Buddy, can you spare a job?
Even when a person takes a creative approach to searching for a job, as Nick Willard did, it’s a tough market out there
Jaime Valdez / The Times
Job seeker Nick Willard hands his resume to an interested party at Exit 6 off Highway 217 in Tigard on Friday.
Dressed in a black suit and rust-colored tie, Nick Willard stood on the shoulder of Exit 6 off Highway 217 North in Tigard and passed out his resume.
As cars pulled to the top of the ramp and idled at the red light, Willard waved at drivers and approached those who seemed interested to pass them a paper containing his resume on one side, his cover letter on the other.
“If I had a job to offer, I’d give it to you,” said a woman in dark blue Honda Accord as she accepted the sheet and drove off.
Willard, a 41-year-old Desert Storm veteran, has been looking for work since January without luck. He decided last week it was time to step up the self-promotion.
“In this economic time, you have to do something different,” he said. “When there are 500 people looking for the same job, you’re only a piece of paper. This way, I get out there and let people know I’m here.”
Though not all are hitting the highways, many people are finding themselves in situations similar to Willard’s — they need work, but businesses aren’t hiring.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March topped 12 percent and is among the highest in the nation, according to the Oregon Employment Department. State economists expect it to continue rising.
While Tigard is faring better than Oregon as a whole, its unemployment rate is on the rise as well. The percentage of unemployed Tigard residents grew from 6.3 percent in December to 8.5 percent in February, according to preliminary non-seasonally adjusted numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In February 2008, the unemployment rate in Tigard was a mere 4.5 percent.
State economist David Cooke speculated that the February 2009 unemployment rate in Tigard would be 7.8 or 7.9 percent if it was seasonally adjusted to compare with the state rate.
Amy Vandervliet, a regional economist with the Oregon Employment Department, noted that the city rates represent more an educated guess than an actual portrayal because they are simply a disaggregation of state and metro rates. Nevertheless, she does not expect the Tigard rates to decline anytime soon. Other things will happen first, she said.
“The thing about unemployment rates is they lag behind other factors,” she said. “The economy could have turned around, but the unemployment rate could continue to go up for a few months.”
Tigard Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Christopher Zoucha said he knows Tigard job seekers are feeling the crunch.
“I don’t know a lot of companies that are actively hiring people right now,” he said. “It’s more about looking back at themselves and maintaining and trying to get efficiency out of who they have rather than bringing in somebody new to accomplish those tasks.”
Overwhelmed by applications
Zoucha said when the chamber posted an opening for an administrative assistant last October, it received 250 applications within two days and had to take down the posting early.
“We had people who had worked in chambers for 30 years applying for a position that was no more than an administrative job,” Zoucha said. “There’s no way I’m going to hire this person and have them feel they’re in the position to be under-utilized and under-paid.”
Having to turn away overqualified people “puts you in a weird position as an employer,” he said.
Aldo Ruiz-Jeronimo, part owner of Taqueria La Fuente on Main Street, said his business, too, receives more applications than it needs. La Fuente is not hiring, but people stop by all the time looking for work.
“I’m getting five to 10 applications a week,” Ruiz-Jeronimo said between putting in a takeout order and handing a menu to a man in a booth. “People walk in, drop off their resumes or ask for applications, or they’re asking if anyone else is hiring at the moment.”
La Fuente trimmed its staff from 13 or 14 people last September to eight or nine now, Ruiz-Jeronimo said. The restaurant recently added seven more tables and hopes to hire an additional employee this summer, he said, but that will all depend on the economy.
As of March, the number of jobs in Oregon had dropped by 5.7 percent, or by 98,300 jobs, from its peak at 1,738,100 in Dec. 2007, Vandervliet said.
In Washington County, the number of jobs declined 5.1 percent, or by 12,600 jobs, between February 2008 and February 2009, Vandervliet said.
The manufacturing industry was the hardest hit, with a 7.8 percent decline, she said. The trade/transportation/utilities industry followed with 6.1 percent drop, and professional/ business services fell 6.3 percent.
The department does not have equivalent breakdowns for cities like Tigard, she said.
Dr. Sean Harry, a career coach with the Portland-based Career Management Solutions, said the recession, coupled with people’s access to online job boards, makes competition for jobs particularly difficult now.
“It’s not uncommon for me to hear a recruiter say, ‘We got 800 to 1,000 resumes for one posting,’” he said. “Even 10 years ago, there might have been one to 20 or 30 resumes submitted.”
Hunting for work
Willard is a full-time student in his last year as an international business major at George Fox University in Newberg. He drives limos to make extra money, but needs a more substantial job to pay the bills and support his wife and 5-year-old son.
Ideally, he’d like to use the business management and customer service skills he’s learned in school, he said. But that’s proving hard.
“With so many people looking for work, it’s an employer’s market,” he said. “It’s not a job seeker’s market anymore.”
Dr. Harry, who delivered a presentation on networking at the Tigard Public Library on Wednesday, said his client load has increased from 25 to 30 people last year to around 100 right now.
Looking for a job is a full-time job in and of itself, he said.
“No matter what you are before you start looking for a job, when you are looking for a job, you are a salesperson,” he said.
Willard’s approach may be more effective than a lot of people’s strategies because he is increasing the network of people who know about him, Harry said.
“The most effective method for finding a job, hands down and bar none, is utilizing your network,” he said. Searching online job boards like Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com and Craigslist is only about 3 to 4 percent effective, he said, because they turn job seekers into commodities, inexpensive and plentiful.
Harry encourages job seekers to get out and talk to people, to reconnect with classmates or talk with people who work in their field of interest. Ask them about their experiences and mention what you’re looking for, he said, but don’t flat-out ask for a job.
“Simply reconnect,” he said. “If you’re asking for a job, you’re the kind of salesperson that nobody likes. You’re the begging kind of salesperson.”
Juanita Garnow landed a part-time job last week at the Main Street bead shop Bead Bullies just that way; she developed a friendship with owner Kari Donaldson and was available when Donaldson needed extra help in the store.
On Tuesday morning, Garnow vacuumed the store’s carpet and helped a customer find a container of the sulfur material used to antique metal.
“I’ve known Kari for a number of years and have been a customer for a long time,” she said. “I love beads, and I love beading.”
Harry advised job seekers to focus only on what they can control.
“Don’t be discouraged,” he said. “Some people take it very personally, and it’s not personal at all, not in this economy.”
As for Willard, his unique approach to trying to land a job hadn’t borne any fruit. As of The Times press time Wednesday – he was still jobless.