Many Skilled Professions Remain Strong in Uncertain Economy, Including Software Development, Nursing, Sales and Accounting

McLean, Va. (March 4, 2008) – Despite warnings of a slower-growing economy, a number of highly skilled professionals — software developers, nurses, sales representatives and accountants, for example – remain in high demand to fill critical roles for U.S. companies, according to new Jobfox Top 25 Most Wanted U.S. Professions rankings released today.

“These are professions that are thriving and will continue to be in demand for the foreseeable future,” said Rob McGovern, the CEO of Jobfox (www.jobfox.com), a revolutionary Web site that intelligently matches, alerts and connects personally branded candidates with employers. “While hiring activity is reportedly slow in some industry sectors – construction and manufacturing, for example – companies continue to go after a host of high-impact professions requiring degrees or specialized skills.”

Software Design/Development, Nursing, Accounting/Finance Executive, Sales/Business Development Representative and Administrative Assistant are the top five most active professions in the March 2008 Jobfox Top 25 Most Wanted U.S. Professions rankings. The report reflects the professions most often targeted by employers and recruiters using Jobfox to search for and find new or replacement workers during a 120-day period ending February 21, 2008.

Professions rounding out the top 10 are: Corporate Finance; Networking/System Administration; Intelligence; General Accounting; and Technical Customer Support. The complete list of rankings is available at www.jobfox.com/Site/PressRoom.aspx. Along with the rankings of the top professions, the report includes the median salary ranges sought by Jobfox candidates with matching profession profiles.

Hiring Climate Remains Steady

The climate for hiring remains steady for most organizations, according to a recent online Jobfox poll of more than 100 corporate recruiters:

43 percent of corporate recruiters say staff levels at their organizations will significantly or slightly increase during 2008.

19 percent say staffing levels will remain about the same.

21 percent say staffing levels will significantly or slightly decrease.

17 percent are unsure if staffing levels will increase, decrease or remain the same during 2008.

Certainly, a softer economy is a concern – for U.S. and global organizations, alike. Global CEOs believe the biggest business risk they face is the risk of an economic slowdown, according to “PricewaterhouseCoopers 11th Annual Global CEO Survey 2008.” However, severe labor shortages have longer-range implications for business leaders who say that technological innovation, improved customer service and access to and retention of key talent are the top three drivers of competitive advantage, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

For professionals, being prepared with career options is the best strategy, even for professionals who are comfortable and content with their current jobs. Jobfox’s McGovern advises professionals to take greater personal responsibility for keeping their skills and knowledge on the cutting edge and make valuable use of new personal branding tools, such as Jobfox, to showcase work achievements and professional contributions.

“The best time for professionals to uncover great opportunities is when they don’t have to look,” McGovern said. “Once you’re in a position where you have to find a new job, you are no longer in the driver’s seat. When you are forced to taking a new job because you have to, it can be real damaging to long-term career goals.”

About the Jobfox Top 25 Most Wanted U.S. Professions

The March 2008 Jobfox Top 25 Most Wanted U.S. Professions rankings were derived from a stratified random sample of more than 4,000 U.S. job openings from the Jobfox database during a 120-day period ending February 21, 2008. In total, Jobfox identified more than 150 distinct professions for which employers were seeking candidates during the period. Also captured in the rankings are the median salary ranges desired by candidates for top-ranked professions. A stratified random sample of more than 100,000 Jobfox candidate profiles, matched to specific professions, was used to determine median salaries for each profession.

About Jobfox

Jobfox is the Web’s first personal-branding site that puts candidates in control of career-advancement opportunities. On Jobfox, professionals showcase their unique career strengths and goals, and are intelligently matched, alerted and connected – in real time – to new career opportunities. A free Jobfox page is available to professionals to market their unique personal skills, talents, work-styles, career desires and job-change receptivity. Visit www.jobfox.com today.

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