'Employ Illinois,' a guide to the Southern Illinois job market

A regular section premieres Friday to assist Southern Illinois' growing job market.

As unemployment rates dropped in September in most counties in Southern Illinois -- with only Saline County reporting numbers were running flat -- and the state's economic forecast predicting more than 6 million jobs in Illinois through 2016, an increase of nearly 4 percent from year-to-year, prudent employers are looking for the ways to find the best people available.

That's where "Employ Illinois" comes in.

This monthly section in this newspaper, and all the GateHouse Media newspapers in Southern Illinois, will provide listings for the best people looking to move on, to move up and for greater success.

These recruitment listings are a part of the "Employ Illinois" newspaper section, but also appear on Monster.com, the leading source for jobs and career opportunities, through a partnership with GateHouse Media.

Throngs of people visit Monster.com to search for jobs, read career advice, and find hiring and recruiting advice. "Employ Illinois" focuses this resource to the Southern Illinois area.

"At no time in the past 10 years has Southern Illinois been so poised for job success, and now is the time to find the right people and the right talent to push business prosperity," said Scott Carr, GateHouse Media's group publisher in Southern Illinois. "'Employ Illinois' is one of the largest recruitment reaches in Southern Illinois. It ties together the job search capabilities of Monster.com with the specific needs of our region so that the very best people connect with the very best employers in the

shortest amount of time and with the greatest ease possible."

"Employ Illinois" will not only appear in the newspaper, but the newspaper will take advantage of the social networking channels GateHouse offers to push the guide across the region in an electronic format. It will be the same publication readers find with their newspapers each month but in a form accessible over a tablet or phone.

"The talent pool will assuredly become shallower and more difficult for employers to land the best people to move their businesses forward," Carr said. "Getting involved with 'Employ Illinois' and following it each month in print and through social networking will put businesses -- and those seeking that dream job -- a head above the competition."

Make sure you grab your copy of "Employ Illinois" on Friday and get started improving your position within the expanding yet narrowing job market that's right around the corner.