Offering help, hope, U.S. "job clubs" see surge

[Joanne98]

Source: Reuters


OVERLAND PARK, Kansas (Reuters) - Tom Skidmore has been out of work only since December. But when his former employer filed bankruptcy in January and his severance evaporated, Skidmore knew he didn't have much time. As the sole breadwinner for his family of five, he had to find work fast.

So he joined a job club.

Part networking opportunity, part therapy group, jobs clubs are is rapidly emerging as hot spots for job hunters in America. The clubs, which are springing up in large U.S. cities as well as small towns, act as places to share fears over depleted savings accounts, polish resumes, practice 30-second personal pitches and hone survival strategies.

"When you are laid off it is very disorienting. It was a real shock to my system," said 43-year-old Skidmore, of Overland Park, Kansas. He had worked in the telecommunications industry for 11 years before being laid off.

Skidmore routinely visits four different clubs each week, and has come to view fellow attendees as a "new work family." Members help each other hunt down fresh job opportunities and cushion the blow of rejection letters.



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE52209R20090303

[ixion]

1. I guess clubs like this make sense, in a way, yet still

I can't shake the feeling that it's more like a survivor's club. The joining of a club, in and of itself, indicates a long term situation. Looking for a job shouldn't be a long term prospect. Despite the positive nature of the club, it indicates just how crappy the job market is right now.

[peacetalksforall]

4. There are some positive sides to it. Spontaneous for a sharing purpose. No one

has set up the clubs as a profit business. No membership fees? No applications? (I'm assuming on the fees and applications.)

One of the greatest mind calmers is knowing that you are not alone, knowing you may be in slightly better shape than someone else (can count the blessings you have), avoiding mistakes, light bulbs going off when listening to others. Future joint ventures? Future networking or even socializing.

It's my impression that it is not a commerical endeavor. I hope not.

[Blue_Tires]

2. they have popped up locally as well

each one i try to join is full :banghead:

[KillCapitalism]

3. I bet that guy worked for Sprint.

Their HQ is located near K.C. and they recently announced huge layoffs.

Anyway, I doubt these clubs will do much good outside of offering moral support to their attendees. There really are no jobs out there to hunt for.

[Peace Patriot]

5. Half of the battle (maybe more) of job hunting is keeping your morale up.

Also, people who have been working for a long time may not even know how to apply for unemployment, or what is available or how to obtain the help that is out there--medical clinics, food banks, various charities, second-hand stores, etc. A jobs club likely shares this important information.

I think it's a wonderful thing. If you do get a job, not only do you serve as an example to others, to keep their spirits up, but also, they can benefit from the various steps you took and from seeing you through the process. The club can also talk out ideas, and stimulate creative approaches that you might not think of in lonely misery. Maybe you have skills you didn't think of marketing. Maybe you have ambitions to change the kind of work you do, and you never did it because you thought your job was secure. So--with the help of others--you can talk this through, and find out if there is assistance for re-training. Talking it out with others makes the sparks fly, gets you out of the doldrums, opens possibilities. Then there are other things that can happen--for instance, bartering. The club member who grows vegetables trades with the one who knows how keep an old car running. The carpenter who never got a proper education trades with the teacher to improve writing and math skills.

It is no small thing to have friendship in difficult circumstances. Indeed, it is almost everything.

There are huge potential community benefits--and maybe even political benefits. The club could get active in supporting real representatives of the people for public office. They could be the nexus of grass roots organizing.

I am really very, VERY glad to hear about this. We need to find ways to overcome our disrupted and "divided and conquered" communities, and reignite people power. I've been studying the South American leftist revolution, and there are many lessons for us there. One of them is transparent vote counting(!). They have it (after years of hard work on their democratic institutions). We don't have it--and need to do that work. And another thing they often have, that we don't have, are close, on-going, community, family and tribal networks, which have made grass organizing easier, and which have helped to overcome what is an even worse corpo/fascist press than we have here. I've been wondering how we in the U.S. could overcome our lack of community. Jobs clubs might be a big help, and could turn into a political movement.

[tonysam]

6. Kick and Recommend

This thread deserves a lot more commentary. I think anything that helps job seekers is better than sitting at home being depressed.

[riverdale]

7. Almost no such thing as rejection letters any more

The writer of that article has not looked for a job in a while. What happens nowadays is that, once an employer has decided not to continue looking at you as a candidate, you just never hear from them again.

[AyanEva]

8. I wish I'd had a club when I was looking

With only random odd jobs here and there (when lucky) for an entire year, there were many times when rejection letters or phone calls produced prolonged bouts of sobbing. :( I could have used a club for support. I was lucky enough to have family chip in and help. I can't imagine what it would be like if I had three or four people depending on me and no help at all.