Check it out: Library lab helps job seekers
PORTLAND, Ore. – Dana Sipler has worked as a food server for years, and as an administrative assistant and in sales and catering before that. But she describes herself as “under employed” and recently decided she was in need of a resume update.
With her home computer on the fritz, she headed to the Hollywood Library in northeast Portland, where she’d heard about the “Get to Work! Computer Lab for Job Seekers.” It is one of several such labs held in Portland area library branches.
“We are the computer safety net in the community,” said Laura Simon, a library assistant at the Hollywood Library who helped launch the job-search computer lab there in March.
She said an increasing number of employers require people to fill out job applications online and that puts a lot of people at a disadvantage.
Paper job applications are becoming a relic of the past
Gone are the days when you could drop off an application or send one through the mail. That can be a particular problem for job seekers who aren’t computer savvy or who are looking for jobs that don’t require computer skills. In addition, with the downturn in the economy, some people have had to drop their Internet service or can’t afford to have their home computer or printer repaired, Simon said.
On a recent Monday afternoon at the Hollywood “Get to Work!” lab, half a dozen job seekers were sitting in front of computers, including northeast Portland resident Natalie Hunt. In May, she earned a graduate degree in art therapy but had been unable to find a job in her field.
“A lot of people looking for jobs have more experience than I do,” she said, although she has worked with children through Head Start — a national program designed to prepare children for school — where she discovered that art therapy offers a great way for kids to express their emotions. That day at the job-search lab, however, Hunt was taking an online quiz for a temp agency.
“I just got burned out looking for jobs,” she said, “so that’s why I’m doing the temp.”
Some getting calls back after using lab
Other job-search computer lab participants have been more fortunate.
“I got a call back from one of the Safeway jobs!” shouted a man (who declined to be interviewed) as he walked into the room recently. He announced the good news to Richard Crockett, the library volunteer who oversees the lab.
A retired middle school math teacher who also taught computers for Portland Public Schools, Crockett can offer technical assistance and help people check for e-mail messages, fill out online job applications and resumes, file for unemployment, scan IDs and licenses to attach and send online, and provide a printed resource list. The job-search lab also includes access to Microsoft Office software, high-speed Internet, USB ports, CD-Rom and floppy disk drives and low-cost printing.
Lisa Appert (pictured at right) has used the Hollywood jobs lab three separate times, recently with the help of friend June Treat, who is more computer savvy. Thanks to the lab, Appert landed a job interview in the field of home health care for seniors.
Dana Sipler, the woman who stopped by the lab to update her resume, would love to get a job that has something to do with the development of “green” housing, but she remains open minded.
“Although unemployment is high, it’s a time of opportunity,” she said. “Oregon is a great entrepreneurial state, so I’m always looking for ideas.”
“Get to Work! Computer Lab for Job Seekers” is available for free at the following libraries (call ahead to verify times):
- Hillsdale Library (1525 S.W. Sunset Blvd., (503) 988-5388): Fridays, 2:30–5:30 p.m.
- Holgate Library (7905 S.E. Holgate Blvd., (503) 988-5389): Thursdays, 3:30–5:30 p.m.
- Hollywood Library (4040 N.E. Tillamook St., (503) 988-5391). Mondays, noon–3 p.m. Fridays, noon–3 p.m.