Searching for Jobs in a Down Economy: Search Industry Offers Hope

• Tweet

Depending on the media outlet, the United States is either currently in, or on the brink of, an economic recession. With the US unemployment rate rising from 4.8% in February to 5.1% in March 2008, and the number of unemployed people reaching 7.8 million in February (US Department of Labor), the state of the job market looks bleak indeed. U.S. News & World Report is even featuring a Recession Watch section on its Money & Business page listing the latest articles on the state of the US economy and job market. Indeed, it is difficult to turn to any media source these days without being presented with some sort of commentary on the US economy.

There is, however, a bright spot amongst the doom and gloom. The tone in the interactive arena, particularly the search marketing industry, is different from that of the economy as a whole. In October 2007, the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO) surveyed over 600 individuals who qualified themselves as in-house search engine marketers (SEMs) – people who are specifically responsible for search engine marketing, either organic or pay per click (PPC) or both, at a company or brand.