By DENISE A. RAYMO and CASEY RYAN VOCK
PLATTSBURGH — Amid discouraging unemployment numbers, help is available for people who have lost jobs or are changing careers.
The State Department of Labor and its OneWorkSource single-stop agencies, along with other employment services, are in place for displaced workers, no matter their interests, skill level or age.
GONE FOR GOOD
The recession is unlike those in the past, where a business would rebound and eventually return to its previous work capacity, said Paul Grasso, executive director of the North Country Workforce Investment Board.
Many positions lost last year, including some locally, are gone forever.
"A lot of these jobs are being eliminated due to automation, like in the old days of the auto industry. These jobs have been cut due to changes in employment strategy, and they are not going to return."
BE READY TO CHANGE
To take advantage of available opportunities, job seekers must be flexible and open to switching to higher-demand careers.
"The challenge is convincing people they need to be retrained in skills that are now valuable in the marketplace," Grasso said.
Seekers should look for trends in their fields or related occupations that have growth potential.
He said a colleague recently grew tired of being laid off every year.
"He took his carpentry skills to a community college and became a certified building analyst. So he took his carpentry skills — something that was very marketable at times and very unmarketable at others — and turned it into a growth occupation."
This example is the approach everyone should have in their search for a job.
"You need to take your skills and try to rework them into this new economy," Grasso said.
TOP CAREERS
The New York State Labor Department projects the most in-demand careers will be in green technologies, health care and advanced manufacturing.
And businesses will want to hire people with science, technology, engineering and math skills on their resume.
Those who don't adjust will find it difficult to find good-paying, permanent employment here.
"It's going to be a real challenge," Grasso said. "The key is matching your skills set to the jobs that are available."
READY TO HELP
And that can be accomplished through the Department of Labor and its OneWorkSource agencies, said Susan Gallagher of the Plattsburgh office.
Services can be as simple as providing job-seekers access to telephones, fax machines, computers and career-reference materials and information about online search engines and job orders posted with the Labor Department and America's Job Exchange.
The office sponsors workshops on how to prepare a resume and job-interviewing techniques.
"Department of Labor staff also match job seekers to existing job orders and refer them if they havethequalifications specified by that employer," Gallagher said.
Also available are on-the-job training programs, counseling and services for veterans, financial-aid information and career planning and counseling.
"If our unemployed customers have barriers to their employment, we meetwith them to determine if they might benefit from additional training," Gallagher said.
"We offer testing to determine their skills and interests.
"In Plattsburgh, our One Stop partners assist job seekers with obtaining their GED if they do nothave a high-school diploma.
"And we partner with CV-TEC and Clinton Community College to connect job seekers with programs that are geared toward demand occupations, such as nursing or green technologies."
They make referrals to other agencies to help with other employment barriers, such as medical or child-care issues.
Job seekers may have to consider short-term training for jobs they may not have considered before, Gallagher said.
But, in all cases, "they should investigate all sources offinancial aid for education and training, like Pell grants," as well as all job-search methods, including in-person contact, online searches and networking.
PRIVATE SERVICES
Another avenue for the unemployed is to get in touch with local employment services.
ETS Inc. in Plattsburgh, for example, has been helping employers and workers connect for 27 years.
People who are looking for jobs can get a free evaluation with ETS, which will then try to match them with employers.
"We sit face to face and give them advice on their job search," said David Coryer, director of sales and recruiting for ETS. "We meet candidates, talk about what they want to do."
ETS assesses the potential workers' communication skills and how they conduct themselves and puts them on a computer to test key skills.
People who want good jobs "ought to be visiting the local staffing firms," Coryer said. "Companies pay us to find people who are the best fit for their business.
"We are putting people to work every day."
KEEP YOUR CHIN UP
Gallagher said all job seekers need to stay motivated and optimistic and believe their circumstances will get better.
"My advice would be: Do not give up. There are jobs out there. The occupation may not be what that individual thoughthe or shewould be doing, but there are jobs out there.
"Our greatestsatisfaction is seeing our job seekers succeed."
— News Editor Lois Clermont also contributed to this report.
