Navigating the job maze

OU career workshop attracts diverse crowd

By Yaffi Spodek

Tamar Friedman of Far Rockaway is an aspiring sonographer. Though she earned the necessary degree over a year ago and consulted with people in the field who assured her that sonographers were in demand, she has been unable to secure a job. After months of resume remodeling, dead-end interviews and relentless phone calls, Friedman is discouraged and unemployed. Unfortunately, she is not alone.

Responding to the downward trend of the job market, the Orthodox Union’s Job Board ran a free career workshop on Thursday, entitled “What’s Hot and What’s Not.” Held at the Young Israel of Woodmere, the event — which attracted over 50 participants — helped job seekers identify current economic trends and job sectors with potential for growth.

“Pipe dreams: we all hope that they’ll come true but they don’t,” said Michael Rosner, director of the OU’s Job Board, in his introductory remarks. “We want to speak about which jobs are hot not only for today but going forward.”

Louise Klaber, a senior career counselor for the Health and Human Services department of F.E.G.S. (Federation Employment and Guidance Services) presented the workshop.

“Any reasonable job search needs to start with who you are — your interests, strengths and limitations,” she advised.

Klaber touched on several aspects including which fields are popular versus those that are not, industries experiencing growth and tips on how to adjust a career to get on top of the curve. She also identified healthcare, education, products and services for the elderly population, business-to-business services and non-profit agencies as “hot industries that are hiring.”

“Eighty-five percent of all jobs in all fields are never advertised,” Klaber noted, emphasizing the significance of building a useful network of family and friends to create connections with potential employers.

Klaber also pointed out the growth of the baby boomer population and their resurgence in the workforce.

“The percentage of people over 50 in the workforce is 50 percent and will rise to about 75 percent over the next few years,” she added. “There are fewer younger people in the workforce, and companies are beginning to recognize the value in hiring older employees.”

Thursday’s event drew a diverse group of men and women, from recent college graduates to middle-aged job seekers and older retirees looking to re-enter a field of interest. For some, like Friedman, this was not their first time attending an event hosted by the OU’s Job Board.

“I attended a networking workshop in Brooklyn a few months ago,” said Friedman, “and the more information you gather from each event, the easier it becomes to put all the pieces together in your head.”

“Some of the information was helpful, but some of it was repeated,” said Rochelle Weinberg, an accountant from Woodmere, who has also attended similar events. As a certified QuickBooks Pro advisor, Weinberg explained that she came “hoping to find new clients.”

For others, the seminar was their first foray into the world of OU career workshops.

“I like to know what’s going on in the Jewish community,” explained Louise Temple, a freelance editor and writer from Long Beach. “I’m here to find ideas and to make connections.”

Rosner is excited about events and programs that the OU Job Board will offer in the coming months, enabling people to continue making those valuable connections.

“We’re holding seminars on a monthly basis with as many different types of social organizations as possible, such as COJO (Council of Jewish Organizations) and the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island,” he said. “The OU Job Board has gone national and international in Jewish vocations and family services.”

Rosner also stressed the fact that even though the OU is an Orthodox institution, “we are very egalitarian — for the first time, we’ve gotten the respect of the Federation. We make jobs available to everyone.”

A new OU program scheduled to begin in August will provide internet users with free 12-hour computer courses in different Microsoft programs — Excel, Office, Word and Works — as well as others in web design, all of which can be learned and reviewed on an individual schedule. Also slated for August are two seminars, one focused on practical ways to get out of credit card debt, which will be broadcast internationally, and a networking event.

Another OU program in formation will connect Americans who want to make aliyah with potential employers in Israel via a video job board, with the opportunity to meet in person at the OU’s national convention in Israel in November.

“We can set them up with a job even before they make the move,” Rosner explained. “It is open to everybody.”