Bowling for jobs
At first glance it looked like any other bowling league meeting for a few hours of fun and exercise at Holiday Bowl in Wappingers Falls. But several of the bowlers were dressed to impress and had their resumes on the scoring table. Instead of hoping for a strike, these bowlers were hoping for a job.
They were among the dozens of unemployed Hudson Valley residents taking advantage of Holiday Bowl”™s free bowling league and job fair held every Wednesday morning at the bowling alley on Route 9. The eight-week league started in late October and by the beginning of November employers were meeting with potential employees.
“It”™s been going really well,” said AJ Forrest, manager of five Hoe Bowl Family Fun Centers in the Hudson Valley. “We started with 10 (bowlers) and now we”™re up to 22. There”™s someone new today and there will be someone new next week.”
Forrest decided to roll out the bowling for jobs league after reading a magazine story about a West Coast league for the unemployed. He said the region”™s high unemployment rate motivated him to try it out. The unemployment rate in the Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown region was at 7.5 percent in October, the most recent month that statistics were available from the New York State Labor Department. The rate was a bit lower in the Putnam-Rockland-Westchester region ”“ 6.8 percent. Statewide it was 8.3 percent in October.
The league will likely begin again in the New Year, he said. He may also expand it to one or more of the other Hoe Bowl centers in Poughkeepsie, Walden, Kingston, and Catskill.
“I wanted to try doing something good for the community,” Forrest said as he took a break from his own bowling game. “It feels good that we”™re helping.”
The unemployed bowlers on a recent Wednesday appreciated his efforts. For many, just the opportunity to meet a potential employer face-to-face was a positive experience.
Peter Koob, a 51-year-old Poughkeepsie resident, described searching for a job these days as impersonal.
“You don”™t even get calls back,” said the father of three who was laid off from his job as a computer hardware field representative about six months ago.
Koob, who has been attending the Holiday Bowl job-seekers league since the beginning, said he was frustrated at the lack of jobs.
“I”™ve applied for up to 80 jobs and had only two interviews in five months,” said Koob, who also has a background in inventory management.
He said too many companies are either offering very low salaries or contract work and that”™s not enough to take care of his family and pay his mortgage. Koob has already refinanced his mortgage and fears he may soon have to dip into savings or his 401K to make ends meet.
“I hope that something breaks soon,” he said, before heading off for an interview with Tony J. Triolo, Industrial Division manager at Ethan Allen Staffing, the employer who was meeting with league members that day.
Triolo didn”™t have anything in his field, nor have the other employers who have come to the bowling alley job fair ”“ the Cardinal Hayes Home for Children in Millbrook and Hudson Health Plan. But Koob said it was still good to get out of the house, bowl a few games for free and network. If he doesn”™t have a job by January, Koob said he”™d return when the league starts up again.
For Dolores Ronk, a Wappingers Falls resident who lost her job as a medical office receptionist last month, it was her first visit to the league. But she said it wouldn”™t be her last.
“I will definitely come back,” she said. “I get to bowl for free. I haven”™t bowled in years!”
After a quick meeting with Triolo she was back in the alley to finish up her game with two other bowlers. Ronk said she was already registered with Ethan Allen Staffing, the temporary staffing division of the Ethan Allen Personnel Group, which provides temporary and contract staffing services to companies throughout the Hudson Valley. But she said Triolo gave her additional contacts and interviewing tips.
Ronk has had a few interviews but also found salaries being offered were too low.
“They don”™t want to pay me what I was making,” she said.
Triolo said the idea of underemployment continues to be an issue many job seekers are trying to come to terms with during this economic downturn. While he described many of the bowling league job hunters as “stressed,” he added that they were “so very appreciative today of the opportunity to speak with a potential employer.”
“AJ has created a friendly environment here for people who are facing hardships. It”™s an environment in which they realize they are not alone in their search for employment,” Triolo said.
Before he left the bowling alley, Triolo offered a little bit of hope to job seekers.
“From the employer side we have seen an increase in staffing needs from various companies throughout the Hudson Valley. Clients that did not have needs a few months ago, due to the economy, have been calling us in the hopes that we can assist them in sourcing suitable candidates to join their teams,” he said.
For more information or to sign up for the free bowling league for jobseekers, e-mail howbowlfamilyfun@yahoo.com. The next eight-week session is expected to begin some time in January.