The jobs market gained momentum over the last few months; in the prior three months the number of jobs added averaged 220,000. The May figures released today however came in lower than expected. While private-sector employment added 83,000 jobs, this was a disappointing reversal of previous months' growth. Expanding Industries include professional and business services (+44,000), health care (+17,400) and mining. 

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The software sector captured 50% of the VC investments in the first quarter according to the latest MoneyTree report, the quarterly study of venture capital investment activity in the US, followed by the biotech and green energy sectors.  

Investments were up slightly in the first quarter, at $5.9 billion - the first time in four years since the dollar amount invested in Q1 were greater than Q4. That said the number of deals invested in was down to 736 nationwide - the lowest quarterly number since Q3 2009. 

Software was the leading recipient of dollars with $1.1 billion invested in Q1 and the leader in number of deals funded at 187; these are both small decreases over last quarter. 

Read more on software hiring trends . 

Clean Tech Wins Too!

The Clean Technology sector (alternative energy, pollution and recycling, power supplies and conservation) garnered $1.0 billion (up 26% in dollars) in 69 deals (up 11 % in number of deals).  Five of the top ten deals were in Clean Technology, including one deal that topped $1 billion - the fourth time in history that Clean Technology investing exceeded one billion dollars.
 

A recent survey by the Silicon Valley Bank reports that the number one challenge for start-up companies is access to capital: Cleantech companies are the most concerned, followed by life science companies.

The Hamilton Project's new study "A Strategy for America's Energy Future: Illuminating Energy's Full Costs" starts from the precept that energy consumption is critical to economic growth and our quality of life, but that we have some unintended and unaddressed negative consequences, and that the goal of our energy and climate policy must be to improve Americans' well-being. Our energy choices do not currently address the social costs such as shorter lives, higher health care expenses, a changing climate, and weakened national security. While these costs are not captured in the retail price, we certainly are paying for them, and dearly.

A background check is an important part of any hiring process, and any offer should be contingent on passing the check. The type of check a company runs depends however on the type of business and the job description. In all cases however a minimum of information should be independently confirmed. There are some important things you need to know. 

By Shannon Tinker, Guest Blogger

Shannon Tinker

As explored in the above article, responsible hiring decisions should include a background check. Today social media presents a new route to information about candidates. The caveat is that what you learn about a person from social media may be protected by the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Laws. How should you handle this?

High Tech Careers

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