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Site gives unemployed an edge

Ohio government also working with work force centers around the state.

Gigi Depew, training and employment coordinator for Workforce One of Butler County, talks about some of the services available during an orientation at Workforce One in Fairfield.

Staff photo by Nick Graham Gigi Depew, training and employment coordinator for Workforce One of Butler County, talks about some of the services available during an orientation at Workforce One in Fairfield.

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer 3:01 AM Sunday, June 21, 2009

When you’re unemployed in today’s economy, your day has to begin early.

Despite being jobless for more than a month, Bill Metcalf said he still rises at 5:30 a.m., takes a shower and by 6:30 a.m. has a cup of coffee in hand and the morning classifieds section.

“It’s slim pickings these days,” the 32-year-old said.

By 7:30 a.m. he has on dress pants, shirt and tie and is hunkering down for the real work of the day — browsing Internet job postings.

Unlike when the Hamilton resident graduated from Miami University in 1999, he said he does most of his job hunt from inside his home. In a given day, he’ll search upwards of 500 postings before calling it quits at 5 p.m.

“It’s a different market,” Metcalf said. “For every one job I look at, there is probably 100 other faceless people around the country who also have it on their screen. You have to beat those people to it.”

Ohiomeansjobs.org offers thousands  of job postings

It’s that mentality that has made a new Ohio government Web site, Ohiomeansjobs.gov, such a valuable tool for residents.

The site, which was designed “before the recession ever hit” launched in the fall of 2008 and since then has had more than 4.4 million hits, said Eileen Turner, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development.

The free site, which is powered by job search engine Indeed and partnered with Monster.com, lists more than 83,000 open positions across the state. It offers job seekers the ability to post resumes as well as pull jobs, find out skill requirements for certain position, compare salaries and of course apply for work, said Lisa Patt-McDaniel, interim director for the Ohio Department of Development.

It’s also a great tool for employers, one of the main reasons the state wanted to launch the site, Patt-McDaniel said, as part of the federal Workforce Investment Act.

“It was documented that companies were having a hard time getting jobs filled with the skills they needed,” she said. “We wanted to help them locate those people in our state.”

Unlike other job search sites, employers, no matter their size, can search posted resumes for free and post openings directly or through one of the 8,000 sites Indeed pulls from, Patt-McDaniel said.

“We have gotten big kudos from many companies who have been thrilled about using the site,” she said. “To me, I wasn’t expecting that. We know there is a demand on a lot of different levels and we are trying to meet that with Ohio Means Jobs.”

Get free assistance, training

The state has partnered with work force centers like Workforce One of Butler County to encourage residents to post their resumes to the site, which receives 25,000 to 30,000 hits daily, Turner said.

Workforce One also has found its services in higher demand within the past year, with record-setting orientation classes each week, which are held for new job seekers every Tuesday and Thursday, said center manager Don Kell.

The center also posts job openings but those “are becoming much lighter lately,” he said.

Not only does the center offer assistance and classes for those applying for jobs, but it also offers job training through WIA. Unemployment wages are not affected by participation and classes can be subsidized for those who qualify, he said.

Training ranges from four weeks for truck driving school to about a year for LPN training.

It’s a program unemployed residents should take advantage of, he said.

“Sometimes you are not as successful jumping back into the market today, but if you come in with a new set of skills then you become more valuable,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.