CLEVELAND — The weekly unemployment numbers, obviously, don’t look good as we are all wading through coronavirus consequences. However, even with some of the frustration caused by the jobless process, there are positions you can land right now.
“Please correct the following errors. This is like the 5th time,” said Linda Phillips-Palo as she stared at her computer screen frustrated. “This is slow. Oh, this is slow.”
Phillips-Palo is 73-years-old living in Conneaut and trying to get through the unemployment application process here in Ohio.
“So, I tried several times and it was crashed,” she told us.
Phillips-Palo lost her substitute teaching job a couple of weeks ago.
“At 73 years old, you don’t start a new career unless you have to,” she said.
“Cleveland was in a worse position than average going into the crisis,” said Julia Pollak who is a Labor Economist for ZipRecruiter, an online company that matches job seekers with employers.
She told us despite the struggles the Cleveland area has seen, there is good news. “There are parts of the economy, telemedicine, for example, online learning platforms that have a huge demand for additional workers,” said Pollak.
She told us people with eCommerce expertise are also in a good position.
“There are typically around 4,000 jobs open for people for eCommerce managers, at any one time. There are now more than 12,500,” said Pollak.
Her advice is to check when the job was posted. If an employer is paying to post a job-opening after the coronavirus lockdowns went into effect, there’s something to that.
“Chances are that they need someone despite the crisis or that they need someone because of the crisis,” she told us.
ZipRecruiter uses algorithms while incorporating your skills and experience. Pollak said you should avoid silly mistakes like spelling errors and you have to do your research.
“What are they looking for? What do they do? What problems are they trying to solve? And how can you help them solve those problems?” she suggested.
Pollak wants you to be focused on what you bring to the table for that organization.
“Stating what you hope to achieve and how you hope to help that business, not how the job will help you… are what can really help you stand out,” she said.
Standing out is what Phillips-Palo is hoping to do with her masters degree and her drive to find more resources. “I have a lot of skills, definitely. And I’m competitive in the job market,” she told us.
ZipRecruiter said there’s been a drop in the daily count of active job postings, but don’t give up and don’t limit your availability to a position that you may have never considered before.
