Applicants Have Resumes Critiqued, Learn the Importance of Social Media at Job Fair

Ernie Anderson has been out of work for 18 months. The long-time accountant lost his job when his firm downsized.

“I can’t believe it’s been this difficult to find work,” the 39-year-old Anderson said. “I’ve got a master’s degree and can’t seem to get anything. I had my resume rewritten and can’t get an offer.”

Anderson was one of dozens of people dressed in business attire who attended a job fair at Thursday. The event, which featured dozens of local and national companies, was sponsored by the university’s office of Continuing Education and the Passaic County Department of Economic Development.

People spoke with recruiters and handed out resumes. They also had their resumed reviewed by professionals and learned how to integrate social media in their job search.

Linda O’Connor has never really used social media beyond posting to her Facebook profile, but learned a lot during the seminar.

“Networking is important, but now I realize that there’s so much more to it than just sending out an e-mail to a few colleagues,” O’Connor said.

Approximately 50,000 private sector jobs were created in New Jersey in 2011, according to the state’s Department of Labor and Workforce Development. The state’s unemployment rate was at 9.1 percent in December.

Congressman Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9) spoke to dozens of people at the onset of the event. He mentioned several initiatives the government can and should take to create jobs.

“We need to work together on getting people back to work,” Pascrell said, noting that the federal government must take a more proactive role in finding employment.

“There’s never been a recession in the 20th century where the federal government wasn’t responsible for getting people back to work and getting the economy back on track.”

The loss of manufacturing jobs to countries like China has contributed to the employment crisis, Pascrell said.

Businesses need incentives like tax credits to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States.

“The more exporting of manufacturing goods we have in this country, the fewer jobs we are going to have here,” Pascrell said. “We need products that we buy in this country to be made in this country.”

Improving the country’s infrastructure and transportation is another way to create jobs.

But it’s not all on the government. People must also be proactive in their employment search.

“You can’t just wait around for something to happen, you have to go after it yourself,” Pascrell said. “We’re going to need more than just morale to get our economy moving again.”