Job candidates have their work cut out for them

No one envies an unemployed job seeker at any time, and especially not in this economy, but despite the dispiriting unemployment figures, local online job portals are reporting increased traffic from employers ahead of a massive jobs expo in mid-March, giving the down and out a reason to take heart.

Analysts' fears came true in late January, when the traditional seasonal decrease of employment in some sectors conflated with the first stings of austerity lay-offs in the public sector to bring the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent, up from 9.6 percent at the end of 2010, according to the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry.

Deputy Minister Vladimír Šiška told journalists at the end of January that the jump in unemployment was due to the "small interest of companies in employees in the post-crisis period."

Online job portals saw a divergence from this trend. LMC, which operates the popular local job sites Práce.cz and Jobs.cz, reported a 24 percent year-on-year increase in full-time job offers and a 22 percent increase for part-time offers. The most sought-after employees were engineers, with 43 percent year-on-year growth in advertised positions.

Another piece of good news on the horizon for job seekers is the upcoming Jobs Expo, the biggest jobs exhibition in the country. From March 17 to 18 at the Prague 7-Holešovice Fairground, 70-80 exhibiting employers, both local and international, will be pitching their companies and hoping to find some fresh talent among the expo visitors, of whom 12,000 are expected.

Employers and contractors like Manpower, Evraz Vítkovice Steel, Continental Tevez ČR, Atento, Amrest, Letiště Praha, Lídl ČR and Raiffeisenbank have booked booths, and several schools including Prague College and the University of New York Prague are also set to be on hand.

In addition to the chance to meet employers, the Jobs Expo program includes practice interview coaching, language tests, IQ tests, career advising and information about employment and internships abroad.

University graduates are obviously in a much more advantageous position when looking for a job, a factor that holds many Czechs back, since only 14.5 percent of Czechs between 25 and 64 have a university degree, far below the EU average of 25 percent. The country is on the right track, however, with more than half of young Czechs between 25 and 34 anticipated to be college graduates by 2017, according to a recent report from Charles University's Faculty of Education. According to the report, graduates find jobs most easily as doctors, lawyers and teachers.

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com