- By Richard Meagher
- Around Town
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If you are an unemployed professional looking for work, you are not alone. You will find yourself among a fast growing group of American professionals like engineers, sales and marketing executives, scientists and educators spending endless hours day and night scanning online job boards like Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com and mailing out hundreds of resumes in what seems like a vain search for that job or career lost.After a few weeks, with no offers, not even a single interview scheduled, the process begins to wear you down. Depression, fear and anger sets in and the idea of falling behind in bills and mortgage payments only adds to the anxiety. You begin to lose hope and your relationship with your family and friends becomes affected.
There was a time when losing a job was almost taboo. It often was associated with failure or being a poor performer. Not today. Most of us lost jobs directly or indirectly as as a result of what has happened on Wall Street and in the manufacturing economy - especially automotive.
Here is a chilling statistic - on average, it can take anywhere from 19 to 26 weeks to find a job that matches your skills and qualifications.
The good news is while unemployment statistics continue to show an upward trend with over 5 million Americans out of work since December 2007 or 8.5% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are still jobs waiting to be filled in many sectors.
Bud Shattuck answering questions about
unemployment benefits and local job market
Finding the jobs is not easy and a task that one should not have to do it alone. Networking is becoming a key strategy in a successful job hunt. Unemployed professionals should find or join a group made up of individuals both employed and unemployed who can provide career coaching, advice and tips on how you can improve your resume, share contact information and help build your network of other professionals who may lead you to a meeting with a hiring manager. Start with your friends, former co-workers and even family members to help build your self-confidence and support you in this full-time effort.
If you live in Tompkins County, there is a group of professionals that meets on a semi-regular basis in downtown Ithaca at the Tompkins Workforce New York Career Center on the Commons. The group is called Professional Occupation Development, better known as POD. Meetings are arranged and facilitated by Bud Shattuck, Workforce Development Specialist for Tompkins County.
POD members gather and network after meeting
Currently over 30 unemployed professionals have recently attended meetings and the number is expected to grow as more companies and local universities continue to shed jobs in the area. The group is made up of employed, unemployed and retired professionals who gather to get the latest on the local economy, network with each other, share contact information and news about what is happening not only in Tompkins County, but surrounding areas like Binghamton, Syracuse and Elmira. Some members volunteer to help others like offering training sessions on self-marketing and using the internet as a resource for finding contacts and jobs.
The meetings are also a great place to get more information about how the Tompkins Workforce New York Career center can provide resources and support for job seekers like resume and cover letter printing, online training and interview coaching. Mr. Shattuck not only runs the POD meetings and provides consultation on finding a job, he answers a lot of questions about unemployment and health insurance benefits since his office is shared by representatives from New York State Dept. of Labor.
If you have been out of work for awhile, feeling frustrated, not having much luck finding anything or need help improving your own self-marketing tools and skills, call and make an appointment to meet with one of the workforce specialists at Tompkins Workforce New York Career Center and they will help get you back on track. Be sure to ask about the next POD meeting.
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