It’s Martin Luther King Day, a day of public service

By David M. Lieberfarb

Why volunteer? For the under-employed, volunteer work can be a life-saver. While I did lots of volunteering while I was fully employed, it’s even more meaningful and fulfilling now. Mainly because it gets me out of the house and away from the computer on which I’m typing, a stealthy thief that steals huge blocks of my time playing games.

As a volunteer, I play to my strengths. Always facile with numbers, I once wanted to be an accountant, like two of my favorite cousins. As a young homeowner, I felt the need to be able to prepare my own tax returns. So one year I took an H&R Block course. That led to a part-time job during the 1983 tax season, but I hated working for H&R Block.

After my buyout three years ago, I wanted to learn how to prepare taxes on the computer instead of by hand. Rather than buy a commercial tax program, I volunteered for the AARP training. I met some dedicated people whom I really admire and am now on their team for about eight hours a week during tax season. Our clients often offer gifts, but AARP is very strict about accepting gratuities, and the gratitude we receive is enough.

As for Meals on Wheels, I enjoy driving and doing anything that has to do with food — except dishes. Years ago, I drove cancer patients to their treatments and was a volunteer and board member of an organization called SHARE (Self-Help And Resource Exchange) that provided low-cost food for people. The deliveries take up even less of my time: about two hours twice a month, but it’s very gratifying.

Since I’m not earning as much money as I did when I was working full-time at The Star-Ledger, I’m being somewhat less generous with my monetary donations to charities this year. I might have sent $100 before, but now I’m sending $25 or $50, so therefore volunteering makes me feel better about pinching pennies.

David Lieberfarb is a freelance writer, based in New Jersey.

Ask a job counselor: Is volunteer work good or bad for your resume?

By Kathleen Kenna

I have a one-word solution for everything:  Volunteer.

Fed up with the state of schools in your neighborbood?  Volunteer to help students learn to read, write, find their way.  If you really want to make a commitment that helps, become a Big Sister/Brother.

Ticked at government?  Volunteer for some community service that taxes no longer cover but people really need.

Does your community need a clean-up?  Do it, and others will join you, voluntarily.  It just takes one to start.

I’ve volunteered most of my life because that’s the way I was raised:  Give back.

My first volunteer job, at 15, was writing for a local newspaper.  It was so much fun, and so well-read (we lived in a small farming community), my weekly column was soon picked up by another paper.

Volunteering then taught me critical lessons I needed for the rest of life:  How to meet a deadline. How to show up on time.

Forget the fancy stuff, like creative ideas — that first volunteer job taught me the most basic rule of working:  How to be dependable.

I never forgot my editor storming down to the track where I was training for an 800-metre race.  He was steamed because I had missed my first deadline.  (I was too busy training for a track meet and, as a self-absorbed teen, didn’t bother to call him).

Too bad.  He had a space to fill.  That space had my name on it.  And I wrote my piece, post-deadline, to fulfil my obligation.

Never missed another deadline.

As a rehabilitation counselor, working with people with disabilities, I always recommended volunteer work for job-seekers.  As a job counselor, working with people with all kinds of disadvantages, I always suggested volunteer work as a way of building a resume.

My advice?  Do whatever you are able, as much as you can, wherever you can.  I guarantee you’ll take away more than you give:

1.  You’ll learn new skills.

2.  You’ll meet new people.  This is good for socializing — especially if unemployment is making you depressed — and it’s good for networking.

3.  You’ll explore new work environments, whether it’s at a non-profit or office or government.

4.  You’ll boost “soft skills”, such as getting along with others.  Hopefully, you’ll improve executive skills, such as problem-solving, perhaps in a crisis.

5.  And you’ll fill unemployed time with productive work.  You’ll feel more useful; you will be more useful, to many others (likely more than at a paid job too).

This is great for some resumes.  Do a good job as a volunteer, and you’ll get good references.

Do a great job, and it might lead to a paid position.  My two-year newspaper volunteering helped land my first salaried job, at 17, at a larger paper.  That was the modest start of a successful career in journalism.

My second volunteer job was as a nurses’ aide at a seniors’ home, during my first year of university. I learned two things:  (a) Many elders are wonderful, warm people with the greatest stories to tell; and (b) Many old people scare me. (I was 18.)

After university, I volunteered as a writing tutor, “big sister”, soup kitchen worker, and a food bank runner.

These last two jobs were something I did when I was earning my highest salary. I worked so many hours at my salaried job –and exercised so much to stay fit to work so many hours — that I figured volunteer work outside my comfort zone would be a much-needed diversion.

I wanted to give back more when I was getting so much. I wanted to do something physical (hefting food boxes, for example) that would help my community.

I learned more about other people, working in a soup kitchen and a food bank, than I ever did at my high-pressure, high-paid job.

Over the years, I’ve done a lot of volunteer work, in several countries, so I created a separate, volunteer work resume. I put one discreet line at the end of my “awards, achievements” section, indicating this other resume was available.

No one has ever asked to see it.  No interviewer has ever asked about the lifetime achievement award I received from a national non-profit.

And no one, at a non-profit, or government, or business, has ever asked me about the value of volunteering.

The only ones who have asked?  Workers who need jobs.

Volunteering fills gap for worker with ‘too much free time’ after 30 years

By David M. Lieberfarb

I’m one of the lucky ones. Three years ago, my final days at The Star-Ledger in Newark, NJ, were winding down after 30 mostly happy years as a copy editor. My buyout package included a year’s pay, medical coverage and a decent pension. Unlike many of my younger colleagues, my children are grown and no longer my responsibility, and I’m old enough to start collecting Social Security.

I tried a few different jobs. The Census Bureau looked promising. I was hired in the spring of 2009 as an enumerator, but it peetered out after about a month. I visited Hertz to drive rental cars from one site to another, but the pay wasn’t worth it.

Finally, I came back home, almost. The Trenton Times, a sister paper in the Newhouse chain, hired me as a copy editor, part-time. I really enjoy the work.

The only problems are:  The pay is less than half of what I made at The Star-Ledger; my schedule is irregular; and the commute is twice as far. And the office — far too large for the tiny staff, which has also been decimated by buyouts — is like a morgue.

I’m probably more productive than I was at The Star-Ledger, but when I’m scheduled to work only two nights a week, I have too much free time. So I’ve done volunteer work delivering Meals on Wheels and preparing taxes for AARP.

Q:  Are you earning enough with two shifts?

My pay at the Trenton Times is $20 an hour, which amounts to about $120 per shift, give or take an hour. So, no, I’m not satisfied. I asked for a raise of $1 or $2 an hour about a month ago, and was turned down. My pension is my main source of income, and I’m trying to put off applying for Social Security ’til at least age 65. (I’m 63.)

Q:  How did you manage after the buyout?

Unemployment insurance supplemented my income throughout 2009 when I wasn’t working for the Census Bureau (for about 4 or 5 weeks, my income was higher than my UI limit, so I didn’t file).  But after I applied for my pension, my income was too high to continue tapping UI.

WRITERS WANTED:  Please contact us at hireyourneighbor@gmail.com.

Advice from a jobless job counselor: Job hunting is a full-time job

By Kathleen Kenna

I’m an unemployed job counselor, so I can offer only the advice I gave to hundreds of clients over five years in two states.

Many of my clients got jobs, from $40-an-hour to minimum wage, from multiple degrees to no GEDs, so I know a few things about success.

Working in government and non-profits, I heard so much about employer abuse, and witnessed enough unethical workplace behavior, that I have learned a lot, too, about what it means to work in the United States during high unemployment.

I learned, for instance, that it’s legal to pay workers to stand on their feet 60 hours a week and pay below minimum wage.

I learned that anyone can be “termed” (the new, upbeat word for being fired or terminated) for any reason by any employer at any time in America’s “at will” states.

So, I offer my job-hunting advice with a harder edge than I ever delivered it as a job counselor, in countless public workshops and private counseling sessions.

The idealistic, earnest counselor:  Job hunting is a full-time job.

The unemployed job counselor:  This is still the best way to find work:  Treat each day as a work day, by keeping a regular schedule, and searching for employment, following leads, rewriting resumes and cover letters for each application, and tapping your networks.  Do volunteer work, if possible.

Job-seekers:  Easy for job counselors with salaries to say.  How do I buy groceries to support children and/or spouse, and/or aging parents, while trying to go to job fairs?  How do I pay for the bus to get to the job center every day?  How can I pay for WiFi, or even dial-up, to do job searches at home, while caring for my family?

Most job counselors are social workers, linking clients to a range of services, from getting unemployment insurance extensions to finding community supports, such as assistance with paying utility bills — especially for winter heating — and free/low-cost legal aid (i.e. for unjust layoffs, workplace discrimination, and unfair workplace practices).

They link people without jobs to training, so they upgrade old skills or learn new ones.  I’ve been fortunate to see this succeed in one of America’s richest cities (San Francisco) and one with the highest unemployment (Las Vegas).

I’ve been especially fortunate to see how job training helps the most vulnerable in our society, from veterans of the Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam wars, to workers with disabilities.

Increasingly, counselors are linking job seekers to food stamps, food banks, and community food pantries.

Here’s a question that we, the people, might consider in this rough economy:

When those with jobs balk at paying higher taxes — and are encouraged in this charade by wealthy politicians and well-funded groups — social services wither and die.  They’re ending all over the U.S., even as the need is mounting.

How to help our neighbors without jobs in the world’s richest nation if we’re squeezing non-profits and public service workers?

It’s called public service for a reason.

(With thanks to Trader Joe’s for another brown paper bag, re-used then recycled.)

Hoover Wind on working retail, getting film degree, working at non-profit

I was laid off in ’08 from a retail store where I know my work suffered from my anxiety of having just graduated with a degree in film without any connections to that industry.

As much as I loathe the retail system (it’s wrong to mistreat and belittle people simply because they’re serving you), I don’t blame Wall St., Obama, the banks, etc. for my unemployment.

I was messed up, and trying to get myself together, after graduating, and the end of a toxic relationship.

I try to be a moderate, but after two years of collecting unemployment while I tried to stay afloat, I have to say thanks to the state.

And thanks to all my friends, who were helping me, because they’re taxpayers too — as they were all too eager to remind me.

The job search was muddled, clumsy and never all that comfortable.

Sometimes, I would wear a shirt and tie, and show up for interviews that were nothing more than promotional seminars that took two-hour intervals out of my life.

Other times, I would go to some business student’s start-up; get a vague description of the job, and a vague description of why I’d be suitable.  They wouldn’t seriously consider me for the job, but everyone was polite enough to through the motions.

After awhile, I realized I was not only resting on my laurels (which were nowhere near strong enough for leaning), but I was trying to find suitable work in an area in which I had no interest or skills.

I knew I could write.

I knew I could write, direct, and act, but my skills seemed so anemic, I never bothered to pursue a career in the entertainment industry.

I finally took an internship at a film production company in Philadelphia.  I learned various skills about being assertive and polite with people on the phone, networking, data entry, promotions, merchandise distribution, and DVD copying.

It was character building, and I got to live in an actual city.  (I live near Atlanta, Georgia.)

However, I was painfully lonely, never felt connected to anything, and acquired the general malaise of my old paying job.

I currently freelance for my family’s non-profit, no one hungry, and I do things I could never do in retail or as an intern.

I collect food from the market; take it to our house for sorting; then deliver it to churches, food banks and food co-ops, for women, children and families in transition.

I’m proud that we move a ton of food a week.  I’m the only paid worker (part-time), among a dozen volunteers.

I work as many hours as I want, but I also try to work as many hours as I can, because it never feels like an assignment or a mandate.  It’s just something I should be doing anyway.

Sometimes, I have to make small talk with people, and sometimes I have to play a Honda Civic-sized game of Tetris by figuring out how to get x amount of food in my car.

But it’s always rewarding, because I believe in the cause for which I’m working.  I mostly interact with my family and friends, and I always feel pride in what I do.

My real goal is to be paid to be funny in any capacity and in any medium.

In the meantime, I’m hoping to work full-time at no one hungry or for a company of equal purpose, friendliness and organization.

Voice of a renaissance worker, after one year of unemployment

Hadi Dadashian is a true renaissance man, the kind who doesn’t fit neatly on resumes.

Hadi Dadashian

He’s multilingual, having learned new languages wherever his family went.  He taught himself Italian, for instance, after moving to Rome at age 13.

He enrolled in art college, like his older brother, but switched to electrical engineering because “all the other students were like Michelangelo.”

Job prospects were limited, so the family moved to the U.S. when Hadi was 24.

He worked as an electrical engineer, as a subcontractor with an older brother.  They worked on projects from the Pentagon (where he advises there were a lot of rats, real rats to deal with, from the kitchen to man-sized heating ducts), to mega-mansions in Virginia, and restaurants in Washington, D.C.

Then he worked with another brother as an offset printer in Virginia.

Hadi changed careers, becoming a freelance news photographer so he could accompany his wife, Kathleen Kenna, to India, after she was promoted to South Asia bureau chief for her Canadian paper.

What happened next doesn’t fit on any resume.

Hadi saved Kathleen’s life, after she was badly wounded in an alleged al Qaeda IED attack in Afghanistan.  (They were returning from a day of interviewing villagers when attacked.)

You will not hear about this from Hadi.  That’s not how he wants to be defined.

After supporting Kathleen’s return to school in San Francisco, Hadi went back to school there too.  He graduated in 2008 as an optical assistant.

When San Francisco became too pricey, Hadi landed “the best job of my life” in Las Vegas, in 2009.

He worked in optical sales and soon led the team, logging the highest sales numbers, month after month.

Hadi said it was the best job, because he was following a long-time career dream — optical — and was learning a lot, with a close-knit, supportive team.

The job ended in 2010 when the employer cut all workers’ salaries 50% to 70% without advance notice.  Hadi left the state before the store closed.

Q:  Did you collect unemployment insurance?

A:  No, never have — always have a “Plan B”.

We lived on our savings; figured other jobless people needed UI more than me — people with children.  We left the city, because it had the highest unemployment rate, and the highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Q:  What should prospective employers know about you?

A:  I’m resilient.  I’m not afraid of hard work.

I’m a good listener, a fast learner; I’ll work any hours; and I’m not afraid to ask if I don’t know how to do something.

Q:  Any observations about American unemployment after a year out of work?

A:  People are afraid of hiring.  It’s getting worse; it’s like they’re afraid to spend money. The system doesn’t want to give benefits; they want everyone to work full-time for part-time pay.

The most frustrating part is, you apply for jobs and never get a response — nothing.

It’s as if they don’t care.  It’s almost like a joke.

Employers are giving jobs to people who are employed already.  What about people without jobs, mothers who have kids to feed? They’re supporting aging parents, and other family members too.  What are they supposed to do?

Q:  What do you say to critics who blast people without jobs as being lazy?

A:  I’m not lazy — I’ve worked since I was a teenager (as a barista in Rome).  I’m working as a freelance photographer — you use any skill you have — because I have to be working.  I’m glad to have the opportunity, and glad to still have good contacts.  Being unemployed, you find it’s all about networking.

Hadi also has a photoblog, because he’s teaching himself online publishing.  Kathleen and Hadi share a travel blog, which showcases his photos too.

Q:  Any advice to employers?

A:  Don’t be afraid.  I think everyone’s so afraid, wages will drop to $5 an hour –they don’t want to pay real wages.

Why is there so much fear?

You come out of school all excited and you don’t get hired.  It’s not fair to younger graduates. We need them to be working for the economy to improve.

NEXT:  Another graduate, Hoover Wind

Message from a jobless job counselor: Get Occupied!

My name is Kathleen Kenna and I’m a recovering job counselor.

Kathleen Kenna, recovering job counselor

I’ve helped dozens of people get jobs, from Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans to laid-off grandmothers.

Today, after two years and more than 200 applications, I am officially no longer looking for a job.

It isn’t there.

I’ve worked for income since I was 17.

I have a strong resume — two degrees, post-graduate clinical training, national awards, two careers — and a solid volunteer work resume.

As a rehabilitation counselor working with people with disabilities in two states over the past few years, I’ve helped others write resumes; coached them on interview strategies; helped them research career options; and much more.

But I don’t have any ideas anymore for anyone about how to get a job in this economy.

I’m not spending any more money on job applications.

I can’t afford the background checks, fingerprints and drug tests that applicants must pay, in a bid to get ever-shrinking social service jobs.

I can’t afford to waste any more time on futile job searches, either.

I need to stay healthy, because when we lost jobs, we lost our health care.

So today, I’m doing the best thing I can for my mental and physical health:  I’m creating one job in the United States of America.

MINE.

I join my husband, Hadi Dadashian, who lost the best job of his life last year.  (It was, BTW, close to minimum wage.)

Hadi Dadashian

Hadi is creating a second job in the United States of America.

HIS.

And our nephew, Hoover Wind, also under-employed, is joining us in launching a national venture:  Hire Your Neighbor.

This is not a political campaign.  We’re not endorsing any political party.

But this is a campaign.

A serious, loud, in-your-face campaign asking Americans important questions.

Like this one:  What kind of country do we want?

This is not an anti-government or pro-government campaign, nor an anti-business rant.

It’s a conversation.

Our mission is to put a face to the people who are out of work across America.

Like the three of us.

Hoover Wind

We’re not lazy; we’re educated; we have a strong work ethic; we can’t get work; and — message to Herman Cain — IT’S NOT OUR FAULT!

Let’s stop blaming each other.  Stop the name-calling.

Stop the noise that goes nowhere.

Let’s have a national conversation about what we ,the people, are doing to help we, the people, become fully employed.

We’re journalists and artists — on stage, online, and more — and we’re determined to stay positive.

We are positively determined to Get Occupied!, creating jobs in this country, one little job at a time.

We don’t have much money.

But we have enthusiasm, ideas, and lots of determination.

Hire Your Neighbor is on WordPress because it’s an international platform for sharing stories.

We’ve been using it for months to showcase our freelance work and our daily blog of thanksgiving.

We like WordPress because it has helped us connect with lively, engaged citizens across America, and all over the world.

Hire Your Neighbor will share stories of unemployment, and dispel some myths.

Myth No. 1:  It’s not 14 million out of work in America; it’s more like 25 million.

That’s the size of Texas.

(Trust me on this; I used to be a job counselor.)

Consider how much better the economy would be if the three of us and the other 24,999,997 had living wage jobs.

So, if you have an income — especially a high income — ask yourself this question after Thanksgiving dinner today:

What am I doing to help my neighbor?

Because, after all, we’re neighbors, and this historic unemployment is our collective burden.

If you’re part of Corporate America, sitting on more than $2 trillion in capital, what are you waiting for?

We really want some answers.

TOMORROW:  Hadi Dadashian, after one year of unemployment

… With thanks to Trader Joe’s, for the brown bag we recycled …