Job hunters: 'Have resume, will travel'

It keeps getting tougher to spot the same job listed in the classifieds from week to week.

A survey by WetFeet.com, a recruitment research and services provider, found that, on average, job searchers only had to interview with three companies before they found a job. The candidates also tended to receive at least two offers from those three companies. WetFeet.com interviewed 3,000 professionals with at least three years work experience.

Another finding: Thirty-six percent of those polled said they would be open to moving on to yet another job within six months. Some 9 percent were steadily looking for new employment opportunities.

The study found 42 percent of the respondents had switched jobs for monetary reasons, with the need for more-challenging work and growth potential also big factors in their decisions to pen letters of resignation.

Newspapers and Internet postings are the primary sources for job hunters. What's likely to be the big hiring sector in the near future? Retail firms looking to shore up their staff for the Christmas shopping rush, according to John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an outplacement company.

These firms will likely turn to the usual suspects for help: college students, office workers looking for extra income after hours, and retirees who, under a new law, can earn money without penalty to their Social Security benefits.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society