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How to Find and Keep a Job in Tough Economic Times

Aired March 21, 2009 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome to the special hour now focusing on joblessness but not being hopeless. If you haven't lost your job, you probably know someone who has. Maybe they're scared, maybe you're scared rather that you could be the next person on the laid-off list. There are very anxious times for all of us.

This hour we are focusing on what you need to do to stay hopeful and keep or find a job. Our guests this hour include a job recruiter, a representative from a company that is actually hiring, three people who need help finding work, and we even brought in a wellness expert for advice on how to relieve all of this stress. And we're taking your questions, of course. E-mail us at weekends@cnn.com.

All right. Millions of people are looking for work. Here are just a few that we found lining up at what's being called the largest job fair in Georgia's history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot are going out of business. It is very stressful trying to pay bills.

WHITFIELD: The stories of how they got here vary. But each of the 10,000 who lined up two hours before doors opened at this job fair in downtown Atlanta came for one thing.

KIM SUMMEROUR, LAID OFF, FMR. GRAPHIC ARTIST: I lost my job back in June. I'm looking for something else.

WHITFIELD: Graphic artist Kim Summerour, a casualty of the shrinking newspaper business. Laid off without severance after 19 years with Atlanta's leading newspaper. Her weekly $320 state unemployment checks and in May and at 41, she's back home living with her parents.

So it's been about eight months.

SUMMEROUR: Yes.

WHITFIELD: That must hurt.

SUMMEROUR: It does. It's hard but I'm hanging in there. Hope I find something today.

CALVIN RATCHFORD, LAID-OFF ENGINEER: I'm hoping at least by April, no later than may, that at that time most employers start opening up their doors for hiring. WHITFIELD: That's the hope of laid off engineer Calvin Ratchford as well. He was let go from a private company two days before Christmas. He's trying to stay jolly.

22-year-old single mother Princess Olivia brought her two-year-old. Now that her holiday season job is over, she's open.

PRINCESS OLIVIA, LAID OFF, RETAIL INDUSTRY: I guess staffing services, clerical customer services, I would like to sit down and work.

WHITFIELD: This as Georgia's unemployment rate climbs to 9.3 percent, compared to the national average of 8.1 percent. Driver Charles Williams at 57 has been out of work here for two years.

CHARLES WILLIAMS, LAID OFF FOR TWO YEARS, DRIVER, 57 YEARS OLD: I'm going to give myself a few months. If nothing, I'm going to move and leave the state.

WHITFIELD: Really?

WILLIAMS: Yes. I'm originally from Jersey. So I'm going back to Jersey. Or I'll go with my sister in Oklahoma. I can't stay here. It's what I have to do, I have to do.

WHITFIELD: In the growing crush of anxious Americans out of work, job fairs offer a glimmer, even if only a handful of jobs are available. Teacher Brian Edney knows the drill. He has lost count of how many job fairs he's attended since December.

BRIAN EDNEY, OUT-OF-WORK TEACHER: You begin to see the same people at various job fairs around the city.

WHITFIELD: Even if you leave empty handed, he's confident networking will eventually paid off.

EDNEY: We kind of have fun with it. We kind of say hi, how are you? We got to stop meeting like this. We give each other tips on what to do and which employers are looking and maybe tips on what openings may be available given our experience and our qualifications.

I like what we have here.

WHITFIELD: Free how-to sessions and resume rebuilding are features of many job fairs. That's where we noticed 27-year-old Sedgewick Willis, his wife Sharay(ph) and seven-month-old son. The recent college graduate admits the it's hard to stay upbeat.

SEDGEWICK WILLIS, LAID OFF, COLLEGE GRADUATE, 27 YEARS OLD: Well, just tell me what's right and wrong. You know, what areas do I need to correct? You know if I have to reword it. Put it in a better format, anything that would help me right now. Basically I definitely need help. Like I said, I have a family. So I definitely have to support my family. That's like the biggest thing. You know. The biggest, you know, concern and problem that I'm having right now.

WHITFIELD: While Willis did his turn, we caught up again with the graphic artist Kim Summerour going one booth after another.

Along the way -

SUMMEROUR: They need foreign language for this.

WHITFIELD: A few roadblocks, the detour.

How are you feeling now?

SUMMEROUR: Not really something I'm really looking for. But, you know, looking around for what's out here.

WHITFIELD: Still optimistic about the next thing?

SUMMEROUR: Yes, still looking, yes.

WHITFIELD: And trying to do everything possible to stand out in a very big crowd. So how do you stand out? Let's ask some of our guests here. Calvin Ratchford, let me reintroduce you to him. He's here with us live. You saw him in the piece. He's an engineer out of work. I.T. engineer.

Dominic Granata, you didn't see him in the piece, but we're going to let him explain his story. He lost his job two weeks ago after 16 years in management at the same company. And April Fawcett Nagel is a job search and recruitment expert. We're going to hear from here on some advice to some of our unemployed guests and all of you out there who are looking for some guidance.

And Josh Levs is here to take your questions. So Dominic, let me begin with you. You lost your job two weeks ago. How has your search been coming along? How difficult? You're a single dad. This has got to be a tough time.

DOMINIC GRANATA, UNEMPLOYED: It is. Hopeful, but I feel like a fish out of water a little bit. I mean I've been having been employed for 16 years --

WHITFIELD: With the same company. Which means you probably didn't have a resume at the ready. You may have been caught by surprise on this.

GRANATA: Yes. You know, they say keep your resume ready and so on. But I really didn't do that. So I really had to think long and hard about all of the things that I did do in 16 years. And when you look back, there's quite a few of them.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GRANATA: It's been interesting.

WHITFIELD: But you're not alone, so you can't feel bad about that. Because really so many people in the same boat now trying to figure out how do I navigate this huge maze of trying to find a job?

All right. Josh Levs also been taking some of these e-mails and i- reports. We're hearing from people with a lot of questions and concerns. Give us kind of a preview of what people are saying.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of emotional stories, Fred. A lot of people really opening up to us today, telling us their specific situation. Our goal throughout the hour is to pass along your stories and get you some answers, some solutions, some ideas that maybe you haven't even thought of yet. That's the goal. Keep your questions coming here. Weekends@cnn.com or to my Facebook page, joshlevscnn. We'll be back in just a couple of minutes with some of your questions.

WHITFIELD: All right. Perfect. So you go to a job fair or you can perhaps go to the career center. Now what? How in the world do you stand out once you've learned about some possible job openings? Right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's take a look at some of the numbers. Unemployment very grim. Of those 55 and over, more than a million now are unemployed. The average period that they remain jobless, 55 and over, 25 weeks.

And you saw in our piece earlier, you met the 57-year-old driver who has been looking for a job now for two years. One person that caught our attention was through our cnn.com i-reports. Jean Lindsay is 67 years old and she has been uploading videos about her struggles trying to find a job. She's with us now. Lindsey, give me an idea. What is it been like for you as you've been looking for a job, and for how long now?

JEAN LINDSAY, UNEMPLOYED: Since September, when I was laid off from a family-owned furniture store. They closed nights. And it's been up and down. It is how to help people at i-report to check their stories. But I have some breaking news for you. A new scoop.

WHITFIELD: What? What? What?

LINDSAY: Since yesterday, I was on for five minutes. And I was telling you that you know it was tough. I went for a job interview that afternoon, and I got the job.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh, that's fantastic.

LINDSAY: The thing of it is, they wanted people who were older. I can work from home initially. And I'll be making appointments for people who are going to give seminars in businesses to tell people how they can save money on their children's tuition. They helped show people how to negotiate that. And it's a growing business. And it is more or less recession proof and I cannot believe my good luck that they want somebody, they want people to talk to much like me and they want people that are old like me.

WHITFIELD: That is fantastic.

LINDSAY: It's wonderful. WHITFIELD: Lindsay, you're joining us via Skype. Which means you have a camera in your laptop computer or your home-desktop computer and that's how we're able to have this kind of live shot with you. And that's why we also have a bit of a delay. So huge congratulations on landing a job. That means now you're in a position to help offer some advice to people who are out of work to be rather inventive. What's your, I guess, what's the best kernel of advice that you may give to someone that kind of underscores how you benefited here?

LINDSAY: Well, I benefited from getting the heck out of the house. You get out every morning. I'm not always good about it every morning. And you get the hell out of the house. Whether you have a job interview or not.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LINDSAY: You know, going online and looking for online spots, I did find this job online. But I also made calls. I do networking. If somebody invites me out for something and I don't even like it I go.

WHITFIELD: You do not say no.

LINDSAY: (inaudible) that.

WHITFIELD: Excellent.

Well, April Fawcett-Nagel, job search and recruitment. We're sorry about that, Lindsay because of this delay. I want to involve, April, you in the conversation. Really interesting instrumental advice she gives you. Get out of the house. A lot of us are kind of depressed when you get the pink slip. She said for starters get out. What else?

APRIL FAWCETT NAGEL, JOB RECRUITER: Well, Jean hit it naturally. She is doing the right thing because everybody has a tendency to just throw some resumes out there and wait for something to happen. And you cannot do that. You know, the job boards are great. You need to get - that needs to be one of maybe five or six things that you're doing in order to find employment. Networking is great. You need to go wherever you're invited. Church, alumni association, anything.

WHITFIELD: And talk to people.

NAGEL: Don't be afraid to say you're in between positions. You know you've been downsized. You're in transition.

WHITFIELD: That's interesting that you touched on it because you know a lot of times a lot of people are embarrassed about what's taking place. They don't want to tell anybody -

NAGEL: No.

WHITFIELD: But it could be to your benefit if you go ahead and tell the world, so to speak.

NAGEL: Absolutely. If you go to a cocktail party, talk about it. You just don't know. We sat around the other day talking about how we met our spouses. And so many of us had a unique story. And I really equate job searching with dating.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

NAGEL: You know, you never know where that opportunity is going to come.

WHITFIELD: OK. I want to bring Josh into this. Because he's been receiving e-mails, i-reports, et cetera. So Josh, what kind of questions or how do we direct this to perhaps either April or Jean.

LEVS: Yes, it plays right out of what we were just hearing there from Jean. Because really, first of all fantastic news, and we love hearing that about our I-report. We're hearing from e-mailers who are in very similar situations. They are willing to talk publicly. Some of them are (inaudible) new kids on the block because they're not.

Let me just show you one quickly. A moving story we got Greg today who has been employed for decades, lost his job, had cancer last fall. He's a precision machinist. He says I'm out of money, about to lose my apartment. I've been responsible for myself for 32 years. I'm not hopeless. I will survive. But at this point I'm not sure how. And he feels like his work as a machinist is disappearing. There might not be simple answers for him. But we have stories like this. I would love to hear from our guests. This is something that might maybe give him direction.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And so, April, how about from you? You think you got some advice for him?

NAGEL: I would like to give him direction in, I wish he hadn't waited six months to do some of the proactive things that you really have to do from the get go. Unfortunately in this market you don't have the 24 hours to cry on your beer, so to speak, and get moving. And I think we surveyed a lot of out of work people recently. And the number one frustration is they don't feel they're in control of their lives. It's out of their control and they don't know how to get the control. And I really that believe they have to have a plan and a program. They need to have a job search notebook. They need to document what they're doing. They need to follow up with everybody. Anybody -

WHITFIELD: Almost like going back to school. You're treating it like homework. No notebooks, I'm hearing.

NAGEL: Very much like homework. The nice thing is you need to have weekly and daily goals, but you get to see your progress. You feel like you've got some - it's not paralyzing.

WHITFIELD: Yes, progress report.

LEVS: Finding a job is a job. That's what a lot of people are writing us, Fred.

WHITFIELD: That's their point. LEVS: They're focusing on that. Do we have time for another one? No. We're going to take a short break but you know, when we come back we're going to talk more about this, April, Jean Lindsay. Again, many congrats, Jean, on landing the job and Josh, the health industry is one area where there are jobs. How about the others? We're actually going to be joined by an employer who can give you some first-hand advice on how your nail that job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: (inaudible) in their suits and I think I saw a midriff. You know, I mean, tell me, what do I need to do to visually prepare myself for that recruiter?

We have a seminar on how to dress for job interviews. Generally, you dress one level above how you might go to work. So you dress for success. We have a seminar on-going right now that will help job seekers understand how to put their best put forward, how to conduct interview.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. That was the state commissioner for the Department of Labor in Georgia. Mike Thurman, who says there are things that you need to do to stand out. You go to a job fair. There are 10,000 if not more people there. How do you make yourself appealing to a potential employer or a recruiter?

Calvin Ratchford, he lost his I.T. job in December. We met in that recent job fair in Atlanta. Dominic Granata, a single father of two who was laid off two weeks ago. We met him at a career center owned by the state of Georgia. And Jim Halloran is a recruiter for Comcast. You may have seen him at a job fair trying to lure you to their company because Comcast apparently is hiring, is that right, Jim?

JIM HALLORAN, COMCAST: That is correct.

WHITFIELD: Very good. And we're also accepting, of course, your e- mails as well. All right. Sob you're a recruiter for an overseas recruiter for Comcast southern division, Jim. But when you're at a job fair, what do you need to see in a candidate? What makes them appealing?

HALLORAN: I think it's the impact. A person has let's say 10, 20, 30 seconds. They've got to be able to come in and make it impactful. Sometimes you're shaking the hands, the grip, making sure they're interested in Comcast. Hey, I have heard Comcast has an opening, I'd be interested.

WHITFIELD: Do you want to see a resume right away? Or are you looking for that personal contact appeal first?

HALLORAN: I like the personal contact.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HALLORAN: I like the person to show they're interested in Comcast. And I personally will request the resume.

WHITFIELD: All right.

HALLORAN: Let me see your resume.

WHITFIELD: So directly, get Dominic and get Calvin a little advice or maybe a little show and tell. What do you want to see from Dominic when he approaches you for the first time?

HALLORAN: It's interesting, Dominic's background could fit well with Comcast. Dominic has a technology background. We're always looking for technology people. And I believe, we spoke offstage, and I requested him to talk to me, literally by phone on Monday so we can move forward.

WHITFIELD: Excellent.

HALLORAN: Dominic on the other hand is a supply chain manager. It's a little more difficult in the Atlanta market. So what I asked is call me, let's network and let's see where we can go from here.

WHITFIELD: So first you were talking about Calvin because he's the I.T. engineer, you're saying. All right, what about resume? I think we were both provided of both resumes. Eddie, my producer, do we have that to pull up? OK. Can you talk me through - which resume do we want to go first? Calvin's resume. You see his resume, Jim. What do you see? What do you like?

HALLORAN: The thing that I noticed with Calvin's resume that jumped off the page with him was he was downsized from one company, but yet, the exact same company hired him back a year later. That shows that he was in a bad situation, but he must have had success with that company for them to reach back out to him and extend another offer of employment.

WHITFIELD: And then Dominic's resume, when you saw it, what stood out for you or what turned you off? I mean, either way, right? I want to hear it all.

HALLORAN: Well, for Dominic, his length with the company. You know, 16 years.

WHITFIELD: You like the loyalty.

HALLORAN: I loved it. Because that's what sort of Comcast does, we want someone that's not going to stay a year or two years, 10, 12, 15 years down the line. And that's what makes for a successful career.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. And then Josh, I know you got lots of e-mails, too. We're going to get to these in a moment. We're going to extend this particular segment of how you stand out, how do you make yourself appealing. Because this is the clincher, so to speak, that a lot of people want to hear when you're out of work. So more of that when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We're focusing now on jobless, not hopeless. You're out of work. What do you do?

You go to a job fair. You got to an unemployment or job center. You try to make contact and find the job. So how do you stand out? We are joined now by a recruiter, someone with Comcast, who is also looking for potential employees, and we got two people who are out of work.

So once again, Jim Halloran with Comcast. You are hiring. And you were telling me what stands out in terms of Dominic and Calvin's resumes. What do you not want to see from a candidate?

HALLORAN: You definitely don't want to have a negative attitude. You don't want to come up and say you know I've walked by you before, you will never recognize me. Because it's a turnoff. It's very unfortunate in this market that that may be the case. Comcast is a family-oriented type of organization. We've got 100,000 associates but we do try to keep it as tight knit as we can. So as you approach have a positive attitude. You know, be interested.

WHITFIELD: It's so hard right now when you've been out of work for a long time. Am I not right? You know, guys, if you've been out of work for a long time, it's hard not to be depressed about it. Josh has been taking a lot of e-mail questions and yes comments as well. So Josh, what are people saying as it pertains to how do you stand out?

LEVS: You know what I can't tell you how many people today have written with this complaint that they were always told that they're overqualified for a position. Let me just show you an example. This one comes to us from Pat who says you know what she gets this letter all the time. And that there's pretty much nothing she feels she can do. Because even if she tries to downgrade what she puts on her resume, they call her references and find out how qualified she is.

Is this something that people hiring just say to make you feel better? Or is there really a way that you can counteract the alleged problem of being overqualified?

WHITFIELD: Jim?

HALLORAN: Well, I would say this. If you're good at what you do, don't down sell it. Upsell it. You know, you don't want to take a step back in your career. You want to continue to move forward. You want to continue to advance. If that person says you're overqualified, well then maybe when the manager position comes up or the VP position comes up, you will be able to apply for that job. And you're in the door already. You should know the recruiter.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's take another e-mail.

LEVS: Yes. I tell you this is another interesting angle here which is this idea that people complain that they feel like they're treated like beggars can't be choosers that they have no right when they're applying. We got one from N. Hassan who said that he read about a job that pays $34,000 a year. He got to the interview and they said you would be willing to take $24,000. Almost like they're bargaining with him and another similar one from someone who want to remain anonymous who says that her husband was told that if he took the job he can't be at the birth of his twins because for 90 days he's not allowed to take any days off. Do you have rights at all when you're in an interview setting to accept the job.

WHITFIELD: Wow. April, I'll have you answer that one.

NAGEL: Well you do have rights. It's a unique marketplace.

WHITFIELD: It's competitive.

NAGEL: Very competitive. And you may have to make some compromises that you wouldn't make normally. You wouldn't make it to another market. I think you do have to be yourself. You have to be polite. You have to keep your good manners. You have to have something prepared that you're going to say. You know, talking about your -

WHITFIELD: Almost like a script in your head.

NAGEL: You have to have it. Practice it at home.

WHITFIELD: Ahead.

NAGEL: It's you little pitch. Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Dominic, have you tried that? Have you tried like having a rehearsed pitch? How do you sell yourself?

GRANATA: Let me try it. Really, what I know about is with companies from forecast to delivery from order to cash, the processes in between, how to make those things work well. Because in a competitive world a lot of good products out there, a lot of smart people out there but it's how you execute the nuts and bolts within the company and the processes outside the company. That's what I do.

WHITFIELD: Josh, another e-mail.

LEVS: The short version there to anonymous is, you know what, that is the situation right now. Everybody wants those jobs. I'll mention one more, really interesting one on my Facebook from Elizabeth. What she's asking boils down to this: if you've gone and gotten yourself reeducated in order to try to enter a new field, should you play up the recent education and put aside your experience in another field? Or should you play up your job experience? How do you handle that balance?

WHITFIELD: That's a tricky one. Jim?

HALLORAN: I wouldn't down-sell yourself. I would always stay on the upside. If you have experience and if you have the education, sell them both. If you apply for a job and that job isn't the right fit, the next job may be a better fit for you. In an organization like Comcast, we consistently grow. We will be opening approximately 1,000 sales jobs in the next 30 to 60 days. If you come to interview with me and you're not right for this sales jobs, low and behold, a business to business sales job may be coming open very soon.

WHITFIELD: Calvin, how about for you? When you hear of an opening, it's not quite the one you're looking for, how flexible are you willing to be to, I guess, examine any options?

RATCHFORD: Just got to be very flexible. If it's not fit, then move onto the next job. There are going to be several no's before the yes comes. Just have your resume prepared and be truthful.

WHITFIELD: You're an civil engineer. We said earlier you're an IT engineer. Are you looking at some of your skills and thinking, how are they transferable another industry, something that has not been my comfort zone? Are you there yet?

RATCHFORD: What I did, I took my resume and revamped it. So all the skills are now brought out. When I have another company that has different set of skills, it's kind of a little bit interchangeable. So it's not just honed into one type of industry. So you're not lying or anything on your resume. But bring out your skills so that can attract more employers.

WHITFIELD: Josh, what else do you have?

LEVS: I'll tell you about one more. In case you're just joining us, keep these questions coming at Weekends@CNN.com, my Facebook page, JoshLevsCNN. I'm just going to tell you quickly about one from Anthony. Really what he's saying summarizes what a lot of people are feeling. He's seeing so much help to the big powerful companies, and he just wants to know, from your perspectives, if there really is help coming for what he calls the working stiffs who live by their paychecks? Has there really been help from the government so far?

WHITFIELD: April, how about you on that?

NAGEL: I think there is. I think the thing you have to do is follow the money from the stimulus package. In other words, the government is going to be hiring, but who is getting the money from the government. Pay attention to that. Be your own detective on Google and in the newspaper and every place else you can to find out who is getting that money, and who, in turn, is going to be hiring. Go after those companies and those jobs.

We're going to feel it in a couple months. There are still jobs out there.

WHITFIELD: You know, we keep hearing that. A lot of folks who are unemployed say, we keep hearing that. But point me in the right direction. We hear that nursing industry is one of the area where the jobs are. What are you seeing? You're a head hunter. You're job recruiter. What industry?

NAGEL: We see health care. We see credit collections, technology, aerospace. There's still a lot happening. I can't be in business if I don't put people on jobs every day. It's happening. There's still things going on. I think people need to anticipate some of these questions and concerns a prospective employers is going to have before they have in front of them, and be able to address it or even bring it up during their interview or in their four minutes on the phone. Because they're not going to get another chance. There's so much competition that you have to be prepared.

WHITFIELD: Eddie, my producer. Do we have time for any more emails? Do we need to take a short break? OK, we're to take a short break right now. We have time though on the other side of the break for more e-mails. A lot of folks want to know, so I land the job interview. I've had the face time. Now what? Am I going to be a pest or do I need to be persistent?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being a pest is not a good answer. Persistence, I think, is good. It might frustrate an employer, but look, you're competing with thousands of other people for one job, one job.

WHITFIELD: You want to be a standout.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: "Jobless, But Not Hopeless." It's very tough out there looking for a job. How tough?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my thinking. I guess we have to have the highest unemployment rate in another while. This I think is good. It lets us know that the politicians care and that they're trying to get us back to work. That's really appreciated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of people out here. I'm one of 10,000. I have a one in 10,000 chance of getting a job. I hope that my resume and what I have can grab a job.

But I think it's good. I think it's a good opportunity for people out there. What can I do next to go to a job fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look at it like this: some employers might want an older person. Some employers might want a young person. Why? Because the older person might have more experience. The younger person, they might think they're useful. Then again, they might think the younger person don't want to work. It's hard to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All those things streaming through everybody's minds there when they go to a job fair. That's how we met a lot of the people there. The whole objective, you go to a job fair and you hope to get some face time with a recruiter, with a prospective employer. So we are joined by those two people we just described. April Fawcett-Nagel is a job recruiter. James Holloran is an overseas recruiter for Comcast southern division. He's an actual employer who is in a position of hiring some folks. If you go to a job fair, you just might be meeting these two individuals.

So you get the face time, then what? How do you follow up to try to nail down that job? Josh is fielding some of your e-mails. What are people asking?

LEVS: Interesting one about that. I got one from Jim, who is a former HR manager himself. He says, you know what? He manages to get to that interview. Once they see that he has gray hair, that he has been in the work force for a long time, he says, all they start to think is how many years will I have this person before I need to replace this person? How do you get passed that?

WHITFIELD: Jim?

HOLLORAN: I'd be envious if I could have gray hair, I'm looking for anything. Seriously, it's a puzzle. You have to put the two pieces together. If you have gray hair and have been in the business for a long time, you have that to your benefit. You can bring more to the table.

WHITFIELD: That really is the conventional thinking. You associate that with experience and that should make you much more appealing. People are starting to feel like once you're over 40 these days, or over 50, that lessens the chance of you finding a job.

HOLLORAN: Absolutely, sometimes perception is reality. We don't want that to be the case. The one thing is, if you've had 20 years in the business world, you have a lot of networks. You have a lot of people you can reach out to. You have a lot of contacts. Do that. Reach out to them. Let them know, hey, I've been laid off. Do you know of anything?

If you find one person a year, that's 20 people you can network with.

WHITFIELD: Josh, any questions folks have about how persistent should I be to try to nail that job?

LEVS: Actually, they do. This plays right into the opposite end of the spectrum from what we were just hearing. I have a really interesting one from a woman who asked not to use her name. Get this, she has a 23-year-old son. She is disabled, totally disabled. Her husband is terminally ill. Her husband is straight out of college -- not husband, ex-husband. They're now looking to him to see if he can support himself. He's 23 years old. He's being persistent, but he's so far not able to get a job.

Let's look at that end of the spectrum. You're 23. What do you play to? What are your strengths?

WHITFIELD: April, do you ever hear from employers you're in contact with that, you know what, I like that person but then they kept calling me. Can you be too persistent?

NAGEL: You can't stalk. There's a difference. You have to get that personal connection in whatever face to face contact you have, or during the interview, find some commonality, the same college you went to. It doesn't matter, try to find something. They will be more apt to remember you.

Then you've got to do the follow up, check in without being stalking. If you come across an article or a piece of information that has some relevance to this person, you can send it off to them and say, thought you might be interested in this. By the way, just checking on do you still have any openings?

WHITFIELD: Wow. April and Jim, thanks so much. Josh, I know we've got more emails too. We all know how stressful it is to lose a job. Just imagine the stresses it really does impose on an entire family.

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WHITFIELD: Being jobless is taxing on the entire family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to say it causes problems in your household. But I'm also a man, a young man. I know I have responsibilities. I have a seven-month-old. And I just got to take care of my responsibilities. And it's very hard being unemployed and out here every day, just looking and looking, hoping for the best.

The way times are going, you have to take anything. I have a business degree. Hopefully I can get into business. But that's not my only choice. You know, I have to take anything that comes to me right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to Jobless, Not Hopeless. Lots of families are stretching the dollar by going to organizations just like this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID PATTERSON, UNEMPLOYED: If this place wasn't here, god only knows where I would be.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): David Paterson says he's been out of full- time work for a year. Finding odd jobs here and there was not enough. His savings finally depleted, he reached out to the Salvation Army.

PATTERSON: Some of us actually tried to find work, didn't find work.

ALICIA BROWN, SALVATION ARMY: This family coming in today will actually have three children. So we'll be adding another bunk. That's why this space is empty over here. This is how the families live.

WHITFIELD: Case manager Alicia Brown is preparing accommodations for yet another family facing homelessness. BROWN: Add a TV. They all receive blankets, sheets, toiletries.

WHITFIELD: The struggling economy has placed heavier demands on the Salvation Army. Major James Seiler has seen first hand an increase in the number of families needing help.

MAJ. JAMES SEILER, SALVATION ARMY: Our phones are ringing off the hook. There's people coming to our doors, day in and day out, seeking shelter or seeking help with their mortgage, just needing to put food on the table.

WHITFIELD: Job losses and longer periods of unemployment have hit home. This emergency center reports a 15.6 percent increase in the number of referrals received in just the past few months.

SEILER: Roughly 30 percent of our complaints are people who have never sought help from the Salvation Army before. So you have a whole group of people, in many cases people who were donors to the Salvation Army in prior years, who now find themselves in a predicament and have to come and ask for financial assistance.

WHITFIELD: The center is also in the process of renovation and building an additional wing. The new section will be geared toward housing families because of the increase in demand.

SEILER: I would say to people who are still employed and whose families are doing well, that -- congratulations, because, except for by the grace of god, it could be you or me.

WHITFIELD: Something David Patterson really understands.

PATTERSON: Thank god there was a place like this for me to come to to get myself together and back on my feet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: There are other directions to turn to try to keep it all together and not get too stressed out by all this. Asha Praver is a yoga and wellness expert who is joining us from San Francisco and has some extraordinary advice for all of our guests, whether they're joining us via the Internet, the web, or those here in studio. So Asha, how do you keep it together?

Calvin Ratchford is her with us and Dominic Grenata. They're out of work. They're getting stressed out. Help them out.

ASHA PRAVER, YOGA AND WELLNESS EXPERT: Well, this is an excellent time to develop an inner life. When external circumstances get so unsteady, we can easily get knocked off our feet. We need to have an internal rock of strength. Ideally, that could be spiritually based, but we can also develop our artistic selves, our mental selves, our emotional life.

This is a good time to learn a spiritual practice like meditation or to pray or to find a church that resonates with your particular beliefs or to take classes you're interested in. WHITFIELD: Dominic, how does this sound to you? Does it sound like something that is applicable to your life right now? You're a single dad taking care of two teenagers. I don't know how you keep it together without pulling all your hair out. How do you do it?

GRANATA: It wears on you. The issue is more because you have people that you are responsible for. And it's affecting them. For me, that's making it harder.

WHITFIELD: So what Asha is saying, finding that inner peace, whether it's meditation sometimes, or taking a class, something to kind of exercise your brain, so that you're not so emotionally controlled. Realistic for you?

GRANATA: I think so. It doesn't help to dwell on it.

WHITFIELD: Calvin, you have any questions? How do you keep it together? How do you not freak out? You can talk to her directly?

RATCHFORD: Yes, what I'm doing, which you mentioned earlier, is a spiritual-based thing. I do attend church. What I do every day is pray and have devotional time and have a plan of action for the day. Sometimes when I'm feeling down, what I normally do beyond that is talk to family members or just find something fun to do, just to, you know, keep your mind from getting stressed out.

WHITFIELD: Let me stop you there, Calvin. You mentioned down time. Asha, I know you're big on up time. Don't consider it down time, but consider it up time and opportunity to recharge your batteries. How?

PRAVER: Well, when we relax we think of shutting down. Now we have to use our free time to make ourselves stronger, to do creative, artistic, spiritual things. Go out in nature, take up an art form or a craft. Do something that makes you feel bigger and stronger inside, so that you can face the challenges that are coming. They're very real.

WHITFIELD: And we also have more e-mails if we can squeeze in one, maybe even two. Josh?

LEVS: I'm going to fit three into one question. Asha just answered what a lot of viewers are asking us, which is do you need to set certain times for yourself to not be pursuing during the day. So thanks to here for that. I'm going to use this time to toss this question to our panel. Fred, a lot of people on my Facebook page asking about specific industries. Is it true that being a registered nurse is a way to go? How about the financial industry? Business finance? How about engineering, aerospace in particular.

If our panel could give us a sense of what really are the great industries going forward. Whoever you want.

WHITFIELD: Asha?

PRAVER: It's not my field of expertise. You asked a question about industries. Talking about strength no matter what obstacles you're facing, building yourself up internally. Connecting yourself to a source greater than your own personality and mind. That's what we really need to think about now. Whatever the challenge might be, our ability to face it is going to depend on our creativity, on our emotional support network, on our sense of ourselves, and I think we have to invest in ourselves at this time. Not just think about external investments and supporting us.

WHITFIELD: Asha Praver, thanks so much, wellness expert and yogi too, joining us from San Francisco. Appreciate it. Some final thoughts right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I filed for unemployment the middle of February. I thought for sure I could find a job, you know, within a month.

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WHITFIELD: This doesn't end here, "Jobless, Not Hopeless." Our next stop on this journey from unemployment to working again is the job center. That's where, for many, the process begins. Here's a preview of the journey to the job center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning. If you already filled one of these out, take a seat. Just a regular standard drivers license. But you'll want to be sending all correspondence to potential employers. Where you're willing to work, where the ideal locations are for your job. At your former employer for your method of correspondence.

ROANE TUCKER, UNEMPLOYED: I didn't apply for unemployment until the middle of February. I thought for sure I could find a job, you know, within a month. I have an 18-year-old that lives with me and pretty much eats everything in the house. So, that's where a lot of the money goes.

DON SANDERS, UNEMPLOYED: As a matter of fact, there was. I worked until 11:00 a.m. that morning. One of the guys called me into the office, sat me down, and greeted me. I said to them, OK, what's the bad news?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's really exciting about the program is that the success rate for individuals who participate, 80 percent of them lead to full-time employment with the employers with which they trained.

DOMINIC GRENATA, UNEMPLOYED: I've been working for the same employer since I got out of MBA school 16 years ago. You can never say it's sudden given the environment we're in. And the company I worked for has been shrinking over the last six or seven years. But it was unexpected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It's unexpected for a lot of people. You heard that today over the last hour, as we focused on this special, "Jobless, Not Hopeless." Over the course of the next few weeks, if not even months, we're going to continue to follow up with many of the people you saw today who are unemployed, who are filing for unemployment benefits for the first time, who are going to job fairs for the first time.

Again, special thanks to Calvin Ratchford, who is an engineer, who met, to his right, Jim Holloran of Comcast, an employer. It turns out there just may be a connection made for them. And Dominic Grenata, who has been unemployed for about two weeks, perhaps some potential for him as well. And April Fawcett-Nagel, a job search and recruitment expert. Thanks to all of you for being with us and showing your candor.

Josh Levs, of course, always thanks to you. And all of you who have submitted your emails and i-Reports, appreciate. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. See you again tomorrow. The next hour of THE NEWSROOM begins in 90 seconds.

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