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CNN Sunday Morning
A Look at Online Job Search Site
Aired January 25, 2004 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: Even though the economy has been slowly adding new jobs, there are still more than eight million Americans looking for work. About 15 months ago, we told you the story of a small group of people who found an innovative way to conduct their job search. Today, we revisit that group to see if it worked.
CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lisa Rosevear road to a desk, a paycheck took two years of stressful joblessness.
LISA ROSAVEAR, EATON BARON & PARTNERS: Hi, Erin, it's Lisa.
UDOJI: The job, though, came out of her angst and that of two other job seekers. Having nothing to lose, they created the innovative campaign, wewantwork.com.
ROSEVEAR: To be honest, we had no idea if it would work or not. We were taking a risk. And we had nothing else to lose.
UDOJI: It did work. 43 people joined, posting their resumes online and hitting the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at our resumes, and you get restaurant coupons.
UDOJI: The New York City professionals, marketers, computer experts, financiers went straight to potential employers, passing out 30,000 resumes. Nadine Orosa immediately hit gold.
NADINE OROSA, UNEMPLOYED, WEWANTWORK.COM: And I had an interview the day of the launch of Wewantwork.com. And I had a job offer within a month.
UDOJI: Thousands visited their website. Thousands more talked about it, reaching the ears of Jeanne-Marie Baron in Detroit, whose new public relations firm needed someone like Rosevear.
JEANNE-MARIE BARON, EATON BARON & PARTNERS: That strength that she has of creating those kind of word of mouth phenomena, I mean, wewantwork is a great example of it. It happened to be just what we needed.
UDOJI: Today, the wewantwork Web site shows red lines through name after name, meaning they're out of circulation.
30 of the original 43 are now employed, a testament to the group's passionate creativity, says analyst Pam Dixon.
PAM DIXON, UNEMPLOYED, WEWANTWORK.COM: It has a very high success rate, compared to most of the other online job sites.
UDOJI: The group still stays in touch, passing on tips and contacts. Newly unemployed again, Orosa says it helps.
OROSA: It's a lot stronger, positive picture with a lot more support of you're a member of this group.
UDOJI: Though most have moved on to a new chapter, Rosevear is looking forward to the day when they can shut the Web site down. That will happen when everyone has a desk and a paycheck.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 25, 2004 - 07:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JASON CARROLL, CNN ANCHOR: Even though the economy has been slowly adding new jobs, there are still more than eight million Americans looking for work. About 15 months ago, we told you the story of a small group of people who found an innovative way to conduct their job search. Today, we revisit that group to see if it worked.
CNN's Adaora Udoji reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lisa Rosevear road to a desk, a paycheck took two years of stressful joblessness.
LISA ROSAVEAR, EATON BARON & PARTNERS: Hi, Erin, it's Lisa.
UDOJI: The job, though, came out of her angst and that of two other job seekers. Having nothing to lose, they created the innovative campaign, wewantwork.com.
ROSEVEAR: To be honest, we had no idea if it would work or not. We were taking a risk. And we had nothing else to lose.
UDOJI: It did work. 43 people joined, posting their resumes online and hitting the streets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at our resumes, and you get restaurant coupons.
UDOJI: The New York City professionals, marketers, computer experts, financiers went straight to potential employers, passing out 30,000 resumes. Nadine Orosa immediately hit gold.
NADINE OROSA, UNEMPLOYED, WEWANTWORK.COM: And I had an interview the day of the launch of Wewantwork.com. And I had a job offer within a month.
UDOJI: Thousands visited their website. Thousands more talked about it, reaching the ears of Jeanne-Marie Baron in Detroit, whose new public relations firm needed someone like Rosevear.
JEANNE-MARIE BARON, EATON BARON & PARTNERS: That strength that she has of creating those kind of word of mouth phenomena, I mean, wewantwork is a great example of it. It happened to be just what we needed.
UDOJI: Today, the wewantwork Web site shows red lines through name after name, meaning they're out of circulation.
30 of the original 43 are now employed, a testament to the group's passionate creativity, says analyst Pam Dixon.
PAM DIXON, UNEMPLOYED, WEWANTWORK.COM: It has a very high success rate, compared to most of the other online job sites.
UDOJI: The group still stays in touch, passing on tips and contacts. Newly unemployed again, Orosa says it helps.
OROSA: It's a lot stronger, positive picture with a lot more support of you're a member of this group.
UDOJI: Though most have moved on to a new chapter, Rosevear is looking forward to the day when they can shut the Web site down. That will happen when everyone has a desk and a paycheck.
Adaora Udoji, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
