Dear Matt: I was told to look into how a staffing firm can help me. But aren't these low-paying, low-skilled jobs? I am an engineer and looking for highly-skilled work.

Matt says: Applications engineer. Fluid power engineer. Mechanical engineer III. Structural engineer II. Civil engineer. Substation electric engineer. These are just some of the many high-paying jobs Dan Webinger, business development manager for the Minneapolis branch of Experis Engineering (experis.com), is hiring for right now. The lowest paying jobs start around $25 per hour, with many paying over $100K.

The staffing industry is no longer personified by the temporary file clerk you see in the break room or the college student brought on board to move boxes around. Webinger's company specializes in providing opportunities in engineering, finance and accounting and information technology. Other local staffing firms hire in a wide variety of industries too, such as advertising, marketing, creative, human resources, sales, industrial and many more. That's why job seekers absolutely need to include firms like Webinger's in their job search. Experis, and many others, also offer training and certification programs for all internal employees and consultants/contract employees.

"It's advantageous for job seekers to partner with a specialty niche search firm like Experis, because we have exclusive relationships with clients that trust us to find them top engineering or IT talent," said Webinger. "Many clients don't just use us as an additional staffing resource, but as a primary staffing resource."

Even if there isn't a current opening for you, it's good to contact a staffing firm in your field to develop a relationship with a recruiter.

"Our clients value our opinion," said Webinger. "We can get job seekers interviews that they may not be able to get on their own by just submitting their résumé to a job board posting or company website. There may be something on your résumé that doesn't appeal to the person who is tasked with the initial screening. We have direct contact with the hiring managers and can answer any questions about you that your résumé may not depict. After interviewing you ourselves, we will give the hiring managers specific reasons why we think they should interview you, and they trust us. Job seekers can't have that relationship with hiring managers without utilizing us.

"Our clients know that we are the experts in finding the scarce top talent that they need," added Webinger. "We have jobs that you will not find on a job board -- or anywhere else, for that matter."