How to Be First in Line for Growing Number of Unfilled Jobs

(MoneyWatch)  While the jobless rate continues to rise, so too is the number of positions going unfilled by U.S. employers, which bodes well for a pickup in hiring in the new year.

An estimated 2.48 million jobs were unfilled in September, up 57,000 from a month earlier and the highest level since June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. That pushed the job-openings rate up for the first time since February -- to 1.9 percent from 1.8 percent in August, which was the lowest level in nine years of such record keeping.

Of course, the number of vacant positions was half its peak level in June 2007, and with more than 15 million Americans unemployed, that meant six job seekers competed on average for each open position in September.

The good news is that employers have been squeezing their existing staff hard -- pushing third-quarter productivity growth to its biggest gain in six years -- and at some point overtaxing your human resources becomes counterproductive.

If the inventory of unfilled jobs and productivity growth continue to rise through this last quarter of 2009, corporate executives and small business owners alike will be more inclined to reconsider hiring plans at the first sign their business is turning the corner. As is generally done on the HR front during recovery periods, many employers currently are drafting two staffing schematics for the year ahead -- one conservative and one more ambitious -- to quickly capitalize on a deep pool of talented unemployed workers at the earliest opportunity.

If you're currently looking for work, don't be shy about contacting potential employers during the upcoming holiday period and into early January, when many job seekers ease up on their efforts. Specifically ask what unfilled positions they currently have that might get filled at some point in the new year, and send them your resume to hold onto for when that time comes.

That enterprising approach will strike many HR professionals and small-business owners as displaying the ambition and drive employers desire. This can put you at the front of the line when the hiring decision-makers give the green light for filling millions of mounting vacancies.