Expert recruiter Gretchen Thompson to give tips on employment during free workshop
Mission Viejo Library
MISSION VIEJO, Calif.—Recent college graduates looking to land a job will be able to get tips from an expert recruiter during a free workshop in Mission Viejo on Tuesday.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 51 percent of college graduates found a job in 2007. Three years later, only 21 percent of recent graduates landed a job.
With that in mind, the Mission Viejo Library applied for a grant to help recent college grads in their job search, city spokeswoman Kelly Tokarski said.
Recruiter Gretchen Thompson will lead the 6 p.m. workshop in the Mission Viejo Library’s Friends community room at 100 Civic Center. To sign up, e-mail the library or call (949) 830-7100, Ext. 5105.
Thompson will discuss the top 10 skills employers look for, marketing yourself, identifying skills and talents, targeting organizations, creating a resume, preparing for a job interview and closing the deal, Tokarski said.
Thompson has written about job searches the Wall Street Journal, Business Week and Working Woman, as well as for a 10-part ABC series. She was a career counselor at Illinois State Employment Development Department and UCLA, where she worked with undergraduate, graduate students and alumni. She formerly held a position as a senior human resources manager for RAND and Toyota USA.
[Editor’s Note: Although this story originates in the Inland Empire, the sentiments expressed are universal to America’s African American communities, and the studies and research just confirm something that most Black folk always felt.]
What would happen if 34.5 percent of White men did not have jobs? According to new United States Bureau of Labor statistics, joblessness for 16-to-24-year-old Black men has reached Great Depression proportions—more than three times the rate for the general U.S. population.
Fresh & Easy will be hiring more than 600 people at its grocery stores in California over the next few weeks, the El Segundo-based company announced this week.
Fresh & Easy is recruiting via Twitter at www.twitter.com/fandecareers and accepting applications on its website at www.freshandeasy.com/joinus.
“Since 2007, we have opened 184 stores and have created more than 5,000 jobs with comprehensive benefits in the neighborhoods we serve,” said Tim Mason, the company’s chief executive.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—After an hour of emotional testimony, the Los Angeles City Council today scrapped a proposed new park on the site of the famed South Central Farm in favor of a $3.6 million investment in nearby existing parks.
The council voted 12-0 to approve a plan to accept the money from the landowner, real estate developer Ralph Horowitz, instead of requiring him to put a 2.6-acre park on the site near 41st and South Alameda streets. The money will go into a special fund that can only be used for recreation and parks purposes.
The first Friday of the month is a day when economists like me are riveted to the news. We want to know what’s up with the unemployment rate, and with the changes that have taken place in the last month. Last week, our nation learned that we treaded water. The unemployment rate remained at a high of 9.1 percent, 8 percent for White folks, and 16 percent for Black folks.
Some pundits were jazzed at the rates, thinking that they meant we are doing OK. What’s OK? The real unemployment rate for African Americans is close to 30 percent.
On Thursday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) is expected to vote on a proposal by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas that would direct staff to start negotiations with the Los Angeles and Orange county building trade councils on a project labor agreement (PLA) that proponents believe will ensure that more African American workers and low-income residents have an opportunity to secure construction jobs.
