Some Tips and Links for job seekers

Sources of job and career information, including much about government jobs and programs. Try a search on Google.com for additional resources. But the ones I list here may keep you busy for awhile.

Job Seeker Links

• St. Louis City Govt site - lots of links to employment resources - It’s a pleasant surprise that the City of St. Louis has a really nice job info site - lots of links and info.
• GreatHires.org (formerly Missouri WORKS!) - A Missouri State Government service, it has loads of job info for Missouri, resume help, job search help, labor market info and more.
• Missouri State Employment Info for applicants - Info about jobs available with the State.
• Federal Department of Labor’s resources for the unemployed - Comprehensive site, loads of info. Career outlooks, statistics, help in starting a business, special info for those with disabilities.
• America’s Job Bank - Started by the Federal Government, it’s a huge job matching portal, with loads of info.
• USAJOBS main page from Federal OPM - Federal Office of Personnel Management’s employment opportunity site.
• MERS - Metropolitan Employment Rehabilitation Service, with GoodWill - MERS has offices in St. Louis and the surrounding area. MERS provides training and job re-introduction services for those who have some potential but need a lot of help. MERS is a great place for people to contact who have been out of the job market for a while and lack marketable skills. MERS can’t help everyone, of course. But they seem to do great work for those they can help. MERS merged with GoodWill.
• Here’s a link to the Missouri Department of Revenue Driver’s Info page where you can see the Commercial Driver’s License Manual.

Some tips from the trenches

Get back on the horse - Don’t stay idle

The worst thing you could do is stay unemployed and idle. Get back on the horse somehow to maintain your dignity, even if you find yourself working well below your capabilities. Opportunities might arise. It’s easier to find a job when you are employed.

Good smart workers get hired as permanent employees through temp services - the companies that use temp workers pay a finders fee to the temp service. Temp work also shows initiative. If you lack a specific job credential or license, register with a temp service for clerical or light industrial work. If you have a credential or license, register with an appropriate temp service for your credential or license.

Push the Missouri Division of Employment Security (they handle your unemployment claims) to get you into a training program.

For some reason, the Missouri Division of Employment Security does not seem to do much to make sure you apply for all of the training programs they offer. You have to seize the initiative. If the Division accepts you into a training program, they might even continue to pay your unemployment benefits while sending you to school full time to become a computer network technician, etc. Ordinarily, if you go to school you have a problem collecting unemployment because you are unavailable for work, but if you get into a Division program then the rules change.

Truck driver training schools work for many people, but they are tickets to bankruptcy for many others.

The truck driver training schools typically don’t charge anything up front - a trucking firm agrees to pay the tuition if you complete a period of work (typically one year). But some trucking companies are very quick to fire you during that year, so that the obligation to pay the school shifts to you. You might find yourself unemployed again, with $5,000 + in new debt from the truck driver school. I’ve known people who got their lives back on track through truck driver schools, and I’ve known people who got burned by getting fired quickly from the trucking company during their year of service. You’ll need some good luck to complete your year with some companies: absences due to personal or family sickness could get you fired during the first year, as could a couple of minor accidents and many other reasons.

But getting a Class-A CDL is, in my opinion, one of the best ways to ensure your employability in some capacity if you otherwise lack marketable skills. My truck driving clients tell me that it’s hard to remain unemployed with a CDL, particularly a Class-A. Here’s a link to the Missouri Department of Revenue Driver’s Info page where you can see the Commercial Driver’s License Manual.

Watch your drinking and drugging, especially during unemployment

Many people find themselves drinking or drugging more during unemployment. That’s a bad sign. It’s a sign that they may be giving in to the natural depression and high stress that comes with unemployment. Consider getting therapy and/or joining a support group for the unemployed. Work may help nip that problem in the bud, even if it’s just temp work. For those people who were having some alcohol or drug issues before becoming unemployed, the mental pain of unemployment may cause them to increase the frequency or quantity of their usage beyond the point of control, and their entire lives could come crashing down around them. So if you had any concerns about your usage prior to becoming unemployed, consider not using at all during your unemployment, and if you feel that you must use then you may have a problem and need some help.

Please help build this list of Tips and Links

Please use the Feedback/Suggestions link at the bottom of the page to send me other tips and info about other sites that you think would be useful to job seekers. What worked for you?