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Are You Recruiting for These In-Demand Skills?

By Abby Lombardi on April 8, 2013 in Hiring Demand Indicators.

There is increasing concern over the growing skills gaps in the US workforce. But, what skills are employers really looking for in candidates?

We first reported the 50 most in-demand skills in April of 2012. In the past year, this list has changed dramatically. Where it used to primarily consist of programming languages and IT skills, we now see "soft skills" with a much stronger presence. Oral and written communication skills still ranks in the number 1 spot, as it has for several months. Some of the IT skills that were just holding on to their spots, like XML and Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC), have now dropped off completely. Will 2013 continue to see soft skills more in-demand? Are you surprised by any of these skills? Let us know if you have any predictions for in-demand skills in 2013 in the comments section below!

50 Most Commonly Required Skills in Online Job Ads

  1. Oral and written communication skills
  2. Detail oriented
  3. Microsoft Office
  4. Problem solving
  5. Self-starting/self-motivated
  6. Customer service oriented
  7. Organizational skills
  8. Project management
  9. Work independently
  10. Microsoft PowerPoint
  11. Sales experience
  12. Troubleshooting
  13. Time management
  14. Analytical skills
  15. Business development
  16. Strong interpersonal skills
  17. Structured query language (SQL)
  18. Bilingual
  19. Work ethics
  20. Strong leadership
  21. Microsoft Word
  22. Sales and operations planning
  23. Quality assurance (QA)
  24. Product development/management
  25. Software development
  26. Java
  27. Team-oriented
  28. Cash registers
  29. Cash handling
  30. Technical support
  31. Dependability
  32. Ability to travel
  33. Entrepreneurial
  34. Customer relationship management (CRM)
  35. Risk management
  36. Linux
  37. Process improvement
  38. Microsoft Excel
  39. Quality control
  40. Business requirements gathering
  41. UNIX
  42. Inventory management
  43. Data entry
  44. Critical thinking
  45. JavaScript (JS)
  46. Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL)
  47. Customer account management
  48. Data analysis
  49. Hypertext markup language (HTML)
  50. Relationship building

Want to see what skills are most commonly required in jobs in your city or industry? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics to find out!

Skills Needed to Get a Job in Social Media

By Abby Lombardi on March 20, 2013 in Occupations.

Social media skills are still in demand. During February, there were 96,000 jobs available online. This is a 30% increase compared to February of 2012 and 144% versus two years ago. With demand still growing and more occupations now requiring these skills, we wanted to take a look at what skills the jobs are looking for and where demand is the greatest.

Hiring Demand for Social Media Skills

Hiring Demand for social media skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

The 10 most commonly required skills in social media positions are:

  1. Detail oriented
  2. Microsoft Office
  3. Self-starting/self-motivated
  4. Oral and written communication skills
  5. Microsoft PowerPoint
  6. Search engine optimization (SEO)
  7. Project management
  8. Organizational skills
  9. Online advertising
  10. Work independently

We were somewhat surprised that most of these skills are soft skills. However, after looking at the ads, it's clear that social media jobs aren't just about using social networking sites. Instead, social media positions require candidates that understand the analytics behind social media, know how it can impact the company, and communicate these ideas to other departments or lines of the business.

You would expect to see public relations, marketing, and web development jobs topping the list of jobs that most commonly require social media skills. We thought many of the other occupations with high social media demand in February were interesting. Public Relations and Fundraising Managers, Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, and Sales Representatives were some of the jobs that stood out to us. It would make sense that fundraising and non-profit organizations would use social media often, since it is an inexpensive way to create a community around your cause and spread the word.

Occupations that require social media skills

Source: WANTED Analytics

Want to know how hard to fill social media jobs are likely to be in your city? Find out with a free trial of the Hiring Scale. Sign up to get started today!

Already an Analytics user? Log in here – we've already added the "social media" keywords for you. Add your location, the specific occupation you are recruiting for, and any other skill requirements.

Engineering Hiring Demand Grows in Canada

By Abby Lombardi on February 26, 2013 in Canadian Employment, Engineering.

Engineers are an in-demand occupation and we often cover hiring trends in the US. Today, we thought we would examine recent hiring trends for engineers in Canada. After a significant decline in job postings during December, demand seemed to bounce back in January and more closely represented what was seen in the latter part of 2012. In January, there were more than 14,000 job ads posted online, an 8% year-over-year increase when comparing to January of 2012. This also falls just slightly short of May 2012, the highest point during the past four-years when there were 14,700 ads online.

Hiring Trend for Engineers in Canada – 4 Year Job Ad Volume

Hiring Demand for Engineers in Canada

Source: WANTED Analytics

Within engineering related occupations, the most commonly advertised job titles were:

  1. Mechanical Engineer
  2. Electrical Engineer
  3. Project Manager
  4. Project Engineer
  5. Power Engineer
  6. Electromecanicien / Electromecanicienne
  7. Process Engineer
  8. Engineering Manager
  9. Manufacturing Engineer
  10. Civil Engineer

In addition, the 5 most in-demand skills in engineering job ads in Canada are project management, Microsoft Office, oral and written communication skills, self-starting/self-motivated, and problem solving. We noticed that these are fairly "soft skills" and not necessarily things that can be taught. Do any of these skill sets surprise you? Or, did you expect other tools or technologies to be on this list?

Below are the 5 metropolitan areas in Canada that had the most online job ads for Engineer occupations during January, along with their year-over-year growth. While Toronto actually had the greatest demand for science professionals,Edmonton experienced the greatest year-over-year increase in January 2013 when compared to January 2012 of the below 5 areas. Calgary was the only region of the below to see a decline year-over-year.

10 Metropolitan Areas in Canada with Most Jobs for Engineers

5 Cities in Canada with the most job ads for Engineers

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you sourcing for engineering professionals in Canada? Find out how in-demand they are in your local province or city with a free trial of WANTED Analytics!

Already an Analytics user in Canada? Log in and search for the NOC codes 021, 213, and/or 214. Or, just click this link for pre-populated search and add filters as needed. Don't forget that you can also generate a Talent Sourcing Report to share with HR teams and partners!

President's Day Hiring Demand

By Abby Lombardi on February 18, 2013 in Hiring Demand Indicators.

Since it's President's Day in the United States, we thought it was timely to look at presidential hiring by employers. In January 2013, there were 215 job ads for Presidents advertised online. This doesn't necessarily equal the entire hiring demand for these Chief Executives, since some companies don't advertise these high-level jobs online, rather they will "head hunt" potential candidates if a position opens. After a rocky year for hiring demand, the number of job ads declined significantly in November and December of 2012. The volume began to bounce back again in January, however this still represents an 11% year-over-year decline in job ads.

Hiring Demand for Presidents – 4 Year Hiring Demand

Hiring Demand for Presidents

Source: WANTED Analytics

The city with the most job ads currently posted online is Washington, DC. Other cities with the highest volume of ads include Louisville (KY), Kansas City (MO,) Chicago (IL,) and Phoenix (AZ). Are you surprised that any of these cities were among the highest demand? We were surprised that New York, San Francisco, or Los Angeles didn't make this list since they tend to see high demand and many companies have headquarters in those cities. Any other cities you would expect to be here, but aren't?

The most commonly advertised skills for Presidents include:

  1. Strategic planning
  2. Strong leadership
  3. Financial management
  4. Oral and written communication skills
  5. Enterpreneurship

These skills involve money management, strategy, leadership, and communication skills – all skills that would make sense for a President of a company to be strong in.

Is your company hiring a President? Get a free trial of WANTED Analytics to see what local hiring conditions look like.

Most In-Demand Skills for Graphic Designers

By Abby Lombardi on January 31, 2013 in Occupations.

If your company is looking to redesign their website or marketing and branding materials, you may be one of the 3,500 companies currently recruiting for Graphic Designers. Despite about 29% of graphic designers being self-employed in the US, many companies are looking to bring these positions internal so their efforts are a priority. Over the past 30 days, more than 13,000 jobs advertised online for Graphic Designers in the United States, a 12% increase compared to the same 30 day period last year. The 5 cities with the most demand for Graphic Designers were New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

Hiring Demand for Graphic Designers – 5 Metro Areas with Most Demand

Hiring demand for Graphic Designers by city

Source: WANTED Analytics

The most commonly required skills in job ads for Graphic Designers include:

  1. Adobe Photoshop
  2. Graphical User Interface design (UI)
  3. Adobe InDesign
  4. Detail oriented
  5. Adobe Creative Suite
  6. Hypertext markup language (HTML)
  7. Typography
  8. Website development
  9. Microsoft Office
  10. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
  11. Microsoft PowerPoint
  12. Self-starting/self-motivated
  13. Adobe Dreamweaver
  14. Adobe Illustrator
  15. Organizational skills

For our previous reports on hiring demand for Graphic Designers, read Picture This: Jobs for Graphic Designers Grow.

See how hiring for Graphic Designers in your area compares with a free trial of WANTED Analytics!

Already an Analytics user and want to search for this job? Log in and enter "Graphic Designer" is the occupation filter. Add your location, industry, or specific skills you require in open positions for results specific for your company!

Hiring Demand for Marketers Grows – And Makes Recruiting Difficult

By Abby Lombardi on January 3, 2013 in Advertising/Marketing.

Hiring demand for marketing professionals continues to remain strong. Over the past 30 days, more than 56,000 job ads were available online for Marketers. Despite declining over the past few months of 2012 (likely a seasonal trend), the volume of ads was up 14% compared to the same 30-day period last year. In addition, the number of employers or staffing firms grew 7% versus last year. Some people may think that Marketers will be a relatively easy-to-fill job. However, this growing demand by more companies will cause employers and recruiters to compete more fiercely to attract potential candidates. To help you with your recruiting strategy, we thought we would examine recent trends in hiring demand for marketing professionals. Recruiters – be sure to share this information with hiring managers or other recruiting professionals that need more data on this demand.

Hiring Demand for Marketing Professionals in the US

Hiring Demand for Marketing Professionals in the US

Source: WANTED Analytics

First, we wanted to share the most in-demand skills in job ads for Marketers. Since there is a wide range of skills – from product marketing skills to strong oral and written skills to analytical skills – it's likely to that Recruiters will face challenges finding a potential candidate that meets all their requirements.

  1. Product development/management
  2. Project management
  3. Business development
  4. Microsoft PowerPoint
  5. Oral and written communication skills
  6. Detail oriented
  7. Self-starting/self-motivated
  8. Microsoft Office
  9. Product marketing
  10. Analytical skills

The average posting period (the number of calendar days that a marketing job ad is online) is 42 days – or 6 weeks. This doesn't necessarily mean that a job is filled in 6 weeks on average, but just that the ad is available for applicants. It's likely that it will actually take longer to complete the application and interview process, negotiate hiring terms, and have the new employee start their position. However, there are some locations that are currently experiencing a shorter posting period. Two cities that are currently seeing the shortest posting period in the US are Charleston, West Viriginia and Bismarck, North Dakota. In both of these areas, job ads remain online for just 20 days on average (about 3 weeks) – half the time seen across the country. In comparison, some of the cities currently seeing the longest posting period are Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa and Corvallis, Oregon. In these 2 areas, job ads remain posted online for over 80 days on average – that's almost 11.5 weeks!

Average Posting Periods for Marketing Jobs in Major Metropolitan Areas

Average posting period for Marketing jobs in the US

Source: WANTED Analytics

Our Hiring Scale ranks Marketing Managers as a 91, out of 99, depicting that these positions will be hard-to-fill. Below, we shared the 3 cities currently experiencing the best and worst conditions for sourcing this talent.

3 Locations with the Least Difficult Recruiting Conditions for Marketing Managers 3 Locations with the Most Difficult Recruiting Conditions for Marketing Managers
  1. Lakeland, Florida
  2. Spartanburg, South Carolina
  3. Eugene-Springfield, Oregon
  1. Columbia, Missouri
  2. Fayetteville, Arkansas
  3. Seattle, Washington

Recruiters that are struggling to fill marketing positions and experiencing a longer time-to-fill may want to consider sourcing candidates in the 3 cities above. While Corvallis, Oregon has a long posting period, the nearby metro area of Eugene is one of the best places to find this talent.

Are you hiring for marketing professionals? Find out what the Hiring Scale score is in your city with a free trial of WANTED Analytics!

Already an Analytics user? Log in and search for the "Marketing Managers" occupation and select your metro area, or copy/paste one of your job reqs into the Search Wizard. Don't forget to generate a Talent Sourcing Report to share with hiring managers and HR partners as you develop a recruiting strategy.

Do You Have Skills? 50 Most In-Demand Skills in Job Ads

By Abby Lombardi on December 18, 2012 in Hiring Demand Indicators.

As we approach the end of the year, we thought it was appropriate to revisit the list of the most commonly advertised skills to see how these have changed. When we first reported on this in April of 2012, Microsoft Office was the most in-demand skill, but this has dropped to third place now. We also see more "soft skills" on this list, like being detail oriented and problem solving skills. Although there are several listed, we don't see tech skills dominating this list like we have in the past.

What other changes do you notice? What do you predict will be the most in-demand skill in 2013? Will "oral and written communication skills" hang on to the number 1 spot? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below!

  1. Oral and written communication skills
  2. Detail oriented
  3. Microsoft Office
  4. Problem solving
  5. Self-starting/self-motivated
  6. Organizational skills
  7. Project management
  8. Work independently
  9. Microsoft PowerPoint
  10. Sales experience
  11. Troubleshooting
  12. Customer service oriented
  13. Time management
  14. Analytical skills
  15. Business development
  16. Strong interpersonal skills
  17. Structured query language (SQL)
  18. Strong leadership
  19. Work ethics
  20. Product development/management
  21. Quality assurance (QA)
  22. Microsoft Word
  23. Software development
  24. Oracle Java
  25. Technical support
  26. Risk management
  27. Dependability
  28. Ability to travel
  29. Bilingual
  30. Cash registers
  31. Linux
  32. Team-oriented
  33. Process improvement
  34. Business requirements gathering
  35. Quality control
  36. UNIX
  37. Customer relationship management (CRM)
  38. Microsoft Excel
  39. Javascript (JS)
  40. Microsoft SQL Server (MS SQL)
  41. Customer account management
  42. Critical thinking
  43. Hypertext markup language (HTML)
  44. Data analysis
  45. Program management
  46. Inventory management
  47. Systems Development Lifecycle (SDLC)
  48. Application development
  49. Customer relations
  50. Extensible markup language (XML)

Will Hiring in Detroit Finish Strong in 2012?

By Abby Lombardi on December 12, 2012 in Occupations.

It's been over a year since we looked at hiring in Detroit, Michigan. As we approach the end of 2012, we wanted to look back at the jobs that are in demand and if these positions will be hard-to-fill. Overall, hiring was strong in Detroit this year and was higher than any other time since the recession began. In November, there just over 57,000 jobs available online for jobs located in the Detroit metropolitan area, representing a 32% increase compared to November of 2011.

Hiring Demand in Detroit, Michigan – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand in Detroit, Michigan

Source: WANTED Analytics

Within the Detroit metro area, IT and computer fields were the most commonly advertised during November. More than 9,200 jobs were available online for tech related jobs in this area, a 35% increase compared to November of last year. Other in-demand fields included sales, engineering, administrative, and healthcare areas. All of these occupational fields saw year-over-year increases, with healthcare jobs actually growing the most, up 44% versus last year. Below are the most commonly advertised job titles in Detroit.

  1. Customer Service Representative
  2. Registered Nurse
  3. Administrative Assistant
  4. Sales Representative
  5. Physical Therapist
  6. Driver
  7. Sales Associate
  8. Project Manager
  9. Occupational Therapist
  10. Java Developer

It seems that most of the skills required in job ads are soft skills, rather than hard skills. The most in-demand requirement in jobs for this area is oral and written communication skills, which is commonly required across most occupations and in most areas. Last time we reported on Detroit hiring, we looked at average posting periods for the most commonly advertised occupations. We thought it might be interesting to look at the duration of online job ads by skill. We also looked at the average posting period for the 10 most commonly advertised job titles in Detroit and compared them to the national average.

Below are 10 of the most commonly required skills in jobs advertised for the Detroit metro area, along with the average posting period for each qualification in Detroit.

Skill Average Posting Period
Oral and written communication skills 46 days
Problem solving 46 days
Microsoft Office 40 days
Detail oriented 37 days
Self-starting/self-motivated 37 days
Organizational skills 46 days
Microsoft PowerPoint 33 days
Strong interpersonal skills 38 days
Project management 37 days
Work independently 37 days

The skills that, on average, are advertised the longest are oral and written communication skills, problem solving skills, and organizational skills. Are these job requirements harder to find since they are "soft skills" and can be harder to identify in candidates?

What jobs do you have open in the Detroit metro area? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics for Talent Sourcing Reports on all your open positions and show hiring managers why they may be harder to fill here than in other areas.

Already an Analytics user? Log in to Analytics and select Detroit in the location filter. Or,  you can copy and paste one of your job ads into the Search Wizard to access Talent Sourcing Reports.

Skills and Certifications in Demand for New York City

By Abby Lombardi on December 10, 2012 in Hiring Demand Indicators.

New York City still ranks with the highest volume of job ads of any metropolitan area in November. There were more than 274,000 job ads available online for the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island area, up 4% from November of 2011. We thought it would be interesting to look at the jobs, skills, and certifications that are most commonly advertised in the New York area.

Hiring Demand in New York City – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand in New York City

Source: WANTED Analytics

The 10 occupations with the most job ads, below, range from IT to healthcare to administrative to retail and others. Web Developers were the most commonly advertised occupation, growing 7% compared to November of last year. Other IT jobs that made this list were Computer Systems Analysts and Software Engineers. Registered Nurses saw the highest year-over-year increase of the below 10 jobs, up 27% compared to the same month time period in 2011.

10 most in-demand occupations in New York City

Source: WANTED Analytics

Do the most commonly advertised skills and certifications match these occupations? We expected to see technical skills, like programming languages, as the most in-demand since there were 3 IT related occupations on the above list. However, many of the skills are general that could be required across all jobs. In fact, the only technical or programming related skill that made this list for the New York metro area was Structured Query Language, or SQL.

20 most commonly advertised skills in New York metro job ads:

  1. Oral and written communication skills
  2. Detail oriented
  3. Microsoft Office
  4. Problem solving
  5. Self-starting/self-motivated
  6. Microsoft PowerPoint
  7. Project management
  8. Organizational skills
  9. Work independently
  10. Analytical skills
  11. Sales experience
  12. Business development
  13. Time management
  14. Strong interpersonal skills
  15. Customer service oriented
  16. Product development/management
  17. Structured query language (SQL)
  18. Troubleshooting
  19. Risk management
  20. Microsoft Word

Below are 10 of the most commonly required certifications and licenses for jobs located in the New York metro area. Many of these are healthcare certifications.

  1. Certified Registered Nurse (RN)
  2. Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  3. Certification in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
  4. Basic Life Support (BLS)
  5. FINRA Series 7
  6. First aid certification
  7. Commercial driver's license (CDL)
  8. Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
  9. Project Management Professional (PMP)
  10. Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

What jobs are you hiring for in the New York metro area? Find out how hard to fill they will be, where you can find candidates, and who you are competing with to attract that talent with a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

Already an Analytics user? Log in and copy/paste your open job reqs into the Search Wizard for hiring demand and talent supply data. Don't forget to generate a Talent Sourcing Report to have data-backed discussions with hiring managers to develop an effective strategy for attracting top talent.

Commonly Required Skills for Robotics Professionals

By Abby Lombardi on December 6, 2012 in Labor Market Dynamics.

Previously, we've reported on hiring demand for robotics jobs. Since it's been a while that we've covered this topic, we wanted to provide a quick update on recent hiring trends.

Most Commonly Required Skills for Robotics Professionals:

  1. Troubleshooting
  2. Robotic surgery
  3. Problem solving
  4. Oral and written communication
  5. Microsoft Office
  6. Self-starting/self-motivated
  7. Project management
  8. Detail oriented
  9. Microsoft PowerPoint
  10. Technical support

Based on these skills, it seems that many of the requirements have to do with building and repairing robots. In addition, it is interesting to see that "robotic surgery" appears on this list. We've also been watching an increase in healthcare related jobs that require knowledge of robotic instruments. With these skills peaking our interest, we wanted to see if the job titles seem to match the skills commonly required.

Most Commonly Required Job Titles for Robotics Professionals:

  1. Maintenance Technician
  2. Mechanical Engineer
  3. Controls Engineer
  4. Manufacturing Engineer
  5. Electrical Engineer
  6. Physician – Urology
  7. Senior Mechanical Engineer
  8. Registered Nurse
  9. Software Engineering
  10. Urologist

As it turns out, these jobs titles all correspond with professionals that would likely build or repair robotics (like engineers), as well as healthcare occupations. Do any of these surprise you?

Find out if your open robotics positions will be hard-to-fill and where to find candidates with a free trial of WANTED Analytics!

Already a user? Log in and enter "robotics" as a keyword to see conditions in your local area. Don't forget to print out a copy of the Talent Sourcing Report to show hiring managers and team members why these jobs are hard-to-fill, who you are competing with for talent, and where to find potential candidates!

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