Unhappy, unemployed - Westfair Communications

Job seekers line up to speak with employers at a Norwalk job fair.

After searching for a job for five months, Norwalk resident Alan McCormick said he”™s feeling pretty depressed.

“I”™ve never not been able to get a job right away by word of mouth,” he said. “I”™ve never not had the next opportunity under way.”

A freelance video editor, McCormick said one of his longtime clients had recently stopped using his services, spurring a wakeup call after he couldn”™t find a replacement. He might be a “wicked fast” Avid video editor, he said, but not everyone uses that software.

“The job market has gotten very slim,” McCormick said. “I think I might have specialized myself into a corner.”

Economic indicators nationwide may be looking up, but for the unemployed, it”™s still an uphill battle. Among the 325 people attending a Norwalk job fair March 28, many expressed feelings of hopelessness and the need for either more education or a career change.

Of the 121,200 jobs lost during the recession, about 42 percent have been recovered, according to the Connecticut Department of Labor. The rate of recovery is now ahead of the 1990s recession, but still behind the growth rate after the 2000 recession.

Connecticut lost 5,700 jobs from January to February, but the state”™s unemployment rate decreased a tenth of a percentage point to 8 percent, according to the Labor Department. Since 2011, about 44,300 have left the workforce.

After applying for more than 100 jobs, McCormick said he thinks his best bets at the career fair were at the limo and car service booths.

“At this point, any job will do,” he said.

With the promise of 80 open positions advertised by employers at the fair, 926 people registered for the event, sponsored by FairfieldCountyJobs.com. About a third showed up.

“It”™s not for a lack of trying,” said Mike Wiston, CEO of AllCountyJobs.com.

Wiston said he hopes the bulk of those who didn”™t attend found jobs elsewhere, but said it was likely some may have been intimidated and decided not to go.

“It”™s an art for the employer to politely size people up,” he said. “You want to go through and see as many people as possible.”

About 85 percent of the employers who attended FairfieldCountyJobs.com”™s job fair in the spring reported hiring or being in the process of hiring someone they met at the fair, according to the group. But applicants say there”™s still a lot of competition.

Marie Lisa Louis was a receptionist for a Connecticut company for 12 years when the company filed for bankruptcy and laid her off. Unemployed for eight months, Louis said she”™s looking for another administrative job but losing hope. She”™s enrolled in computer classes at Norwalk Economic Opportunity Now ”“ a community action agency ”“ but still hasn”™t found a job. She”™s been offered one, a much lower paying job, out of the 40 she”™s applied to.

“I miss getting up, dressing up and going to work,” Louis said. “I”™m a people person. I miss going to work.”

Louis said if she didn”™t find a job within the next week, she planned to enroll in Norwalk Community College to become a nurse. However, she said she wasn”™t sure how”™d she pay for the schooling.