ETC.

• Just when I thought the employment market was ready to take a giant step forward, it slowed down the last few weeks. Of course, part of this may be due to the Northeast being a frozen tundra distracting people from functioning at full speed.
• Rather than painting negative pictures, the media should look for markets where hiring is still occurring (medical devices, legal fields, machine design to name a few).
• More and more employers are asking recruiters to verify employment and performance before they interview potential contract employees. The rational is that if the recruiter is hiring the person to be on his/her firms payroll, then he/she should do the legwork. If you are a candidate, NEVER refuse a request for references. I had to drop a candidate this week he was unwilling to provide the needed information.
• If you are an engineer in the automotive industry, I would get ready to do some contract work in QA as I suspect all the major auto makers will be looking to ensure higher standards than ever before.