Majestic Star Casino to Bring Over 1,000 Jobs to Pittsburgh

Guest Blooger Heather Johnson is a regular commentator on the subject of how to become a pharmacist. She welcomes your feedback and potential job inquiries at heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Although the gaming industry is something new to the Pittsburgh area, the Majestic Star casino could be very beneficial to the local workforce. The establishment will be offering more than 1,000 new jobs to the area in May 2009. This could be a great opportunity for many jobseekers, as the casino will be offering competitive salaries and benefits. However, working in a casino is not for everyone.
Luckily, the Northside Leadership Conference (NSLC) and the Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) are working together in order to create free workshops for potential casino employees. These workshops seek to answer questions about applying for a casino job, what it is like to work in the gaming industry and what kind of future it holds for employees.
These community workshops will be called "So You Think You Want To Work in a Casino?" and will begin later in the month. Although the workshops will share some information that was provided by Majestic Star, the instructors will be completely objective. The potential drawbacks to working for the gaming industry will definitely be covered, as well.
As noted above, working for a casino is not for everyone. Naturally, there are people who may not agree with gambling and those people will certainly not want to work for Majestic Star. Also, the establishment may require some very odd hours and demanding job performances. On the other hand, there is some great room for promotion and the industry offers competitive hourly wages.
Even though the Majestic Star casino will not open its doors for another year, the establishment will begin its hiring much sooner. Also, some positions may require credentials from the state of Pennsylvania. If you are uncertain about your ability or desire to work for Majestic Star, a free workshop could come in very handy. For more information, citizens are encouraged to visit the NSLC's official site.

As Pittsburgh Heads the Curve Nationally in Older Workers a New Job Board is Launched Targeting the 40+ Job Seeker

With Pittsburgh remaining one of the hotter job markets around the nation due mostly to the hiring of replacement workers because of the larger percentage of workers reaching retirement age a new website was just launched targeting the 40+ job seeker.

WiserWorker.com was specially designed for baby boomers and employers seeking to reach them. Content on the site is focused toward advice for this age group in their job search as well as job opportunities specifically from companies open to hiring them due to their higher skill levels, dependability, loyalty and work ethic.

With the AVERAGE age in the Pittsburgh metro area approaching 40 (according to the 2000 census the average age in this area reached 39, where nationally it was 34) this is welcome news as the 40+ age group is the fastest growing demographic using the Internet. Our area is currently losing more employees to retirement than are coming into the workforce from our schools. This is creating higher demand for workers 40+

Although the website is very young, look for lots of updates coming over the next 6 months. According to Amy Hoster, Product Development Manager for WiserWorker.com, WiserWorker.com is dedicated to the largest growing demographic in the country, the Baby
Boomers. 80% of the baby boomers plan to work at least part-time past the traditional retirement
age. Alliance for the Experienced Workforce reports “By 2010 nearly 1 in every 3 hourly workers in the United States will be over the age of 50.” Baby Boomers skills, knowledge, and experience are
invaluable to our economy and our labor market, and now to recruitment managers across the country.

The Employment Guide® Re-launches HealthCareerWeb.com

The Employment Guide® (http://www.employmentguide.com/) has announced the re-launch of its health care Web site, HealthCareerWeb (www.HealthCareerWeb.com).

Redesigned and re-engineered to make searching for health care jobs fast and easy, the new HealthCareerWeb is the first recruitment destination designed exclusively for the health care industry to offer social networking.

"HealthCareerWeb offers more than the opportunity for recruiters to attract job seekers; it's the first free recruitment social networking Web site designed exclusively for its members to seek and share information pertaining to the health care industry," said Denise Tanner, business development manager of HealthCareerWeb.

The MedCom area of the site is a medical community where visitors can connect with one another to gain knowledge about the industry. HealthCareerWeb Forums offer an informal place where job seekers can post questions and articles about careers in health care. Another section includes medical videos that give an insider's look at what it's like to work in various medical professions. The site also includes a calendar of medical events, which can be sorted by state.

Jeff Littlejohn, Vice President/General Manager of The Employment Guide, commented, "Our newest product is specifically designed to meet the needs of both job seekers and recruiters in the growing healthcare industry. We have incorporated the benefits of a social networking environment to further enhance the user experience while increasing awareness among health care professionals about professional communities and events." For more information, contact Employment Guide's Pittsburgh office at 412-257-7801.

About HealthCareerWeb.com

HealthCareerWeb, a division of The Employment Guide, offers a powerful platform for advertising niche jobs in the health care industry. This targeted site offers job seekers more than just job opportunities. Free member resources include resume posting, social networking, localized event listings, health care forum, and an industry-specific video center.

The Employment Guide also hosts http://www.employmentguide.com/, transportation-specific CareersinGear.com Magazine and http://www.careersingear.com/ and vertical search aggregator, http://www.jobalot.com/

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises, Norfolk, Va., is a leading marketing services company serving employment, automotive, real estate, marine,recreation and industrial markets. The company has more than 500 magazine titles, over 40 market-leading Web sites, and operates a variety of Web and technology businesses. The company has annualized revenue of more than $946 million and has more than 6,000 employees nationwide. For more information, visit http://www.dominionenterprises.com/.

Pittsburgh Job Market Hot-Hot-Hot

The Monster Employment Index was released today for March and again Pittsburgh’s online recruitment activity continues one of the largest growth rates in the country, reflecting the broad-based need for workers across most job categories. Up 4% in March over February, the Index also shows a healthy increase of 9.2% over March of 2007 while nationally numbers are down 10% from 2007.

Weak job categories included Sales, Protective Services, Management, and Food Prep. The strongest growth year over year has come in Healthcare, Healthcare Support, Construction, Production and Installation, Maintenance and Repair.

“Online Job Availability Rises in 10 of the Top 28 Major U.S. Metro Markets”

During March, online recruitment activity rose in 10 of the 28 U.S. metro areas
monitored by the Index, with Portland showing the largest increase, fueled by higher demand for healthcare and public service professionals. Seattle was the second strongest market on the month, followed by Pittsburgh, Detroit and Cleveland. Meanwhile, Boston and San Francisco registered the sharpest declines, reflecting lower online recruitment activity for white-collar occupations.

On an annual basis, six of the 28 markets are now showing greater online job availability compared to a year ago, with Pittsburgh ranking as the top growth market year-over year for the second consecutive month. Houston and Dallas remained among the top five amid continued high demand for healthcare, military and management occupations. In contrast, Los Angeles has registered the steepest drop over the past 12 months, burdened by fewer opportunities in construction.”

How is The Pittsburgh Job Market Faring Now?

As we enter mid-April having been witness to all the economic carnage across the country every day in our living rooms courtesy of the news media, how is the job market here in Pittsburgh faring?

As a media that includes weekly print, one of the largest job boards on the Internet and Comcast Video on Demand Jobs across southwestern Pennsylvania we continue to see strong demand across most hourly job categories that is higher than what we saw a year ago.

In March the Monster Employment Index, which measures the level of online recruitment activity in select markets around the country, named Pittsburgh one of the 4 hottest metros in the country for online ad volume.

According to Harold Miller, President of Future Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm specializing in analysis, strategy, and communication and a contributing columnist for the Pittsburgh Post-gazette on economic matters, the reason for this strength is not job GROWTH, but the demand for replacement workers. With Pittsburgh being one of the oldest markets in the country, as measured by median age of the population, the number of residents entering retirement years is beginning to exceed the number of younger workers entering the labor force. This is creating a higher number of opportunities for employment across most categories. The most in-demand workers continue to be anything in the healthcare field.

Another helpful influence to remaining strong in employment opportunity is the local housing market. While many areas of the country experienced double digit growth in home values due in part to speculators and low interest rates, the Pittsburgh housing market saw only gradual, sustainable growth of a few percentage points per year. Because of this, home values never reached levels beyond reality and so are projected to continue slow sustainable growth in the future.

These reflections on our local economy do not mean we will not and have not felt the effects of the current recession. They do show that our area should weather this economic storm better most areas of the country.

2008 Pittsburgh Employment and Career Education Expo

The Pittsburgh area’s next big Diversity Job fair will be on April 1st at the Mellon Arena from 10:30AM to 3:00PM. The job fair is free and open to the general public. No registration is required. Enter at gate 10. We suggest if you drive to park in the east parking lot on the Center Avenue side of the arena (all day parking is just $6.00). With over 35 companies and career training schools in attendance, job seekers will find hundreds of local Pittsburgh job opportunities and information on dozens of career raining opportunities.

It is highly suggested that all job seekers brings a supply of resumes (10 or more) and to remember that how they dress will greatly influence their chances of employment success.

This job fair is the first Diversity Job Fair in Pittsburgh to be held in collaboration with The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, AARP Foundation Work Search and the Allegheny county Department of Veteran’s Affairs. Companies attending are letting it be know they are equal opportunity employers looking for the most qualified candidates regardless of race, age or veteran status.

The companies in attendance so far include:

AARP Foundation Work Search
Academy of Court Reporting
Advance Auto Parts
Aldi Foods
Allied Barton Security Services
All-State Career School
Aramark Mellon Arena
Army National Guard
CCAC
CCAC/MOST
Commute Info
EchoStar / Dish Network
Giant Eagle
Goodwill
Home Depot
Kaplan School
Leeds
Mainstay Life Services
Market District
Medmark
New Century Careers
OK Grocery
OSI
Parkvale Bank
Pennsylvania State Police
SMG Management
Sunrise Assisted Living
Transitional Services
The Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh
US Postal
Venturi Staffing Services
Verizon Wireless
Allegheny County Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Waddell & Reed Financial Services
Five Star Quality Care (Nursing)
CVS Pharmacy
Everest Institute
Art Institute of Pittsburgh
Novum Pharmaceutical Research
Carniegie Mellon University Facilities Management Department
Enterprise Rent A Car
McDonald's
And More!

Pittsburgh Area Manpower Survey Gives Pittsburgh’s Job Market an “A”

35% of Pittsburgh area employers plan to expand payrolls in the 2nd quarter, according to the Manpower Employment Outlook Survey released today. Only 5% plan to reduce payrolls, according to Manpower spokesperson Kelly Scott.

“Compared with the first quarter of 2008 when 20% of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 15% planned to reduce staff levels, area hiring levels appear to be stronger,” said Scott. “Employers are more optimistic about hiring activity as compared to one year ago, when 29% of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 9% expected to cut payrolls.”

For the coming quarter, job prospects appear best in Construction, Durable Goods Manufacturing, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate and Services. Employers in Transportation/ Public Utilities and Wholesale/Retail Trade voice mixed hiring intentions. Hiring in Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing, Education and Public Administration is expected to remain unchanged.