Jobless SO/M Professionals Gather for Support, Networking Tips

Maplewood resident Alan Levine jokes that he started a networking group for unemployed and underemployed professionals in part so he could figure out how other people spend their newfound free time.

"I want you all to start walking around the streets so I can see you, please," quipped Levine, who's looking for a job in professional services marketing and worked for a law firm until December, as he addressed a group of 15 at Maplewood Library this morning.

Gathering in a space off the Children's Room for the second meeting of Maplewood/South Orange Professionals in Transition were professionals formerly employed by non-profits, media companies and financial services firms -- showing the impact of the economic downturn on sectors across the board. The pain isn't confined to one particular part of the region: New Jersey's unemployment rate in February was 8.2 percent, a 16-year high.

Some attending the session spoke optimistically of using their bad break as an opportunity and embarking on a radical career shift -- either to find a job with better long-term prospects or to work in a field that's more personally satisfying. Abby Shapiro worked in home textiles—a business she says is shrinking—until early February and now wants to work with non-profits

"I'm very grateful for the life that I led, but ... I don't need to go on three vacations a year," said Shapiro, who's starting a course at NYU tomorrow.

South Orange resident Roz Gohagan last worked at Citigroup as a director of campaign management and wants to do job shadowing or an internship to beef up her online credentials, since her focus was on direct mail. Though she was reluctant at first to plunge into networking with people she'd been out of touch with for 15-20 years, she's overcome much of her initial distaste for it.

"I've found that people are looking to reconnect," she said.

Other participants are determined to re-enter the fields they last worked in and to proactively pursue openings through networking, including online sites like LinkedIn.

"I'm looking, along with thousands of my colleagues, for a financial reporting role," said Alex Arevalo, a 37-year-old Maplewood father of three who was laid off by American Express in January along with 7,000 others. He says the response from prospective employers has been "hot and cold," but he has an interview tomorrow. In the meantime, he's been keeping busy with volunteering at his children's schools, pitching in with clean-up of local ballfields and renovating his home.

Many attendees spoke of using their free time to volunteer and spend time with their families, and one man quipped that he was just seated on a murder trial in Superior Court in Newark, which gave him something to do. But while some at the session came to network and swap business cards, others were more interested in the sense of fellowship with others in their situation. One Maplewood woman—who asked to withhold her name—had taken her daughter to school for the first time ever this morning after accepting a severance package from the high-powered financial services firm she worked for and was still adjusting to the reality of no longer having to work 12-14 hour days.

Others concurred that being jobless had obliged them to find more of a work/life balance. Steven Ramos, who was an art director at Forbes magazine—where he worked for 21 years before accepting severance in January—is enjoying the fact that he's able to take his daughter to school, make dinner and spend more time coaching lacrosse for Maplewood and Columbia High School.

"It may seem a little irresponsible, but it's what I need to do right now," said Ramos, 44, who joked that his tan came from the hours he's now able to spend outdoors coaching.

Maplewood psychologist Michele Zembow was guest speaker at the meeting and spoke of ways for the newly unemployed to cope emotionally with losing their jobs.