What's Up with these Toledo Jobs? Two questions...

Was doing a twitter search for toledo and just saw this:

http://twitter.com/newretailjobs

1. Toledo #retail #jobs DRIVER WITH SMALL CAR (TOLEDO BASED - WITH TRAVEL): Driver with small r.. http://tinyurl.com/d7km7q2 minutes ago from twitterfeed
   
2. Toledo #retail #jobs Borders-General Manager (Toledo, OH): Responsibilities The ability to m.. http://tinyurl.com/cko5ek2 minutes ago from twitterfeed

oh - those links are

http://toledo.craigslist.org/ret/1157941433.html

and

http://toledo.craigslist.org/sls/1157969822.html

Ohio Means Jobs is the "new-ish" site that replaces the former SCOTI job site (whatever the heck that stood for). It was (and looks still to be) maintained by the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services. I haven't spent any time on it because thankfully I'm not currently actively job-seeking, but when it was SCOTI I found it pretty valuable as a job-seeking resource.

It looks now to be affiliated with Monster and Indeed, which probably accounts for some of the bogus job leads. I think Indeed itself is a feed-type site that collects ads from across the web, so you get legitimate and not-so-legitimate ads just by virtue of the collection method ... Aggregator! That's the word I was looking for.

If anyone's registered there, I have a question: Do they still call you like ODJFS used to when your registration profile was a strong match for a posted job opportunity? Some of the ODJFS employees that would call were really great, very encouraging on the phone.

SCOTI - Sharing Career Opportunities and Training Information has been revamped to the Ohio Means website, and yes it is linked with Monster, and yes, Indeed & SimplyHired are web aggregators that pull (some) job listings from the web. The value of the state managed board is that it is free for employers to post positions vs Monster, Careebuilder, etc. who charge around $300 per posting to employers. The bad news is that aggregators also pull scammer jobs from other free job posting sites as well.

I'm a bit bias because I work in the computer field for a medical facility but here is my $0.02 on the job market in Toledo.

Compared so several states I've lived in Toledo has a great job market (at least for what I do). So it really depends on what you do for a living.

The news, and the general economic buzz about Toledo being bad for jobs is because we're fluctuating from a manufacturing economy to a service oriented one. A lot of the people losing their jobs tend to be factory workers.

For better or worse, those jobs are going to go wherever it's cheaper (cough China, Korea, Mexico). If Toledo and it's wonderful people are to survive then we have to retrain and focus on what we can provide. That's a big reason I went into the field I'm in. I'd rather be a writer, painter, or just work on a ship. But you have to evaluate what you want in life, how much it costs, and research the market and train yourself in something that is going to be useful in the future.

Granted I've also seen jobs outside of Toledo leave for India and China but even those tend to be basic programming positions or tech support on the phone where all you need to do is read a script on a screen. It's hard to outsource the person who keeps your local infrastructure working on a daily basis.

It's kind of the "Robots took our jobs" scenario. Learn how to repair the robots :)

I have a lot of respect for First Solar, they are taking that leap forward to what the world will need and what we can provide, while being able to utilize the hard working factory workers in Toledo. So that seems to be the middle ground.

Rant over.

Best way to get a job is socialnetworking and research.
Most jobs aren't listed in the paper, they are spread by word of mouth.

Figure out what you want, find a place around here that does it. Cold call them and ask if positions are available. Send a resume for them to keep on file and send one every 6 months. If anything it shows perseverance.

Find clubs or organizations that are oriented toward your craft. Whatever it takes to get in the loop with other people doing what you're doing. You'd be amazed how many times I've seen "MY company is hiring X, Y, Z thought I'd let you know" in mailing lists or forums.

The more connections you can make the better off you'll be. It's also mutual. When you're employed and your company is hiring tell other people in your clique. This is also useful not only for jobs but life in general.

Need your car repaired, well a friend of a friend recommend this and several other friends concurred. Where to get the best loan, best place to eat, whatever.

TT is an example of this :)

Sorry should have said persistent not perseverance.