This is the second in a two-part series looking at the increased demand for Scott County Community Services. The first part, which ran Oct. 29, focused on the increased public assistance demand.

By Kristin Holtz, Staff Writer

Julie Campbell has been out of work for months now.

She’s applied to more than 70 jobs but has only had six phone interviews.

To say she’s frustrated might be an understatement.

Campbell, who was laid off from Best Buy Corp. in March, originally didn’t think she’d have trouble finding job.

“Seven months later, I still don’t have a job,” said the Prior Lake resident.

Scott County Employment and Training, which partners in the Minnesota WorkForce Center of Dakota and Scott counties, is trying to help bridge the gap for county residents who find themselves in the job hunt. The department has seen demand for its services rise steadily over the past year.

The resource room — a public library area that offers computers, fax machines, phones, reference materials and other resources for job hunting — saw its highest month of use ever in July. Use of the resource room increased 45 percent between July 2008 and 2009.

“It’s a pretty dramatic increase in the number of people looking for resources to help them with the job search,” said Jean Sinell, Scott County employment and training supervisor.

Increased demand for services goes hand in hand with a rising unemployment rate, Sinell said. Scott County’s unemployment rate in September was 6.8 percent, up more than 2 percentage points from October 2008. The county’s unemployment rate peaked in February and March at 8.3 percent.Resource room at WorkForce Center in Shakopee

The Minnesota WorkForce Center in Scott County offers a number of services aimed at adults, youth, senior citizens and people on public assistance. One of the most popular programs is the Dislocated Worker Program for individuals who lost jobs at no fault of their own. Dislocated worker counselors not only help people find new jobs but will cover expenses for retraining.

The number of people enrolled in the program increased by 54 percent between October 2008 and September 2009, Sinell said. Even with extra federal stimulus dollars, the state- and federally funded program continues to receive requests for assistance.

“There is still much more demand than what we’re immediately able to bring people in and serve,” Sinell said. The four dislocated worker counselors have average caseloads of 90 people.

The employment and training office has also seen a 30 percent increase in people participating in welfare-to-work counseling, Sinell said. Adults on public assistance can receive employment services.

Public libraries, adult basic education, GED (general equivalency diploma) programs and English-language learning classes have also seen an increase recently, Sinell said.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF RECESSION

Scott County’s employment and training counselors have seen surges in unemployment before. In the early 2000s, the Internet and technology bust drove a lot of people out of work.

What makes this recession different, however, is the universality. No one seems to be safe.

“The layoffs are across all industries and all occupation levels,” said Shelley Swartzel, employment and training counselor. She’s had clients range from factory workers to chief executive officers.

Career counselors have also seen an increase in the number of households where both parents are out of work.

Campbell’s husband, James, has been out of work since January when he was laid off from Fabcon in Savage. However, because Campbell is still tied to the union, he is not eligible to receive counseling through the WorkForce Center.

Therefore, he and a bunch of other unemployed construction workers have begun traveling out of state looking for work, Campbell said.

Employment and Training Counselor Danielle Danielson said some job seekers are overwhelmed by the job-hunt process, especially those who have been working at the same place for decades.

“Some people have never experienced this in their life,” Sinell agreed. “People who have worked for 25 years in a place and don’t know how to go about this. It’s new to them.”

It’s been 23 years since Judy Schwartz of Shakopee looked for a job.

She worked at GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services in Eden Prairie before being laid off in June. While she’s taking prep courses for her project management professional exam, she admits the job hunt is much different than it used to be.

“It’s a whole different world,” she said.

EMPLOYERS’ MARKET

It’s an employers’ market, Swartzel said, as some positions, like administrative assistants, receive 700 to 1,000 applications per job.

“In my opinion, there really is a lot of great talent on sale,” said job seeker Ham Mathews of Savage.

With so many job hunters on the market, employers not only have the pick of the litter, they also can take time to ensure they hire the right person for the job.

“Employers are taking a really long time to make a decision,” Swartzel said.

The biggest frustration, job seekers said, is the lack of response from employers. Because of an onslaught of applications, most employers do not reply back to applicants.

“There are so few openings and so many people,” said Employment and Training Counselor Nancy Boone Muller.

Some employers are just waiting out the economy, the counselors said. Mathews, who was laid off from his job as a division manager at Computype Inc. in Roseville in January, said he’s talked with numerous companies that have new initiatives they’d like to start.

But hiring the employees to start those projects is on hold until management gets a sense of whether recovery is actually going to happen, he said.

With so many people looking for work and so few places hiring, Swartzel said it might take the average job-seeker more than a year to find a position in this economy. Only a handful of Swartzel’s clients have found jobs in six months or less.

Sinell said some older workers are frustrated by new hiring practices that require degrees and certifications. Many older workers worked their way up in company, gaining expertise without furthering their education. Now, a lack of a degree might be enough to weed them out in the first round, counselors said.

Even without a four-year degree, Campbell said she often hears she’s overqualified. She can’t get a job at a convenience store or a temp agency because employers assume she won’t stick around when something better comes along, she said.

Therefore, Campbell is taking classes at DeVry University for a bachelor’s in business administration. She also attended certified associate project manager course, paid for by the WorkForce Center.

The WorkForce Center offers financial assistance for out-of-work individuals for tuition, books, child care and transportation to assist in retraining for high-demand professions. Retraining assistance is limited based on budget, Sinell said.

Grisel Cueller of Shakopee is headed back into the work force after several years at home caring for her children. Cuellar, whose husband was laid off from his production job about a month ago, came to the WorkForce Center looking for a little direction to start her job search.

She is now studying part-time at the Minnesota School of Business while hunting for a job. The WorkForce Center pays for a portion of her tuition. She will graduate in July from the medical assistant program.

“I’m looking for anything to pay the bills,” Cueller said.

ADVICE

The best advice job counselors offer is to diversify your job-hunting approach.

The Internet has definitely changed the job search, Schwartz said. For example, she uses the Web site LinkedIn to connect with past co-workers and bosses. The Web site is a network for professionals to post recommendations and comments about one another.

Campbell said she spends four hours a day searching job boards and job sites. She refreshes her resume on sites like Monsterjobs.com daily in order to keep it fresh for job recruiters.

Swartzel tells her clients mass-mailing resumes is not as beneficial as in-person networking. Mathews said he’s relying mainly on networking, formally and informally. He attends a job transitions support group at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie that has helped him focus his job search and find a good support system.

Getting your name out there and letting people know you’re looking for a job is critical, Swartzel said because in the end, job searching is still about luck.

“The more people you get in front of, the more you network, you improve those odds of being in the right place at the right time,” Swartzel said.

Keeping a positive attitude is essential to persevering in the job search, too, Danielson said.

Before landing her job as a counselor in Scott County, Danielson was one of the millions on the job market. After being laid off as a recruiter for a logistics company in Eden Prairie, Danielson joined the Dislocated Worker program in Chaska.

It was through her Dislocated Worker counselor she heard about the opening in the Scott County Employment and Training office. She applied on the last day applications were taken and was hired.

“You never know the connections you will make and the opportunities that might come up,” Danielson tells her clients. “There are jobs available even if they are hard to find. It will take a lot of persistence, so stay at it.”

For some workers, that might mean making compromises. Boone Muller said some of her clients are forced into accepting jobs with less pay, benefits or hours. The unemployed, however, have learned they must make concessions to get back in the work force.

Swartzel said she has noticed a little more movement in the last two months but doesn’t expect a turnaround anytime soon. The truth is job seekers will have to continue to hit the pavement and stay focused on their goal: employment.

“There are still jobs out there,” Sinell said. “There’s not as much of it as we’d like, but they are still hiring.”

Kristin Holtz can be reached at (952) 345-6678 or kholtz@swpub.com.