• by Joe Mandese , January 15, 2010

The media industry employment marketplace is beginning to improve, according to a report released Thursday by Mediabistro.com. While competition for jobs in the media sector remains "intense," with many help wanted postings receiving hundreds of applications, the analysis finds some improvement in the past two quarters.

According to Mediabistro's 2009 "Media Jobs Report," a quarter of all job postings received more than 100 applications, while the average was 81 applications per job. The greatest number of applications for a single job was 1,309.

With layoffs and hiring freezes, the media companies that once dominated the employment landscape gave way to newer players. According to Mediabistro, the top 10 job posters in 2007 accounted for 19% of all job postings. The same 10 companies accounted for 16% of all job postings in 2008, while in 2009 they accounted for only 8% of total postings.

The report notes that while some job postings get lots of views, it is the completion rate of job applications that is the best determinant of "desirability," and the report finds that based on that criterion, the most desirable jobs are:

1) Marketing director for multi-title publisher - 86% application completion rate.

2) Senior advertising sales executive for publisher of lifestyle and hobby publications - 85% application completion rate.

3) Midwest advertising sales account manager for leading digital media and e-commerce company - 81% application completion rate.

4) East Coast sales director for social media advertising and marketing firm - 81% application completion rate.

5) Advertising sales director for niche online publisher - 79% application completion rate.

The report shows that public relations related jobs experienced the highest growth rate in 2009, up 22% vs. 2008, while marketing related jobs rose 18%, and online/new media jobs climbed 15%.

Categories showing declines in share growth included TV (down 19%), teaching/academia (-13%), and magazine publishing, advertising agency, graphic design/art director, all of which were down 9%.