The Classified ads of your local paper may be thin, but if you check, there are 'Help Wanted' postings.
"Things are tough, but companies are still looking for people," said Mike Flanery. He works for Westaff, a staffing agency in Hartford that helps about 15 to 20 companies find workers.
"Paralegals and administrative assistants in legal companies are a hot ticket right now," Flanery said. "We have several companies looking for paralegals."
Flanery says companies always need bookkeepers, in good times and bad. "Accounting is a field that no matter what the economy is like, companies are always going to need people in accounting," said Flanery.
Switching to one of those careers may mean taking some classes, but in the meantime, Terri Michaels with Hartford-based Stewart Staffing says you should consider temping. "Temporary is a wonderful vehicle to keep you working, to keep you motivated and to keep you looking," Michaels said.
Michaels says some medical offices have openings for clerical workers or administrative assistants. "I think everybody will always take a good nurse," Michaels said. "We know that there's a shortage."
She says there are customer service jobs out there too. "Call centers are doing well. Collections call centers are doing well," Michaels said. "We are also putting people to work in manufacturing where there's an aerospace and support of the war thrust."
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For those waiting in the unemployment line, Michael's advice is not to lose hope.
"People get so frightened that they don't know how to move," said Michaels. "That's the one critical thing that each unemployed person can't do."
