Feeling optimistic, but they’d feel better with jobs
Workshop attendees see hopeful signs, but the search continues
+ enlarge image
About 50 people came to a workshop for the unemployed at Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange on Jan. 7.
Photos by Johanna Ginsberg
Advertisements
January 13, 2010
Networking, job boards, and optimism were the key words at a job workshop held at Oheb Shalom Congregation in South Orange on Jan. 7.
About 50 people came to the event, the latest in a series of training and networking events for the unemployed sponsored by Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest NJ.
The workshops have been taking place at area synagogues since January 2009.
The good news for 2010, according to JVS administrators, is that there are more jobs than a year ago. The bad news is, much of the work is on a contract or consulting basis.
“There’s more activity, but companies do not want to commit,” said Caren Ford, JVS assistant executive director of program services.
Job candidates also face the challenges of a large pool of competitors for every job. Employers can be highly selective, and many industries are dying or relocating overseas.
The presenters at Oheb Shalom included Lisa Slater, a staffing and recruiting consultant; Beverly Feldman, JVS job development coordinator; and Daniel Rushefsky, investment adviser representative at MetLife Wealth Financial Group. They gave tips on resume writing, networking, getting and nailing the interview, and following up after the interview.
NJJN spoke with five people in transition who came to the workshop. Mostly in their 40s and 50s, they have been out of work from about a month to a year and a half; they include an attorney, an arts educator, a data miner, a computer systems engineer, and an administrator. All offered cautious optimism for the economy and their own financial health in 2010.
Two are profiled below; the others will appear in the NJJN issue of Jan. 21.
Attendee Profiles
Alan Kass
Age: over 50
Town: Montclair
Profession: Attorney, intellectual property
Unemployed since: January 2009
Seeking: In-house counsel position as a patent, trademark, and licensing attorney in the areas of chemistry or pharmacology
Family: Wife works for a mental health treatment provider; two daughters, 16 and 20, at home
Contact: 973-632-3164 or apkass@comcast.net
Alan Kass saw the writing on the wall in December 2008, when his former employee, AZ Electronics in Somerville, made its first round of layoffs. The family tightened their belts and prepared for the worst. His notice came in January.
Kass had been laid off once before, in 2002, but found his situation dramatically different this time. Six years before, he had plenty of prospects and found a new job within three months. “This time people really freaked out,” he said: “‘My God, we have to cut back; we just can’t keep people and doing things.’ What’s happened now is some companies have cut into the bone, not just into the flesh.” He pointed to people doing the jobs of five others or companies shutting down production entirely. “When they shut down, it has a ripple effect,” he said.
He said he continues to look for a job in his specific field of expertise, because he can sell his years of experience to a potential employer. “All I need to know is where’s the men’s room and where can I get a cup of coffee, and I can slide in and go to work.” But he has also expanded his search to include a position as general counsel in a science-oriented business, trading on skills he picked up in a previous position.
But Kass won’t go farther afield than that. “I’m not going to go out and look to become a product liability or an FDA attorney, because it’s a skill set I would need to learn.” He could do those jobs, he said, but employers want the right experience and would be less likely to hire him.
He has had a few interviews and some have moved to a next step. But he is not stopping his search anytime soon. “I’m not sitting patiently by the phone waiting for them to say, ‘We want you to work for us.’ Until you actually get the offer and agree to it, and say, ‘I’ll start on Monday,’ you’re still in transition,” he said.
Kass said he stays positive, in part out of necessity. “People don’t want to talk to someone who’s like, ‘Oh, you know how it is,’ and you’re just a downer. It throws a monkey wrench in.”
But he also sees signs that nudge his optimism along. “Companies realize they just cannot have one person doing five jobs. I think things are slowly coming back up. I think it’s going to be longer into 2010, but I think some people want to get the good people now.”
Michal Kasher
Age: 49
Town: West Orange
Profession: Administrator
Unemployed since: Summer 2008
Seeking: Administrative position in the insurance industry, in either claims or new business
Family: Husband is a software system engineer, three children, 22 (at University of Chicago Law School), 17 (in high school), and seven (in elementary school)
Contact: michalkasher@yahoo.com
Michal Kasher misses the efficiency working brought to her life. She lost her job as an administrator when her employer went out of business in the summer of 2008. “I find out that because I have more time, I do less. When you’re busy, you’re more organized because you know your time is more limited.
“Everything is more efficient. Everything works well, and I was much happier. After two or three months — you know you enjoy not working for two or three months — then it’s very hard.”
She said she takes heart from the stories of peers she has met networking in the last year and a half. Among them was a bookkeeper who had been out of work for two years. She sent a New Year’s greeting to him. “He wrote me, ‘Guess what? I found a new job!’” she said. “He sent a resume four months ago to an employer in New York and the employer answered him four months later. It gives me hope.” Kasher has been on three interviews, but so far, she’s had no luck.
She said she has decided to try to break into the insurance field, because she sees longevity and the ability to climb the ladder. “But it’s very hard in this economy to break in.”
She has also seen a shift in people’s attitudes toward networking at JVS workshops. “The people that I’m meeting today, they didn’t even want to talk. They are so unhappy already they know it’s not even helpful. I found it was hard to network. Let’s hear the speaker and go home” was their attitude, she said.
Meanwhile, she worries that her husband’s job as a software systems engineer in the defense industry may not be secure. While she said they are still doing okay, they skipped taking a vacation this year and are watching their expenses. One thing they are spending money on? Their house.
“You want it to be in the best condition to sell in this market if we need to move,” she said. “We don’t know about his job, how safe it is in the defense industry. Obama cut many projects for the army, so we don’t know. It’s a very unpredictable environment, and it’s hard to be in the unknown.”
She pulls hope from the bowels of uncertainty. “I’m optimistic that in 2010 things will change…,” she said, and that the president will take jobs and the economy “as a priority, now that he’s finished with the health-care issue.”
JVS at work: Tips for a 2010 job search
This feature is a service of the Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest, in cooperation with MetroWest HELPS.
YOU are the product — You have to effectively market and sell yourself to prospective employers.
Fish with the right bait — Pursue realistic job opportunities. Do your market research. Uncover trends in your field. Use the “U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Handbook” to review key characteristics of hundreds of careers.
•Networking and cold calling — Four-fifths of job openings are never listed, which means you can’t find out about them unless you search for them. It’s like mining for gold, and you are the prospector.
Consider volunteering — You can develop new skills and possibly get a foot in the door to a job opportunity.
Renew your search NOW! — According to LinkedIn, January is the most popular month to look for a job. Don’t miss the opportunity to reach over 55 million professionals on LinkedIn; expand your on-line search by targeting organizations germane to your field.
If you are in need of career counseling or job placement assistance, contact the JVS’ Dr. Meryl Kanner at 973-674-6330, ext. 271, or mkanner@jvsnj.org. JVS is a beneficiary of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.
Follow NJJN
E-Newsletter Signup