What many probably don’t know is that entrepreneurial firms are responsible for a lot of the job creation in our economy. Here’s why: they are extremely impatient and once they have a plan they want to jump into action before someone else does it first. Entrepreneurs are willing to do whatever to grow their businesses, which is great news for job seekers.

According to a recent survey by Pepperdine Private Capital Markets, 53-percent of privately held businesses across the country planned to hire new employees in the next year. Out of the 951 respondents, 65-percent thought growth opportunities would increase and 35-percent thought general business conditions would improve.

It turns out that the small businesses are the ones seeking the most employment. If you’re actively job searching, according to the survey the skills most wanted by employers (from most desired to least desired) are:

• Sales and marketing
• Skilled labor
• Service/customer service

One of the reasons that small businesses are looking to hire is because they are easily able to get bank loans. The survey stated that 69-percent of the respondents who wanted a bank loan in the past twelve months were able to walk out with money in hand.

Overall, businesses are optimistic for 2014, but of course there are still uncertainties. The top issue on the mind of businesses with more than $5 million in revenue was government regulations and taxes. General uncertainty is another issue for businesses, due to post-recession questions. Nearly 21-percent of respondents also cited healthcare costs as an emerging issue for the year. Luckily, many of these businesses are now getting answers to what their healthcare costs will be allowing them to make more informed decisions about growing their businesses.

Since businesses are optimistic, job seekers need to be too. After all, when businesses are hiring, the demand for employees increases.

So what can you do to prepare for this growing job market? Contact one of our recruiters today for more information on marketing yourself to businesses in this positive economy or learn how a partnership with Exact Staff can benefit your next job search.