Unemployed Seek Resources To Find Work

Approximately 200 people - all seeking information on how to obtain a job - turned out for the Employment Resource Fair Saturday morning at the Monmouth County Library Eastern Branch in Shrewsbury.

It was standing room only in the library's meeting room for the first-ever Employment Resource Fair. Some men were dressed in jackets and ties and women were clad in business suits and dresses with resumes and notebooks in hand.

With unemployment in New Jersey at 9.1  percent as of December 2010, and the nation's economy still not rebounding especially on the job front, the county residents were eager to learn more on how to obtain a joh.

Sponsored by the 12th Legislative District - State Sen. Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon Jr., the event was to help unemployed Monmouth County residents find the available resources that might make their job search easier.

Representatives from the Monmouth County Division of Employment and Training, Bio 1 Stop, the Monmouth County Library Career Information Center, State Department of Labor and Workforce, and Brookdale Community College were on hand and gave presentations.

Lisa Gall, a 31-year-old college graduate from Freehold, said she came because she was "having a hard time finding entry level positions."

"I think I got a lot of needed information, and some of the things (resources) I didn't know were available to me," she said.

Anita Stevenson, 55, Neptune, is an acquisitions specialist at Fort Monmouth-Communications-Electronic Command. The army base will close by the end of the year. Most of the fort's civilian employees will be transferred to the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, MD by years end.

In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission ordered the closing of Fort Monmouth and transferring its mission to Maryland.

Stevenson said that, unlike most of her co-workers, she has been informed she would be transferred to Fort Belvoir in Virginia.

But, it's a long way from home.

"I would rather remain home here in New Jersey but the job market is so bad with so many people out of work," she said.

Stevenson said she learned about networking which is a way of knowing  people and speaking with them about job opportunities.

"The networking aspect needs to be part of anyone's job search," she said.

Stevenson said she came to the event "to take advantage of these opportunities " of learning how to obtain a job.

"I came today to talk to the biological science (Bio 1 Stop) representative about getting a job," Tom Ruane, 24, of West Long Branch said.

Beck said there are resouces available to local residents.

"We know our residents are working hard to find employment, and there are resources in their own backyard (Monmouth County) that they don' even know about," Beck said.

She added that the Employment Resource Fair was "focused on educating people about the state, county and local services that can help them update their skills, refine their job search and better hone their resumes."

Casagrande said she was pleased by the large turn out of Monmouth County residents.

"I think this was a terrific turnout today and it clearly displays the need for this type of resource fair. There was a lot of good information given out to the residents by the participants," she said.

Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone was also at the fair.

"This was a great event--an event well needed, and now the county is realizing the importance of our economic development and workforce relations with our county residents," he said.

He noted that the county is "taking an aggressive approach to help bring and add businesses to our county and find jobs for our residents." Arnone urged residents to send their resumes to his office in the Hall of Records, Freehold, NJ.  

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