Sales Jobs in Phoenix Thankful for Black Friday

An influx of Black Friday shoppers should support many sales jobs in Phoenix (Click here) this week.

A new report from the National Retail Foundation is predicting that the number of Americans who shop on Black Friday, or the day after Thanksgiving, will increase from 138 million last year to 152 million this year.

"Though many retailers are already touting select Black Friday ads, there's no doubt we'll all be blown away by what retailers still have in their bag of tricks for shoppers, " Matthew Shay, president and CEO of NRF, said in a press release. "We fully expect to see excited shoppers as early as midnight at stores around the country, as many holiday shoppers would rather stay up all night to take advantage of retailers' Black Friday deals than set their alarm to wake up the next morning."

Some highlights of the report include:

• 74 million people will definitely go shopping on Black Friday, while another 77 million are waiting to see what bargains stores will offer.
• 50.5 percent plan to use advertising circulars to find deals, while 31.7 percent will watch retailers' commercials., 23.1 percent will use coupon websites, and 32.3 percent will use e-mail coupons from retailers.
• 17.3 percent will monitor retailers' Facebook pages, while 11.3 percent will use deal sites like Groupon and LivingSocial.
• Of those who own tablets, 31.2 percent will monitor retailers' Facebook pages and 21.3 percent will use group buying site.

"Social media will play a big role in how shoppers follow company sales announcements this holiday season," Phil Rist, executive vice president of strategic initiatives for BIGresearch, which conducted the study, said. "From Facebook to Twitter and even group buying sites, 'social' retailers may be rewarded this season in terms of additional holiday sales."

Dallas Hotel Jobs to Grow as Construction Projects are Completed

Plenty of Dallas hotel jobs (Click here) should be created in the coming months, as the city ranks high for its number of hotel rooms in construction.

According to the October Construction Dodge Pipeline Report from Smith Travel Research and McGraw Hill, there are currently 2,835 hotel projects underway totaling 310,387 rooms, which is a 9 percent decrease from last year.

Dallas ranks fourth in the nation for the number of hotel rooms in construction. The report includes projects in the "In Construction," "Final Planning," and "Planning" stages, but not those in the "Pre-Planning" stage.

The top 10 markets by number of rooms in construction include:

1. New York City - 7,459
   
2. Orlando - 2,835
   
3. Washington, D.C. - 2,674
   
4. Nashville - 1,490
   
5. Dallas - 1,400
   
6. Phoenix - 1,156
   
7. Philadelphia - 1,071
   
8. Miami-Hialea - 1,036
   
9. Las Vegas - 794
   
10. Chicago - 724

"New room supply growth will remain muted for the overall industry in the coming years," Vail Brown, vice president of global sales and marketing for STR, said in a press release. "An exception is the New York City market; they are in the middle of a new hotel construction explosion. Currently, rooms under construction represent around 7 percent of their existing supply base; this is a robust number.

"One very interesting observation is this is the first time in several years STR hasn't seen Las Vegas in the top five for new construction," she added.

Grad Schools for OT Jobs Arizona

Those considering the OT jobs Arizona has to offer among their future career options should be sure to first gain the proper education.

Occupational therapists work with patients who suffer from mental, physical, developmental, or emotional disorders. Their goal is to help patients improve their quality of life and work by better performing basic functions.

All students must first earn their master's degree before becoming eligible to work as an entry-level occupational therapist. Most employees work in ambulatory healthcare services, while others are employed by hospitals, officers, other healthcare practitioners, educational services, and nursing care facilities.

According to Education-Portal.com, the top 20 graduate schools for occupational therapy include:

• Ohio State University
• University of Florida
• New York University
• University of Wisconsin-Madison
• University of Washington
• University of Southern California
• San Jose State University
• Boston University
• University of Kansas
• Colorado State University
• University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
• University of Pittsburgh
• Columbia University
• Eastern Kentucky University
• Washington University in St. Louis
• Duquesne University
• Tufts University
• St. Catherine University
• University of Puget Sound
• University of Texas Medical Branch