The rising economic tide will improve employment opportunities for all jobseekers

When the latest national employment figures were compiled, it turned out that 18,000 full-time and 54,000 part-time jobs were created between January and February, the biggest jump in employment in 13 years.

While Australian employers didn't engage in mass layoffs after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) hit, many instituted hiring freezes or at least became cautious about putting new staff on. But with the world economy improving and Australia's continuing to power along, 2013 is shaping up to be a great year for those looking for a job.

Where's the work?

Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to move to a remote mining location to snare a job. In fact, most of them are currently being created in NSW and Victoria. There's still plenty of call for mining workers, but there's also strong demand from a lot of other industries, including some unexpected ones.

Despite the disruption the media industry is experiencing, trend employment is up 9.2 per cent in the information media and telecommunications industry. And while it hasn't attracted much attention, the arts and recreation services industry is also one of the most vibrant in the country, experiencing trend employment growth of 4.8 per cent.

The building and construction industry has been in the doldrums for several years, but it's now predicted to generate a huge amount of jobs – 131,200 over the next five years according to a report released by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

In fact, given the limited amount of apprentices that have been taken on during the tough times, the Australian Construction Industry Forum recently warned of a serious skills shortage once the housing recovery gathers momentum. While that's a headache for the industry as a whole, it should translate into rapidly rising wages and plentiful employment opportunities for Aussie tradies.

While the rising economic tide will improve employment opportunities for all jobseekers, it remains the case that skilled workers will be in a better bargaining position than unskilled ones. If you want to maximise your opportunities, now is a great time to get a qualification or build on an existing one by doing a TAFE NSW course.