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Plenty of Jobs in Medical/Pharmaceutical Fields

While there are always exceptions to the rule, job postings generally were down across the board as 2008 began: yet companies were still looking for employees in medical care, clinical research, and even sales – the most popular of the jobs in the medical field. But even more interestingly, MedZilla.com, which tracks job postings and applications in the medical and pharmaceutical fields, discovered candidates weren't necessarily trying to fill those open positions. According to MedZilla, only New Jersey saw a 2.5% increase in jobs posted over December 2007. New York also rose almost 1% in the same category. Product development and IT postings went up in January, each by half a percent, though many other categories of posted jobs declined in number. Though it seems as though clinical research positions declined from December to January, the actual decline was in posted jobs. Furthermore, job searches made by applicants did not correspond with the declining numbers of job postings. For the most part, job search numbers remained flat, varying little from December's totals. The jobs most applied for by candidates were predominantly in sales, with dermatological sales taking the lead with over 15% of the applications taken in January. However, sales management positions and clinical openings also were seen in the top 15 jobs that received applications. Despite the drop in jobs posted from December to January, it appears as though companies in some states were still actively searching for qualified candidates for a variety of positions. The fact that candidates were not noticeably searching for new jobs any more or less in January than they did in December may be attributed to a number of factors including: employees satisfied with their positions or possibly an unwillingness to change jobs given the state of the economy. Even given the surfeit of layoffs and restructuring efforts announced in January, the fact that job searches by candidates did not swing more than one percent either upward or downward is positive news, as those who were released from their positions may have less competition when going forward with their job searches. "Despite U.S. employers cutting jobs last month for the first time in more than four years, gains continue in a number of disciplines," says Michele Hopps, director of marketing and development for MedZilla.com. Hopps noted that more jobs were available in physicians' offices and hospitals (about 24,000 vacancies) in January than in December. Though some hospitals announced layoffs and restructuring activities -- most notably in Inglewood, Calif.; Niagara Falls, N.Y.; and Savannah, Ga. -- the need for qualified care providers remained.