Young People Can't Find a Job in Pittsburgh? Wrong!

Great news for new college graduates in the region. According to CollegeGrad.com, three local companies are among the top 100 nationally in 2007 for entry-level hiring. The complete list is here.

So who are these local companies where you young folks should apply? PNC, 84 Lumber and Education Management Corporation (EDMC). 84 Lumber is projected to hire 1,700 new graduates; PNC- 1350; and EDMC- 625. Obviously, all of these positions being filled are not local. But according to last Friday's Pittsburgh Business Times, 60% of PNC's new grad hires will be local and about 400 of EDMC's will be.

In addition, there are many other companies on the list who have a local presence and will be hiring new grads in the Pittsburgh area.

While we're on the subject, I have to address an issue for young people setting out to interview soon. My wife is a manager in her company and she has recently been interviewing/sifting through resumes (95% of whom are new grads) deciding who she is going to hire. You wouldn't believe the horror stories she has about clueless new grads and their interviewing skills. Let me give you a few tips:

1. Wear a suit! Whether you're male or female doesn't matter. EVERYONE should wear a suit. And khakis do not count and are not acceptable.

2. Answer the question! I don't care how idiotic a question you are asked in an interview, DON'T refuse to answer it (as one of my wife's recent, young interviewees did).

3. Remove personal interests from your resume. Honestly, no one cares that your hobbies include being the biggest Harry Potter fan in the world. In fact, it will creep most people out.

4. Your resume must be PERFECT! Punctuation and grammar MUST be 100% perfect. Running it through a spell-check doesn't count. Look it over in detail and have other people look at it too.

5. Don't say what your REAL goals are! If you're applying for a job that is not related to your field and that you don't plan on making a career, KEEP THAT TO YOURSELF. Am I telling you to lie? Yes, if you want to get hired. No one wants to hire someone who is going to quit in four months after they find a job in their field. Let me clarify- I am not telling you to lie about your accomplishments and credentials, just your intentions.

Good luck, young bucks! I hope you find a good job and stay in the region.

Three Pittsburgh Suburbs Rank in Top 10 Nationally for Affordability

Money Magazine recently ranked the Best Places to Live in 2007. There were actually several different rankings they did, including the list of the Top 25 Places Where Homes are Most Affordable. This list was compiled by taking into account average income in a town and average housing price (i.e. where salaries actually enable people to afford to buy a home in the local market).



Anyway, West Mifflin, Penn Hills and Brentwood all ranked in the top 10 nationally for affordability. Here is a link to the Trib's coverage of this.



It's some thing that all Pittsburghers know already, but it's good to see us getting some national pub for it.