Arizona State Jobs Expect Billions from ARRA
Is the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act doing its part to create Arizona state jobs and other positions throughout the state? The answer to that question depends on who you ask.
As of the end of September, a total of $139 million in contracts had helped to create or save about 657 jobs in Arizona. While that may seem like a large number, naysayers think it is only a small number compared to the total number of jobs the stimulus is expected to create throughout the state.
Overall, Arizona is expected to receive about $14.6 billion in federal stimulus money, but so far the state has only seen about 1 percent of that.
Jobs in Phoenix Arizona Increase
Even though the area’s unemployment rate stayed steady, more jobs in Phoenix Arizona were added last month.
During September, the Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale area saw its unemployment rate stay steady at 8.6 percent, unchanged from August and a slight decrease from the area’s 8.7 percent unemployment rate during July. The current rate also is lower than the national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.
The area had a total non-farm employment of 1,708,800 workers during September, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is up from 1,700,500 workers during August, but an 8 percent decrease from last year.
Training Requirements for Paramedic Jobs
Many people today are looking for paramedic jobs, but there are several training requirements you must complete before considering such a career.
In most cases, a high school diploma is required in order to enter an emergency medical technician or paramedic training program. According to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, these programs usually offer training at progressive levels, including EMT-Basic, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic.
During EMT-Basic training, coursework focuses on emergency skills, such as managing respiratory, trauma and cardiac emergencies, as well as patient assessment. Students often divide their time between formal courses, emergency rooms and ambulances.
Recruiting Software Company Makes Strategic Partnerships
Bullhorn, a recruiting software company (Click here), recently announced its plan to make several strategic partnerships in order to advance the ecosystem for available solutions that complement the company's software.
Broadbean, M5, The Code Works and Virtual Software are all slated to make applications that are fully integrated with Bullhorn. The solutions, which will be available by the end of 2009, will provide customers with the opportunity to achieve a stronger competitive advantage.
In addition, the solutions will allow customers to engage in a richer user experience experience across several touch points that are critical to the everyday tasks of staffing and recruiting professionals, including sourcing, telephony, vendor management and the back office.
Arizona Jobs through Solar on Schools Program
A new effort to make schools more green through a round of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act also will help create more Arizona jobs. Go to http://arizona.jobing.com to learn more about Arizona jobs.
Gov. Jan Brewer recently announced that 15 school districts throughout the state will receive federal stimulus funding for solar energy projects through the Solar on Schools initiative. The funding is part of the $55,447,000 awarded to the Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office through the State Energy Program.
The grants, which will provide more than $5 million to procure photovoltaic systems for qualifying school districts, will be managed by the School Facilities Board. The current round of funding includes $2.6 million.
RPO Firm Chosen by Suniva
One well-known company has been chosen to provide RPO services to Suniva, Inc.
The company recently announced that it chose Kinetix, a full-service talent acquisition and consulting firm, to provide permanent recruitment process outsourcing services for Suniva's American operations.
Suniva manufactures high-power, low-cost monocrystalline silicon solar cells and solar modules. Kinetix will be responsible for overseeing the end-to-end recruitment process for company positions in manufacturing, operations, research, technology, accounting, sales and customer service.
Pre Employment Testing Tips
If you're in the process of applying for a job, chances are you may have to go through some sort of pre employment testing procedure.
As of late, pre employment testing has become more popular among employers, who often have candidates undergo various tests following interviews in order to avoid making bad hires. Pre employment tests can sometimes help determine whether a job seekers has the right skills or personality to fill an open position.
While it's impossible to know exactly what an employer's pre employment test will consist of, Yahoo! HotJobs has some tips on how you can be ready:
Outplacement Help for Displaced Dell Workers
Soon-to-be displaced Dell workers will have the opportunity to receive extra outplacement help from local and state government agencies. Go to http://outplacing.com to learn more about outplacement services.
Dell recently announced its plan to close the company's plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., which opened only four years ago. The move, which is expected to take place early next year as part of a corporate cost-cutting strategy, will result in the elimination of 905 jobs. However, about 600 workers will be laid off during November.
After hearing of the company's plans, representatives from local and state government agencies decided to begin coordinating help for Dell workers who will soon lose their jobs. Even though Dell has offered to provide severance packages and job placement services, local and state officials often provide extra help when major layoffs occur.
Background Checks Increasing
The process of obtaining background checks on potential employees is becoming more popular throughout America and other parts of the world.
Employers have fast realized how important a background check on a candidate can be. Not only do they allow companies to make sure job seekers are telling the truth on their resumes and during interviews, but they also allow employers to avoid making potentially harmful and costly bad hires.
In the United States as of late, there has been an increase in background checks for several types of employees, including those who work with children, such as teachers, those who work with vulnerable people, such as caretakers in nursing homes, those in the church, those hired by state and city governments and even journalists.
Entry Level Jobs: Top 25 Metro Areas for PT Grads
If you're looking to begin an entry level job as a physical therapist, there are plenty of opportunities throughout the country.
AfterCollege recently released its list of the top 25 metro areas for physical therapists. The site compiled the list by looking at available entry level jobs on AfterCollege and jobs from more than 75 media and newspapers in order to find cities with the most employers.
Using sites like JustJobs.com, Salary.com, Apartments.com, and the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, AfterCollege considered a plethora of data - which it hopes will in turn help recent graduates find the perfect place to live and work - when creating the list.