Job Fair Applicants Talk Tough Times

“I'm a single mom, and my company eliminated my job,” said Gia Kucic, who has worked previously as an administrative assistant. “I am looking at sales but I have mostly worked as a receptionist and secretary. It's hard to find a receptionist job these days. They are now looking for college degrees for filing and answering phones. I am also seeing that they hire one person to do a lot of jobs, like answer phones, sales, and customer support. It makes it hard to find a job.”

Shadeed Moore of Naugatuck had worked for nearly two years installing cable television equipment, and now he is pretty much ready for anything. He attended the Porter & Chester Institute, and studied heating, ventilation and air conditioning. He would be interested in either cable or HVAC. "They had a lot of companies here," Moore said.

Mohammodu Giwu, Office of Job Development, was working at the Job Fair sponsored by Cummulous Media, the City of Danbury, and the Connecticut Department of Labor. He said, “We expect to see about 800 people here today. We hold a job fair twice a year, and there are a wide range of jobs available, from social service to IT, and engineering.”

 In a typical Danbury jobs fair, about 40 companies show up, said Paul Oates, a communications officer with the state Department of Labor. This time, 51 companies signed up. At one fair two years ago, a fair sponsored by the Greater Danbury Chamber of Commerce, 3,000 job applicants showed up. This year, fewer than 1,000.

"This jobs fair has a good reputation. It's well established," Oates said.

The age ranges of the applicants ranged from retirement age to recent college graduates. Danny Rocco, 21, is a recent graduate of Central Connecticut State University where he studied “Biz Min and Biz Marketing,” which is college talk for Business Administration and Business Marketing.

Rocco is looking for his first office job, and he is hoping to find something in Sports Management. “I can sell anything,” Rocco said, as he waded through the throngs of fellow job searchers. “I can sell anything put in front of me. I have worked for a few marketing companies but not in the office. I would love to do sales support.”

 Machine Operator Anthony Moore is complaining that the job market has changed so much, it is increasingly difficult to find a job. “I see a lot of opportunities but I also see a lot of jobs that pay less. And when companies advertise, they are only trying to fill one job. It makes it hard to find a job.” 

Moore is looking for a job in the area between Brewster and Waterbury. “Especially in Waterbury, they pay less. Most people these days are getting employment from temp agencies.”

Jack Levis, a 25-year-old from Oxford, graduated from Southern Connecticut State University in May. He's worked part time since then. He was laid off on Friday from a call center job.

"So far, nothing permanent," Levis said.

 Temporary employment agencies have been filling the bill for Laura Harris, who has worked most of her life in administration in the financial sector. “Just weeks after I got married, I lost my job. It's been about a year. I was fortunate enough to find temp work. I worked in Norwalk for a while, but it was temporary."  Harris shrugged, “And it ended. I was working in Real Estate in Norwalk. It was nice to work in a new industry.”

 Harris said there are a lot of reasons to hire her. “I have excellent follow-up skills, I'm very organized, personable, good with clients.”

 Giwu said, “At the job fair, we offer free resume critique and workshops, and people can visit our local offices, where we offer other positive recruitment events. If people get jobs through the fair, they can let us know at our website at www.ct.jobfairs.com.”

 Patch is going to follow up with these applicants and revisit their situations in a month. Stay Tuned.