Experts: NYC jobs climate healthy this summer

Soft skills like communication and leadership are desirable among employers this summer, experts said. Photo Credit: Dillon Burke

It’s safe for job seekers in New York City to come out now, according to employment experts.

The high unemployment rates and scarcely available opportunities that plagued the city during the nation’s economic downturn have subsided, they said.

“The tide has turned,” said Ed Fleischman, CEO of staffing firm The Execu|Search Group, which has an office on Third Avenue. “People are getting employed here in New York City.”

There are numbers to back up Fleischman’s claims. New York City’s unemployment rate in June dropped to 6.1% from 6.4% in May, according to the State Labor Department. The rate for all of New York State was down to 5.5% in June, its lowest since July 2008.

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The U.S. unemployment rate was 5.3% in June, down from 5.5% in May, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Jean-Louis Van Doorne, senior vice president at the career resource center Dale Carnegie Training, which also has a location on Third Avenue, added that opportunities are available across a wide array of fields.

Another benefit, he said, is that soft-skills are especially desirable right now, which have more to do with a person’s natural character than degrees and bullets on a resume.

“Skills such as effective personal interaction, positive attitude formation, leadership, et cetera are being seen as much more essential in today’s business landscape,” Van Doorne said, which takes the pressure off a candidate’s professional experience.

But if you feel that your skills are lacking, it’s never a bad time to take classes and pick up more training, he said.

“Great interpersonal skills, the ability to work hard” are what employers are after this summer, Fleischman said. “The ability to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to go out and pick up skills that I don’t have or maybe take online classes.’ That shows hunger.”

When you’re ready to look, Fleischman recommended searching on Indeed.com, an aggregator site that crawls other job websites for listings. Van Doorne suggested looking for opportunities with specific companies you’re interested in.

“It’s just a very robust economy,” Fleischman said. “Get out there and look.”

HOT INDUSTRIES
According to Ed Fleischman of The Execu| Search Group, these fields especially are hiring in NYC this summer: