Employment headed in the wrong direction Highland Height, Ky -- Over the last 20 years, employment has been a major

issue in the United States and jobs are disappearing day by day. According to the Office of Financial Management, the unemployment rate in 1990 w as about 5.5 percent, which is significantly lower than the current unemployment rate of 7.9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to careerbuilder.com, people cant afford to have the mindset they had i n the 1990s. The economy has drastically changed since the 1990s, and people are now forced t o approach getting a job in a different way. One thing people need to know about getting a job now is that the world revolves around technology. Most applications are online these days, so make sure the for matting looks good on your computer screen, said careerbuilder.com. Before hitting send, check hyperlinks; turn off spellcheck (so names and proper nouns dont have red squiggles underlining them); and pick a font thats easy to read. Rsums back in the 1990s were usually a page long, but today employers only require a reasonable amount of information. College students usually dont have a lot of information in their rsum because of the fact that they are just entering the work force. Always get to the point and avoid fluff, but dont edit out essential inform ation and play with the margins just to squeeze everything on a single page. Nonsikelelo Sibanda, an international student at Northern Kentucky University, s aid she feels that it is harder to find a job now because there are more educate d people trying to find jobs. Not enough available positions and not enough money to pay people, she said. James Howell, 23, from Falmouth, Kentucky, agrees that the economy is in trouble , but he has a different perspective about the reason why its harder for people t o find jobs. The economy is in such bad shape and so far into debt that it is har d enough for businesses to afford the products or produce what they need to sell to stay in business, he said. Thats also why the prices of everything are going up as well. Also, when it comes to employment, the standards are higher for people seeking e mployment. Sibanda, she said feels that having a bachelors degree isnt enough anym ore for someone to get hired after they graduate from college. You need a masters degree or a PhD and very special skills that set you apart from everyone else, sh e said. A bachelors degree is slowly losing value. Howell, however has a different view of what employers are looking for. He feels that employers are looking for past related experience, a clean to near clean le gal record and physical and mental health that is up to par. The job market is tough these days because of the economy, and many people arent getting employed because employers need people who have a lot of job experience. There are so many reasons why people arent being hired. Howell has been struggli ng with finding a job because of his education history. I didnt finish school, nor do I have my GED, and I have a few disabilities that pr event me from carrying out certain physical tasks safely, he said. James McHorris, a student at Diamond Oaks Vocational School, has a different vie w as to why people arent getting employed. He says people arent getting hired beca use of the lack of job experience and whether or not they have to support a fami

ly. If you applied for a job position and you have very little job experience and dont support a family and your competitor applying for the same position has a l ot of job experience and has a family to take care of will most likely get the j ob, McHorris said he also feels that people will do anything to get a job in this ec onomy. You are now competing with hundreds, even thousands of folks who more like ly than not, have better experience and qualifications, he said. There are people who are willing to take a job at ridiculously low salaries just to survive. Compared to 20 years ago, there is also a problem with companies keeping their s tandard number of employees. It is hard for companies to keep their employees fo r a variety of reasons. I think now there is simply not a lot of money, the economy is bad. In order to s tay in business and still make a profit, they need to have less people to pay, sa id Sibanda. There are ways that people can help out with the ongoing unemployment problem. Cr eate jobs. Using the delegation/division of labor method could do that, said Siba nda. That way you need different people for different tasks instead of one person doing most of the things. Abbie Maine, a student at Ohio State University, believes that citizens in the U nited States should take a different approach to the problem. People should work with the government in helping to create jobs rather than just expecting jobs to appear from the person who is in office. Howell has a similar view on the issue. He believes people shouldnt just sit arou nd and expect jobs to come to them. United States citizens can help lower the rat e of unemployment by getting off of their butts and actually going job hunting, h e said. Find a job through services that help get you a job or try to open an inhouse business. Sibanda, she said, believes if the unemployment rate continues to go up, there wi ll be a higher percentage of people that are dependent on the government. Howell believes that the economy will be in trouble years from now. If unemployme nt keeps rising, it means that there will be no jobs and no money, he said. Basica lly, I think that total chaos would break loose and the crime rate would dramati cally increase. Maine said she believes that unemployment will get worse and worse. She said she also believes it could lead to another depression.