Job Market Analysis

http://success.simplyhired.com/rs/simplyhired/images/SH_May_2012_US.pdf


Here is a link to a 14-page pdf job market analysis for May 2012. The overview is helpful if you need to contextualize your hunt for a starting career position in this economy. You also get some breakdowns for major metropolitan areas, showing you where the jobs are (and are not), and which companies (including a list by major metro area) are showing the largest number of openings to be filled.


It’s a bit geeky and statistical, and may take you some time to wrap your head around. However, it can yield good insights. If (for example) your objective is to get a job on the west coast, you’ll find that San Francisco is a much better bet than Los Angeles, overall—there are 2 unemployed people for every job opening in SF, whereas there are 6 unemployed people for every job opening in LA (info from chart on page 5).

Bear in mind that these are jobs listed with “Simply Hired”--so there could very well be some skewing. However, the data will give you a starting point for making sense of where to target.