While the job market has rebounded nicely since the Great Recession, one segment of the population hasn't shared in the recovery. Men between the ages of 25 and 54 are still less likely to be working than they once were, says Melissa Kearney, an economics professor at the University of Maryland.
In 1968, about 95% of men in their prime working years held jobs. The number has fallen to just 86%, even though today's job market is ultra-tight.
David Pierce of Apalachin, N.Y., went on disability a year ago, joining the large army of men who have left the workforce for good. Jim Zarroli/NPR
Kearney says the recovery and employment growth in the past five years are very encouraging. But, she says, "I still see a lot of data that suggests we have structural challenges, and we need to be doing more to try and draw more prime-age workers back into the workforce."
As Zhuo puts it, that mistake is saying they want the job "because it's the next step up for their career."
Zhuo says she is drawn instead to people who say they want the job because they want to do great work and make a difference, because they want to contribute, or because they want to learn and keep growing.
On the surface, it seems reasonable enough for candidates to tell you they want to work at your company because it's a step up for them, a logical career progression. You can't fault people for wanting to better their status and position.
Like many who come to work for the Postal Service, I didn’t find my way into the USPS because I had burning desire to deliver mail; I just needed a job. A laid-off journalist, I’d spent six months striking out on landing a writing gig and grew tired of the soul-sucking grind that is job searching. An old college friend was working happily delivering mail, and making more than I ever did in newspapering: The benefits are good, you don’t take the job home with you, and there’s lots of overtime if you want it.
And the USPS is nearly always hiring, especially in metro areas in advance of the holiday shopping season. Colorado’s Front Range, which includes Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins, is currently short more than 500 positions. The hiring process is long—I applied in mid-February and didn’t start until May—and includes two exams, a personality assessment, and the 473 Postal Exam, which tests your ability to check addresses for errors, accurately fill out forms, and memorize and recall lists of street addresses. I had to also pass a drug test (that’s the biggest hurdle to hiring in weed-legal Colorado, the Fort Collins Postmaster told me) and an exhaustive background check. Then it was off to city carrier academy, where veteran carriers taught my fellow classmates and me the tricks of organizing and carrying mail and how to drive the postal vehicles. We each got a navy blue USPS hat and T-shirt and were sent to our respective post offices to begin our postal careers; I was now a USPS employee, working as a city carrier assistant.
Working for the Post Office seems like an interesting career, especially as one is in retirement. It might be a fun way to get out and learn more about your community.
The Class of 2019 is getting ready to enter one hot job market. And grads with a background in slicing and dicing data have an edge. Data scientist was the highest-paying entry-level job last year, according to Glassdoor research. Young adults in this field earned a median annual base salary of $95,000. That’s higher than young Wall Street workers received as investment-banking analysts.