Where to look and what to do

Training is powerful tool in search for employment

By Jennifer Jacob Brown

jbrown@themeridianstar.com

The current unemployment rate for Lauderdale County is 8.7 percent - that's up more than one whole percentage point from last year, and up nearly two percentage points from four years ago, when the rate was 6 percent.

As of September there were 2,930 people in Lauderdale County who needed jobs but didn't have one - and many of those had been unemployed for a long time.

"It's not abnormal right now for someone to be unemployed for 2 years," said Shirley Gaines, an employment representative at Meridian's WIN Job Center. "The average person that I talk to has already been unemployed for at least a year or longer."

And Lauderdale County has actually been doing better than many other parts of the state. Though the overall unemployment rate for Mississippi is only 8.8 percent, only 0.1 percent higher than Lauderdale County's rate, there are 59 counties that have higher unemployment rates that Lauderdale County. Twenty-two counties have better rates than Lauderdale.

With lay-offs becoming commonplace and job openings a rarity, Gaines said the economy has had a huge effect on the morale of job hunters.

"I've seen depression," she said. "I have seen anger. I have seen that paralyzed deer-in-the-headlights kind of shock."

Barriers to employment

But job hunters don't have to be helpless. Gaines said there are a number of things job hunters can do that greatly increase their chances of employment — as well as a couple of common problems that, with willpower, unemployed people can eliminate.

The two biggest problems Gaines said she sees in job hunters at WIN Job Center are a lack of computer literacy and low self-esteem.

Knowing your way around a computer, she said, is not just an extra skill in today's job market — it's a necessity if you want to even put in an application.

"In today's time, you're no longer filling out a paper application," she said. "All the companies want you to apply online... So someone who is not computer literate is going to have a hard time."

Gaines said online applications are popular with employers because they remove a lot of the pressure to grant an interview. They don't have to meet a person face to face and then tell them they won't get an interview — they simply don't respond to their online application.

But job hunters who have limitations on the computer shouldn't despair - computer classes are not hard to find. WIN offers a free computer class for people who need to start with the basics, and area community colleges offer courses in using specific computer programs.

Gaines recommends that even the more computer savvy hone their skills by taking classes in popular programs like Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint. Even people who are good with computers, she said, often are not adept at every one of the programs that employers expect their applicants to be able use.

A problem that Gaines said has become more and more prevalent among job hunters is low self-esteem. "People are blind-sided right now because the caliber of job seeker has totally changed since 20 years ago. You have people with degrees, with a wonderful work history, who can't find a job anywhere... It paralyzes them," she said. "It keeps them from trying to do anything better."

Lack of confidence can damage a person's chances of finding a job in numerous ways.

For one thing, people who don't project confidence are less likely to land an interview. Even if you feel that you've exhausted all your options will never find a job, Gaines said you should go into a prospective workplace acting as if you feel sure the job is yours. People who act shy, mopey, or angry are less likely to get hired.

Low self-esteem also prevents job hunters from actively improving their marketability. If someone who has problems with computer literacy believes she will never be able to learn and so doesn't even try to get the necessary training, she's kept herself ineligible for a huge percentage of jobs.

Gaines said WIN Job Center works to help job seekers with their confidence. "We're not just doing job placement," she said. "We're counselors as well. We talk with people and try to get to the root of their problems and encourage them."

Get trained

It is especially important to make sure job seekers have high enough self-esteem to get training, she said, because that training is the number one most valuable tool in the search for a job.

"Companies are targeting those people who are seeking to better themselves (through training)," she said. "The job market is about self-improvement, taking the initiative, and follow-through at this point."

Community Colleges, she said, are an invaluable tool in helping people get jobs, she said, because they offer short-term training programs.

"You can become a commercial truck driver in a few weeks," she said. "You can become a Certified Nurse Assistant in six months... (Meridian Community College Workforce Training) offers everything from basic welding training to learning how to drive a forklift... Video editing, computer repair and maintenance - Do whatever you can to get into school. Get as many skills under your belt as you can to make yourself more employable."

Just having some kind of training on your resume, even if you are applying for a job in different field than that in which you were trained, can be extremely helpful when searching for a job. Employers will appreciate the mere fact that an applicants took the initiative to improve themselves and had the follow-through to complete the training.

There is help, she said, for those who can't afford school. Many people are eligible for federal pell grants and student loans, and those who aren't could be eligible for federal assistance through WIN. She said WIN also offers free G.E.D. classes, as does Meridian Community College.

Where to look for jobs

But in today's climate, even people with perfect resumes can have a hard time. Sometimes it can seem to job hunters as if no employer is hiring anyone at all. Gaines said it's important to know where to look, and all job seekers should cover several bases.

If you are looking for a job, she said the first thing you should do is find out where jobs are listed. She said WIN can provide job hunters with a list of websites under which local employers tend to list jobs. People who don't have their own computers can use the computers are WIN, at the library, or at MCC's Career Development Center to search for listings. Local newspapers also are a great resource.

Secondly, Gaines said job hunters should register at WIN and all of the temp agencies in town.

"We all work together," she said. "We're not in competition... And even though most of the jobs they have are temporary, it's work, and the jobs can go permanent."

She said employers often use temp agencies to find suitable permanent employees because it's easier to try a new employee out and gauge their job performance that way.

In addition to checking job listings on the web and registering with temp agencies, Gaines said job hunters should check the newspaper classified ads, check the job listings at MCC's Career Center, and call companies listed in the phone book to ask where to find their Web site and how to apply.

Nailing the interview

In today's economic climate, just getting an interview is hard enough, but its only half the battle. With so much competition, its important to do things right as soon as you enter the building of a prospective employer.

Before you go to an interview or even to drop of an application or resume, make sure you are dressed appropriately. A good rule of thumb, Gaines said, is to determine how you would dress on the job, and dress a bit nicer than that. Most important is to make sure your clothes and your body are clean and neat.

Don't show up looking for a job with clothes that are covered in logos or with too much jewelry, make-up, nail-polish, or perfume. Try to have a neat and conventional hairstyle — unnatural looking hair color or hair extensions or wacky haircuts will not help you get a job. Also make sure to cover any tattoos.

Once you are in the interview, "Never, never, never talk badly about a previous employer or employee." Introduce yourself, and try to make a good first impression by smiling, looking confident, acting friendly, and having an even disposition. Don't act shy, scared, or surly.

Gaines said to always give a thorough answer to any question the interviewer asks you, rather than just answering yes or no. But at the same time try not to talk so much that you take over the interview. You don't want to come off as a know-it-all.

Make a good resume

One of the most important things you can take with you to an interview is your resume. Even if you have already dropped off a resume with a prospective employer, you should bring extra copies along.

There are numerous avenues for those who want help creating their resume. If you prefer to make your resume from home, you can participate in a free online internet tutorial on the Web site of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security at www.mdes.ms.gov.

Meridian Community College's Career Center also offers free resume help. The center has a computer program with step-by-step instructions on building a resume. Once you make your resume, you can both print it out and send it via e-mail. The resume can be saved to the MCC server, where it will be kept for one year after the last update.

The Career Center has personnel who will guide people through the resume process, but they try not to offer so much help that the client does not learn to make a resume on their own.

For more information on resources that are available for job hunters, job hunting tips and advice, and information on job fairs throughout the state, visit the Mississippi Department of Employment Security on the Web at www.mdes.ms.gov or visit the WIN Job Center in person on Hwy. 19 in Meridian.

For more information about workforce training, G.E.D. classes, and other short-term training and certification programs at Meridian Community College call them at (601)483-8241or visit them on the Web at www.mcc.cc.ms.us. Other area community colleges with programs that could help you find a job include East Mississippi Community College and East Central Community College.

Need help? Try a temp agency

Meridian has lots of temporary employment agencies that specialize in helping job hunters and employers find each other. The different agencies specialize in everything from clerical to industrial work, and sometimes place people in temporary jobs that eventually become permanent.

By the numbers

8.7 percent - Unemployment rate in Lauderdale County as of Oct. 21

78,180 - Population of Lauderdale County

30,720 - Number of people employed in Lauderdale County in September

2,930 - Number of unemployed people in Lauderdale County in September

23 - Lauderdale County's employment ranking out of 82 Mississippi counties

(Source: Mississippi

Department of Employment

Security)