Judy Turner, Robert Terry and the others walking in to notes of “Pomp and Circumstance” were not your typical graduates—some were a little gray around the temples and some had grandchildren in the audience. But an uncertain economy and dismal job prospects sent them back to class. Yesterday, they earned certificates for completing an 11-week job-skills program in which topics included everything from how to use a flash drive to dressing for interviews.

A Richmond-based technology company has been ordered to pay $147,433 in back wages to 56 employees working in the United States under a foreign-worker visa program, the U.S. Labor Department said yesterday. The agency said an investigation by its wage and hour division found that Materials Software System Inc., a software-development and IT consulting company, failed to pay proper wages and equal benefits to workers hired as computer programmers under the federal H-1B program.

Some paychecks will be bit meatier after tomorrow, when the federal minimum wage increases, affecting thousands of workers and businesses in Virginia, and maybe consumers, too. The minimum wage will jump 70 cents, from $6.55 to $7.25 an hour. As mandated by Congress, this will be the third increase in the minimum wage since July 2007, when it rose for the first time in a decade, from $5.15 to $5.85 an hour. In July 2008, it went to $6.55.

Don’t think the hard part is over just because a job offer is on the table. Now it’s on to discussing salary, benefits and other perks. The idea of finessing a better package doesn’t die during a recession, but you should tread carefully when angling for an increase. “Negotiation of your compensation is always a delicate dance,“ said Genevieve A. Roberts, a partner and co-founder of the Titan Group LLC, a human resource-consulting firm in western Henrico County.

Peter Wiesinger had survived two layoffs at Genworth Financial last year when he began to hear inklings of another round of cuts. Wiesinger liked Genworth but was concerned about his future at the company. So the then-vice president of marketing started quietly looking around. A recruiter soon came calling about a job at Mondial Assistance, which provides travel insurance and 24-hour emergency assistance to customers. Wiesinger made the move there in January to become vice president of market management.

Employment numbers matter. The size of a company’s work force provides a good barometer of the vibrancy not only of that business but of the local economy. The annual ranking of the region’s Top 50 employers helps tell the story for our area. This year’s list appears tomorrow in the Metro Business section. The employers found on the 2009 list are similar to one the

After months of increases, Virginia’s unemployment rate remained steady at 7 percent from February to March. The Richmond-area jobless rate of 7.8 percent also did not change, according to data released today from the Virginia Employment Commission. Like Richmond, Northern Virginia’s unemployment rate held steady at 5.2 and represents the lowest jobless rate for a metro area in the state.

Jordan Wilson, a soft-spoken 15year-old sophomore at Varina High School, is learning that finding work is, well, work. Wilson was among more than 100 teenagers yesterday taking a crash course in navigating a job market that’s difficult for adults. Not only did the teens meet with prospective employers, such as grocery and fast-food chains and an Internet-services firm, they got workplace pointers, including etiquette, how to deal with customers and handling money.

More than half the world’s workers — especially women in the world’s poorest countries — are in informal jobs with low pay and no protections, and the global economic downturn threatens to push the number even higher, a report says.

Don’t rely on one résumé or cover letter: Customize what you send out so the skills you highlight mesh with what the company is seeking.
  Don’t exaggerate: Be truthful on your résumé and cover letter and during an interview.
  Don’t expect responses from every résumé you send out: Most places are getting inundated. Someone from the company will call if they are interested.

What jobs are hot now, later Certain industries are hiring and show growth Layoffs and hiring freezes are pushing up the jobless rate, but some employers locally and across the state are still hiring. Knowing what jobs are out there is helpful, but experts say it’s also wise to be aware of the professions that will be hiring in the coming years.

The Employment Transition Center (ETC)—a regional effort supported by Charles City, Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, New Kent and Powhatan counties and the city of Richmond to aid recently displaced workers from the eight localities—opened its doors at 9 a.m. Monday, March 9, at the site of the former Innsbrook Branch Library, 4060 Innslake Drive.

A British auto insurance company is locating its new U.S. operation in western Henrico County. Admiral Americas plans to employ 40-50 people by the end of the third quarter of 2009 and a projected 200 by the end of its second year here. “It’s our U.S. headquarters,“ said Andrew Rose, Admiral Americas’ president and chief executive officer. “All the infrastructure for the organization will be based out of Richmond for the foreseeable future.“

The Department of Labor’s employment statistics tell a different story:—In Dec. 2000, the U.S. civilian labor force was 141 million and the number employed was 136 million.—In Dec. 2001, that labor force was 142 million and the number employed was 134 million. The Clinton recession was official as of March 2001 and the terrorist attack was Sept. 11, 2001.