Our Blog

BY Joel Junker

JMO Recruiting in 2012

As we enter a new year, each of us do so with new hope, promise, and excitement for the chance to improve ourselves both personally and professionally.  As the Cameron-Brooks team prepares for our first Career Conference of 2012 later this month, I wanted to share some of the latest economic figures and how they pertain to the JMO considering a transition to Corporate America.

1.   Overall unemployment is 8.5%, and the real unemployment rate (this includes those unemployed and looking for work, those unemployed and not looking for work, and those underemployed, meaning not using all of their skills or doing part-time work) is closer to 16.5%.  While this number is still not great, we are seeing the unemployment rate dip below 9% for the first time in over a year, so that is encouraging.  Additionally, according to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the unemployment rate for those 25 years or older and who have a college degree is at 4.1% (down from 4.4% in November).  This is much lower and positive than 8.5%, and the one that is really applicable to the JMO.  So, while there is still much work to be done to get the unemployment rate down for the overall health of the U.S. economy, there is good news for young, talented leaders with potential.

2.  There are still approximately 4.6 people applying for every job opening.  However, at every one of our Career Conferences in 2011, candidates averaged between 12-13 interviews and there were approximately 1.5-2 positions for every C-B JMO at the Career Conferences.  This further reinforces the point above.

3.  Another telling statistic is job creation.  There were 200,000 jobs created in the month of December.  However, that is an aggregate number composed of jobs created by the public sector (government) and those created by the private sector (Corporate America).  In the case of December, the private sector added jobs (212,000) in December while the government cut jobs (-12,000) to give us the overall 200,000 number. This is very representative of what we saw all of last year with the government continually cutting jobs and the private sector adding positions.  In fact, the private sector has added 534,000 jobs in the past for months and over 2.5 million jobs since February 2010.

My message to any JMO considering a transition to Corporate America is this:  Do your homework.  Don’t rely solely on what your friends, family, and media, are telling you about the economy, opportunities outside the military, etc.  Do your diligence to fully understand how the economy specifically pertains to you and your background, what types of opportunities exist, and whether a career in business is the right path for you.  And, if and when you decide to make the transition, you must be well prepared.  Our client companies continue to bring opportunities for growth and advancement for top performing JMOs who are committed to a career in Corporate America but the interviewing/hiring bar remains high, which means your preparation must be top-notch.

I wish everyone a very prosperous and productive 2012!

Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks as I will post another blog about the upcoming January 2012 Career Conference.

Rob Davis