The odds are daunting: Job seekers in Georgia now outnumber job openings by nearly six to one. A half-million Georgians are officially unemployed and many others are simply not counted.
With the state’s unemployment rate in double digits, however, some companies are hiring. A job seeker can shorten the odds with the right skills — or with a well-aimed application to a company in a growing niche.
Some categories are growing — “green” jobs, for example. And a few broader industries have held up well, especially health care. Yet there are other corners of growth — and skills that are still in demand.
Exaserv Inc. in Alpharetta wants to add five to its workforce of 50, said Frank Meertens, company president and co-founder.
Exaserv offers consulting and software help in managing human relations issues in a range of medium- and large-sized organizations. Business has been growing and the company is hiring, partly because businesses are trying to become more efficient. The positions pay well, more than $80,000 for someone with the right kind of experience. Despite the glut of job-seekers, Exaserv has had trouble finding the right person to hire.
“It is hard to find the right resources because it’s a specialized skill set that you need,” Meertens said.
Many of the prospering companies aim at a small market — but they have a laser-like focus.
Like Norcross-based Insight Sourcing Group, which advises companies how to save money on their purchases. The seven-year-old company has 24 employees — six of them hired in the past year.
“We specialize in a narrow niche called strategic sourcing,” said Tom Beaty, president and CEO. “This economy is good for our business.”
The company is hiring a project manager as well as analysts. For analysts, starting pay is $40,000 to $50,000. For more senior jobs, pay ranges from $90,000 to $130,000.
It is difficult to find both procurement experience and consulting experience in the same individual, Beaty said. “Finding someone at the manager level has been surprisingly difficult because what we do is narrowly focused and the standards are high.”
Experts say that good luck plays a part in finding a new position, just the way bad luck can put a good employee in the path of trouble.
Andrew Knight, 31, thought he was doing a good job for an Atlanta cosmetics company, right up until he was laid off last winter from a job in electronic commerce.
“It came as a little bit of surprise,” he said. “But then, they laid off 30 percent of the company.”
The Mableton man was shaken a second time when he slipped into the job market and started searching for another position, he said. “Things were definitely on the quiet side. It wasn’t completely dead, but it wasn’t as strong as the last time I looked in 2005.”
He had good skills; what he needed was a growing company.
And while Knight was falling into the pool of unemployed, Case-mate of Tucker was gearing up to hire.
“When the markets were slowing down, we took the opposite stance,” said Shashi Reddy, company founder and CEO.
Case-mate, which makes cases and accessories for phones and digital assistants, expanded its product line, opened kiosks at malls and started selling products overseas.
And the company had to hire, Reddy said. “I am very pleased with the kind of people who are coming to us. We get the pick of the litter.”
As Knight was starting to get nervous about the job market, the head of human resources at Case-mate sent a note to recruiters that the company was looking to hire. One recruiter knew Knight had been laid off and forwarded the message to him.
“I was in the right place at the right time,” Knight said. “Case-mate was looking for an e-commerce director and that is what I was.”
Network, network, network
For job seekers, slogging through the morass of Internet listings may be pointless, said Bill Lins of Marietta, a career consultant as well as CEO of Jobs 4 Grads Now.
“Eighty-two percent of positions are obtained from networking and only 18 percent are from things like job boards.”
To improve the odds, a job seeker must make contact with people who can help, whether or not their company currently is hiring, Lins said. “Afterwards, send them a note. You need to develop a relationship.”
Still, the huge pool of candidates leaves even determined job-seekers with a contradiction, said Jeff Garber, president and CEO of 360JobInterview.com, which counsels candidates.
On one hand, an applicant should tailor his or her resume and approach to match the opening as precisely as possible. Resumes, for example, should highlight the skills and experience needed and discount or ditch what is irrelevant to the position.
Yet, many employers save money by keeping themselves short-staffed — so they value versatility.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “You may be an apple and I may need an apple, but I want to know that if I need a banana down the road, you have those skills.”
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