plus 1, Hope Network opens Career Center in Grand Rapids - WZZM 13

Hope Network opens Career Center in Grand Rapids - WZZM 13

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 06:32 PM PDT

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM)- Hope Network celebrated the opening of its new Career Center Wednesday with a job fair. The Career Center is located on 36th Street in Grand Rapids. It has a computer lab, library and classrooms. There job seekers can apply for open positions and receive tips on resume building and online job searching.

Hope Network's Lisa Stevens said, "There are so many people that find themselves unemployed that weren't unemployed, and so there are skills sets that you may not feel that you have, but we do a lot of training here. We will help and educate and assist. And because of being unemployed, we're trying to help the community, whether it's with Hope Network or within Grand Rapids."

Hope Network offers assistance to developing disabilities and has offices across the state. The organization is hiring 100 positions at its various locations.

By Chris Zoladz

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Thousands vie for jobs at Career Expo, employers ... - WHAS 11

Posted: 24 Mar 2010 02:00 PM PDT

A few thousand people converged on downtown Louisville Wednesday in search of a job. It comes as a career expo is promoting hundreds of openings.

At the same time, Louisville's unemployment rate hit a new high, 11.2%.

The Louisville Career Expo attracted many people looking for a job in possible record numbers in a bad economy.

UPS, Citibank and Kroger were among a total of 67 employers with more than 2000 jobs available, 600 right now.

College freshman Kody Macon came prepared with portfolio in hand.

He said, "every employer has several openings I talked to. It's amazing the unemployment is high as it is."

In fact, the unemployment rate is at 11.2% in Jefferson County.

So, the Louisville Career Expo has some fierce competition.
We asked recent college student Bryan Jackson, what are your selling points?

He said, "7 years of customer service, outgoing, goal-oriented and ready to work."

And Donna Barry was also part of the mix.

She's been laid off since April and even has a card that says "career oriented and seeking employment."

She says her strategy is, "because everything being online you don't have that edge. You can't go in and sell yourself. I'll do some networking and selling myself and leave some business cards."

And if you don't land a job at the expo, organizers say don't give up too easily.

Juanita Sands, Director of Workforce Development said, "recruiters are looking for people who really want to work so you do need in this competitive environment to set yourself apart from those who apply one time and go home and wait for the phone to ring. Bring your A game."

Fort Knox is one of the largest employers with 1,400 jobs.

However, organizers say if you don't land that job, it's best to be proactive and call the employers to see what's open in the future.

For a full list of employers, visit the Louisville Urban League Career Expo Website