Monday, January 11, 1999
MONEY BRIEFING
Online job hunting goes beyond high-tech
The Internet is no longer just for technophiles, and neither, it seems, is online job hunting. A growing number of services are catering to job seekers of all types, offering everything from online classified ads to aptitude evaluation questionnaires and resume advice.
And a new study suggests that most people searching the World Wide Web for employment opportunities are not looking for jobs involving computers and software.
Career Mosaic (www.careermosaic.com) analyzed key terms typed in by job seekers who conducted 15.1 million searches of its database between July and September. The word that came up most often was “manager” (or “management”); only three of the 10 most frequently used terms — “engineer,” “computer” and “programmer” — were specifically technical.
Other search terms in the top 10 were sales (No. 3), marketing (4), finance (5), accounting (6), assistant (8) and human resources (10).
Benefits, flex time gaining in importance
Salary is still the priority for job seekers, but medical benefits and flex time are gaining in importance, reports Challenger, Gray & Christmas, an employment consulting firm.
In a survey of job seekers, Challenger Gray found that 57 percent considered salary their primary concern. A few years ago, that figure would be closer to 90 percent, chief executive John Challenger said.
Now, 42 percent are looking first for good benefits. Mr. Challenger says many people looking for jobs in a strong economy feel secure about the salary they can earn, so they can focus instead on other factors.
Study substantiates low savings rate in U.S.
Business publications regularly note how Americans are not saving enough for retirement. A recent study by Ohio State University researchers of data collected by the federal government confirmed the trend, finding that 48 percent of Americans would not be able to maintain their accustomed living standards, as measured by current levels of spending, after they retired.
Fifty-one percent of respondents said their household spending matched or exceeded their income in the previous year. Of that group, the study found, only one-fourth would have enough income during retirement to maintain their living standards. By comparison, three-quarters of the remaining respondents, who spent less than they made, would have enough for retirement.
The study, published recently in Financial Counseling and Planning, a journal, was based on data from the 1,387 households that took part in the 1995 Survey of Consumer Finances, conducted every three years by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department.
Survey: Most would stop to pick up pennies
A penny may not be worth that much anymore, but 75 percent of Americans will stop to pick them up in the street, according to a survey by Coinstar Inc.
The survey of more than 1,000 adults found age is a big factor in whether people will pick up a penny — 90 percent of respondents older than 65 said they'll pick one up, while two-thirds of respondents between 18 and 34 said they would do so.
Those who won't pick change up in the street said they were too embarrassed, or that the street was dirty, or that someone else needed the money more than they did. And 12 percent of the respondents said they wouldn't pick up a coin if it was heads-down — which some consider bad luck.
— New York Times and the Associated Press
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