of stating the obvious, skill, talent, and seniority no longer guarantee job security. And blackmail and corporate espionage aren’t great alternative strategies — it’s generally better to get canned than to get jailed.

But there are ways to you reduce your chances of getting targeted during the next round of layoffs. After all, every workplace has a few key players whose bosses believe the place couldn’t run without them — whether it’s the person who can run a finicky fax machine or the only staffer who maintains a good rapport with a difficult client. These people tend to be the same ones who avoid layoffs time and time again.

You can become one of them — without a lot of hard work but with a good dose of sucking up. Here are five other tips to follow…

Recession Briefing: Museums Benefit from Downturn (Sort Of)

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Many museums across the country saw a spike in visitors during the economic slump last year, even as they experienced increasing financial stress, according to results of a study released Thursday. (Associated Press)

One thing employment-services firm Manpower has got better at during the recession is figuring out quickly which job-hunters can be helped, and which to send elsewhere rather than risk leading them on. (Economist)

It cost more than $500,000 in stimulus funds to create a single highway construction job, largely because of building materials, an analysis of stimulus reports shows. Education aid and research funding are among the cheapest ways of creating or saving jobs at less than $60,000 each, the analysis shows.( USA Today)…

How to Land a Law Job

Like most professional fields, law has taken a big hit in the recession. Law firms, once considered safe havens, have laid of employees in droves. And, of course, new jobs are hard to come by — especially for law students.

That means once a student (or recent grad) lands an interview, she has to be ready to nail it. Looking for interviewing advice last year, I found many websites and blogs had the same old rules — show up early, dress impeccably, ask good questions. We go beyond the standard protocol, with tips will push your interviewing skills to the next level and will help you land the job.

Talk about Your Non-Legal Experience

Just because you are interviewing for a legal job does not mean that you can or should only talk about your legal experience. Discuss your non-legal experience that relates to the work you will do at the firm. Since I worked as an executive recruiter before law school, I would talk about the parallels between recruiting and practicing law.

Recession Briefing: Why Yellow Lights Are Shorter

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Some cash-strapped cities have been shortening yellow lights in order to nab more drivers with tickets — and raise revenue. (AlterNet)

A little-noticed effect of the recession is the incredible shrinking work shift. Millions of workers are taking multiple part-time or freelance jobs, jumping back and forth repeatedly between work, other pursuits and more work. These weird schedules are creating new challenges. (Wall Street Journal)

In an era of populist outrage and nearly double-digit unemployment, the average Wall Street bonus jumped 25% in 2009 to $123,850 as financial firms rebounded from the recession with help from U.S. taxpayers’ money. (USA Today)…