Special: Jobs in Digital Media and Arts - Through Nov. 15

IMDiversity is pleased to announce to its visitors our Special Digital Media and Arts Virtual Job Fair, this week only. The section features time-sensitive opportunities related to digital/multmedia, graphic design, animation and Web content, working with employers in both industry and academia.

Positions seek candidates with experience in areas ranging from television direction to graphic design, interactive communications to gaming artists, photography to audio production.

Because of the time-sensitive nature of the postings, artists and media producers should immediately create a free My Job Tools Account at IMDiversity upon identifying a position of interest so that they can save a personal copy of the posting. Applicants should also take care to note the exact application steps in the in the posting, as a number of them require submission of supplemental materials and portfolio samples (some by snail mail), in addition to the usual resume/CV and cover letters.

• Visit the job fair page at IMDiversity

IMDiversity.com Election Night Results and Protection section

The editors have been working on posting the IMDiversity.com Election Night Results and Protection section, whittling down the crazy array of info out there to compile live coverage streams, a shortlist of places to locate coverage, as well as a detailed section of resources (some ethnic- or language-specific) for identifying, reporting, and getting assistance confronting any voter intimidation, obstruction or other problems today.

Anyone who encounters voter obstruction is encouraged to consult the section, and/or to contact 1-866-OUR-VOTE (English), 800-966-5946 (Multingual Asian), or 1-888-Ve-y-Vota (Spanish), as well as the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Voting SectionCall 202-307-2767 or toll-free at 800-253-3931.

ADDED: Jobs for US - Alabama Opportunities Center

The editors have added this month the latest in our series of job location quicksearch sections, the Jobs for US - Alabama Opportunities Center at IMDiversity.com.

Like other location quicksearches in our online Career Center, the section provides pre-programmed, easy-access searches of featured opportunities in major cities throughout the state, as well as in neighboring states. Search results can be refined with custom criteria and saved to a free Job Tools for later one-click searches, or as an auto-search job agent with alert notifications sent be email.

Other helpful tools bundled in include a salary calculator, links to extended entry-level and student opportunity searches, and a link to graduate and professional school information for those considering going back to get a higher degree.

The new quicksearch can be found in the Jobs QuickSearch section of the Career Center, along with other new quicksearches added this year, most recently Jobs for US - North Carolina, Jobs for US - Colorado, and Jobs for US - Arizona.

Added: IMDiversity.com Featured Jobs in Academia

As the academic job search cycle winds down for the season, with most application deadlines falling between mid-October and mid-November for extended searches, IMDiversity.com Career Center has expanded its QuickSearch Section: Jobs in Academia, Education, and Training. A new component highlights time-sensitive Featured Jobs with education employers.
Although the section spotlights a broader range of education-related opportunities, including jobs in the primary, secondary and continuing education fields, as well as corporate education and training, this month's focus will emphasize time-sensitive positions in higher education. Current employers range from community colleges to 4-year colleges and graduate degree-granting institutions throughout the U.S., as well as select institutions abroad.

Positions offered also vary, including both faculty (from ad hoc lecturer to tenure-track professors) and staff/administrator openings, as well as an occasional fellowship. As always, the section also includes pre-programmed quicksearches that can be refined with custom criteria and saved for future use as auto-alert agents. All employers listed have opted to promote institutional diversity through placing their open positions on the IMDiversity.com Career Center.

Because of the short-lived postings and close deadlines for most applications, we encourage visitors seeking academic positions to be certain to create a free account on IMDiversity and save a personal copy of the posting for reference, and to carefully review and follow the application instructions specified in the posting as soon as possible. Note that some of the jobs featured this month are subject to quick expiration, and may be removed at any time by the employers if filled, withdrawn or changed.

Finally, we will also be highlighting select featured academic employers this month, and encourage visitors to also review their employer profiles for more institutional details.

Among our spotlighted employer profiles this month are Northeastern University in Boston, MA and The New School University in NYC. Additionally, we are pleased offer featured jobs with Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY; Oakton Community College in Skokie, IL; and multiple campuses throughout two state college systems -- the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and the Alabama College System.

If you or someone you know are actively seeking opportunities in academia, please visit the section soon, as most of the positions will close within the next three weeks.

Good luck!

News Supplement: Jobs and the Economy

This week's supplement to the IMDiversity.com Career Center AP New Headlines again places focus on the jobs and the loss thereof in the nation's continuing economic meltdown.

AP Economics Writer CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER reports that the number of new claims for jobless benefits increased by more than expected in mid-October, "and companies from Goldman Sachs to Yahoo have announced thousands of layoffs in the past few days as the financial crisis, tighter credit, rising foreclosures and myriad other woes take their toll on the economy."

And, of course, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan predicted last week that there's plenty more pain to follow.

Nonetheless, it appears that many people are showing "a remarkable...optimism despite economists' widespread expectations that a serious recession is brewing," says a related report by ALAN FRAM. According to an AP-GFK Poll, "Most expect the economy to generally be better and the stock market to be rising three months from now," but "Majorities also doubt unemployment will fall or home values will rise by then, and people are split over whether their personal finances will improve."

It seems that while most people believe that economic conditions will improve, they are prepared to have to wait for at least a year before "more jobs and higher real estate values" will start improving their own financial conditions on Main Street.

There seems little doubt that this optimism has much to do with election-year fever. As followers of the "hope and change" candidate, supporters of Barack Obama seem to project a somewhat rosier future. Forty-four percent of those polled said they think the economy will improve if Democrat Obama is elected, while 34 percent said it would get better if Republican John McCain wins.

In a sidebar, the candidates' own statements on jobless claims both tend to lay blame squarely on the Bush administration, and a second sidebar comapres their healthcare plans at a glance.

In light of this continuing bad news, the AP has also been running a series of practical nuts-and-bolts focused on navigating unemployment and belt-tightening. An additional piece explains upcoming IRS changes in 2009 that may raise limits on contributions to 401(k) and SEP plans. Also useful are writer David Pitt's "Tips for benefits enrollment season".

Another casualty of the economic crisis, adds Business Writer Joyce Rosenberg, may well be your usual year-end bonus or holiday gifts.

Need help making sense of all the wildly yo-yo-ing jobless claims news coming from the DoL? (And who doesn't?) Meltdown 101: Jobless Claims and the Economy (also by Christopher Rugaber) provides a series of succinct Q&As on how to interpret reported data.

See all the readings in the current supplement.

Career Center Blog Back Online -- and Tackling Layoffs

After taking a break in the late summer to reorganize a number of sections throughout our site network, the editors are resuming work on the blog.

This fall we'll be posting news about a number of new features, both new articles of interest and news about expanded tools in our featured jobs and jobs quicksearch sections.

Meanwhile, though, we are running a series of occasional readings with a particularly timely focus, as the economy continues to sag and the monthly employment reports do not look too good.

Through our partnership with the WSJ Career Journal, we're running a follow-up to this spring's feature, What to Do After a Layoff -- detailing "how to make the most of a devastating situation".

The piece offered a lot of good advice for how to organize your affairs when the worst happened. But as conomic conditions have continued to worsen since then, the new piece focuses on better advice still for this climate: Don't wait.

Layoff Rumors? Get Ready To Get Busy
What to do when the rumors start flying

Focusing on how to proactively prepare for the worst, the article's suggestions go beyond the basic, obvious checkboxes -- updating your resume, etc. The moment you get a whiff that things may not be 100% stable at work, it suggests, you'd do well to carefully start gathering the materials you would need to be accessible outside of the office, preparing a workspace and business line in your home, and other actions enabling you to "hit the ground running". When/if disaster strikes, you'll need to be ready on day one to "meet your new boss" (you) and have the resources to statr your new full-time job (finding one).

-- Finally, starting this fall, we'll be supplementing such features with occasional special focus reportage in our Career Center AP News Headlines section. Readings will focus on the big employment picture and trends, at both national and lcoal levels, as well as the areas and industries where there are continuing worker shortages.

So stop back soon.

Job Hunter Chronicles: Sys Admin Found Last 3 Jobs Online

From The Job Hunters Chronicles:

A new submission by Alex Alborzfard, a systems administrator, took up the question we posed at the launch of our new Chronicles section: "Does Anyone Really Find a Job Online?"

The answer in Alborzfard's case, at least, is: "Absolutely".

There's no going back for this IT professional, who says he has found his last three jobs using online job boards, search agents and networking tools, and that he will "Never Buy the Sunday Paper Again!"

But, he cautions, the time- and cost-saving convenience of online job sites does not mean that old rules don't apply: using online measures alone cannot replace good, old-fashioned networking. In addition to making use of online job search and automated-search technologies, he suggests that social networking sites such as LinkedIn are have also played an important role in his success finding employment online.

Read the full submission here.