Many unemployed giving up on solo approach in job search

By Amy Shafer
Associated Press

LENEXA, Kan. — Frustrated with unsuccessful job searches, some unemployed Americans have turned to groups that use the Internet and other marketing tactics to get their members back to work.

Carlos Rondon prepared a presentation for Top KC Professionals, a Kansas City-area group of out-of-work professionals. Many job hunters are forming similar groups to market their own skills and those of other members. Associated Press

Instead, these groups operate like small companies — selling workers, using the Internet, distributing fliers and attending meetings with business and political leaders to promote themselves.

Dave Hulbert, who lost his job at Sprint Corp. after leading the Overland Park-based telecommunications company's shutdown of its integrated broadband project, helped form Top KC Professionals last fall, modeling the Kansas City-area organization after groups in Boston and New York. Hulbert said some members had met in job transition groups.

"We were just looking at each other and seeing each other and saying, 'OK, what can we do from a marketing perspective that shares our abilities, you know, who we are?' " Hulbert said.

Top KC Professionals and WeWantWorkBoston are for senior-level professionals who have lost their jobs. Besides sending news releases, passing leaflets to commuters, creating Internet sites, and meeting with business leaders, the groups provide pro-bono consulting work to nonprofit companies and government agencies, allowing members to sharpen their skills and meet potential new employers.

"By working in a group like this, we change that relationship and really get a lot of positive feedback."

Flaccus said WeWantWorkBoston has sponsors and a budget.

"We run it like a company. So we have meetings, we have minutes, people have assigned project leaders and so forth. And that gives us an opportunity to do real work while we're unemployed, which is much, much better than sitting around and doing nothing," Flaccus said.

So far, none of the founding members of the Kansas City group has found a job, but WeWantWorkBoston and the New York group have had some success.

Flaccus said about two dozen former members of his group have found jobs since it was formed about a year ago.

On the Web site for the New York group, more than two dozen former members are listed as having been hired.

Flaccus, who left his communications job at a financial services company when he was asked to move to New York, said job seekers have had to find different tactics to find employment during the past few years as more companies use the Internet to post jobs. While that gives companies a bigger pool of applicants, Flaccus said it also makes it more likely that good applications are missed.

Another frustration, Flaccus said, is that many senior-level positions aren't advertised; rather, headhunters find applicants. "So part of our purpose is to raise our visibility with recruiters also, who might not normally contact you," Flaccus.

Hulbert noted that finding work in professional fields has become difficult as many jobs have disappeared. "We're trying to find ways — grassroots ways — of marketing ourselves, and to be creative at the same time, find different ways to talk to people in the business community. That's our survival approach," Hulbert said.

Many people find "survival jobs" that pay less than their previous work and aren't in their field.

Flaccus, for example, does some paid consulting work and has retreated to the bed and breakfast he owns in western Massachusetts.

But Flaccus believes groups such as WeWantWorkBoston can help, saying that people with innovative job search strategies are succeeding despite the economy.