Unemployed consider options at job fair
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Adam Shafer of Bridport, until recently a pastry chef, discusses job opportunities with the U.S. Census with recruiter Ellen Biddle during the Addison County Career Fair on Tuesday. GORDON DRITSCHILO / Rutland Herald |
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By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: November 18, 2009
MIDDLEBURY — Jeff Ellis said he may need to change careers
"At my age, it's going to be tough," the 55-year-old from Salisbury said. "It's too early to tell, but it doesn't look good."
A few days after his 30 years as a machine operator at Monahan Filaments came to an end, Ellis said he didn't find much encouragement at a job fair at the Middlebury American Legion.
"There's nothing local, a few things up in Williston," he said. "The filament business has disappeared. It's gone overseas."
Stories just like Ellis' were plentiful among job-seekers at the Addison County Career Fair on Tuesday.
"There was nothing I'm going to get," said 43-year-old John Stanley of Brandon, another machine operator from Monahan. "I'll have to get some training, probably go back to school."
Organizer John Vowles, Northwestern regional manager for the Vermont Department of Labor, said 120 people came through the doors in the first hour of the event.
"We opened up at 10," he said. "There was a line waiting outside."
Vowles said his department's last job fair in Addison County was two years ago and they were happy enough with the turnout to consider doing them annually. He said he would work on scheduling with local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce.
The event Tuesday was timed to roughly coincide with the last day of operations at Monahan Filaments, which closed the doors of its Middlebury plant Friday. Vowles said roughly half of the first wave of job-seekers at the fair were from Monahan.
Leddy Group recruiter Jason Cable said he'd spoken to several Monahan employees and that his staffing company had several potential placements for machine operators. Porter Hospital had several positions, and a recruiter for the U.S. Census was on hand.
However, Vowles said he had more exhibitors, such as financial service companies offering investment advice or educational organizations, than employers.
"We had difficulty getting employers here because they're not hiring," he said. "We contacted, in person and over the phone, over 100 employers in the wider area — Rutland County, Chittenden County, Addison County."
Even companies that are hiring, Vowles said, are already swamped with applications.
Brad Broughton, 37, of Middlebury, said he knew he was going to get laid off from his landscaping job last week — he's been working seasonally for several years. This year, he said, his choice of winter jobs was looking thin, and he didn't see anything promising at the fair.
"I've got a few calls out to some building friends — construction, painting," he said.
Vowles said he recommends seasonal work as a way to get back into a career, saying several companies hire permanent workers who started out with them seasonally and that seasonal work can also impart experience.
Networking, he said, remains the best way to get a job.
"Going online and looking at the Web sites, your chances are 4 to 7 percent," he said. "It's still more who you know, how you can get leads into a company. At events like this you can meet people and talk to them."
Barbara Levinson, 57, of Vergennes, said she had done just that, giving her resume to one of the financial service companies. Levinson said she was laid off more than a year ago from a major brokerage house where she was a registered financial services administrator.
"It's been pretty bleak," she said. "It's a little better now. Last winter there was absolutely nothing. Now there are a lot more positions being posted. I'm getting more interviews. I'm not getting positions, though."
Adam Shafer, a 24-year-old pastry chef from Bridport, said he has been out of work since late September. Most of the jobs available in his field, he said, are in Burlington or one of the ski resorts. He said he, too, is considering a career change.
"You have to get the bills paid and put food on the table," he said. "I've been doing a lot of research into schools and other professions. Things aren't turning out as well as I'd hoped. What there is is taken before I can get an application in or there are too many applicants. Even McDonald's seems to have an overflow."
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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