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Employment Trends in recent years highlight that job loss is extremely common as shown by the following facts:

Thus, because job losses in today's modern economy are very common, individuals should not feel singled out if they are currently unemployed or underemployed. Instead, each person who is searching for work should hold his or her head high realizing that he or she has God given abilities, skills and insights that are different from any other person.

According to the latest Census, 138,820,935 people were employed in the United States during 2000. This represented 49.3% of the overall population and 63.9% of those aged 16 and over. During that same year FORTUNE 1000 companies employed 28,410,337, which meant that four out of every five working Americans were not employed by a FORTUNE 1000 company.

More importantly, during the 1980 to 2000 period when FORTUNE 500 companies reduced their headcounts by 3.5 million employees, small businesses with sales under $10 million added 20 million new jobs. Thus, these numbers reinforce the notion put forth by Dr. David Birch at MIT that small organizations with 50 or fewer employees create up to two-thirds of all new jobs.

As Dr. Birch's work was further refined it became apparent that only one out of every twenty small entities represented a nimble, high-growth entity or what is now called a "gazelle." Some recent examples of gazelles were Microsoft and Dell, as well as Subway Sandwiches and Starbucks Coffee, which each started as shoestring operations. Despite differences, studies show that gazelles have dedicated, hardworking, visionary leadership, and that those who help them build can have very rewarding and lucrative careers.

However, spotting gazelles is easier said than done, as many quickly discovered when the dot.com bubble burst in April 2000. Nevertheless, if one notices that a businessperson is making major sacrifices to build a business and desires to help others, these traits represent good signs.

Regardless of whether one desires to start his or her own business or is seeking work with a company, high growth areas represent the best job opportunities. During 1970, 46% of the jobs were in the manufacturing sector and 54% were in the service sector. However, like it or not, close to 80% of the jobs are now in the service sector. More importantly, 93% of the new jobs being created are in the service sector. Thus, job seekers have a better chance of landing a service position than manufacturing work.

According to projected growth rates, convalescent health care employment will increase from 202,500 in 1996 to 373,900 workers in 2006. This 85% growth rate is much greater than the 15% national average increase. Similarly, biotechnology careers and business to business entrepreneurial ventures represent good employment opportunities for the 1996 to 2006 period.

To get detailed information regarding specific careers, a job seeker should examine the latest edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U. S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The 2004-2005 edition is available online, and it shows the five fastest growing professions for 2002-2012 will likely be (1) Medical Assistants (2) Network Systems and Data Communications Analysts, (3) Physician Assistants, (4) Social and Human Service Assistants and (5) Home Health Aids.

All else being equal, high growth areas represent better opportunities. However, during economic downturns companies use more temporary help, since these workers are easier to eliminate without demoralizing the "permanent workforce." Nevertheless, for those who are unemployed, contractual positions can provide much needed income, added network contacts and the chance to build one's resume. Plus, temporary jobs can many times lead to "permanent positions" if the company where one is stationed sees (1) high value in the work that the person is doing and/or (2) an improved economic outlook.

Just as employers do not want to demoralize their "permanent workforce" during economic downturns, they are increasingly looking for particular skills and personal characteristics in their job candidates. According to a recent study, published by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the skills that employers are looking for in new college graduates are:

Similarly, according to this same source, the top ten personal characteristics that employers seek in job candidates are:

Although it is granted that potential employers will probably not be very interested in a seasoned worker's past internship and co-op experience, they might very well want to know if a professional has been taking mandatory continuing education classes. Likewise, a potential employer will probably want to see that the job candidate has the above personal characteristics regardless of experience level.

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