CLC students network to get work
Vik Bhardwaj
Managing Editor
Keith Behnke is a skilled carpenter with over 20 years of experience. He is also unemployed.
Keith saw a decrease in new construction jobs when the housing bubble burst about three years ago. The severity and tone of the crisis rang louder when the usually unaffected, high-end, North Shore remodeling projects Keith had been a part of started to cut back.
“It was a wakeup call for everybody,” Behnke said.
Keith was recently at the Career and Placement Services Center (CPS), E101, at CLC using a computer to look for employment.
Keith said he knows some 800 out of work carpenters. The carpentry field is related to construction, and construction depends on a good economy. As construction goes, so does carpentry. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported Lake County construction employment was down 20.7 percent February 2009 to February 2010. The latest data from the March jobs report showed construction stayed constant at 15,000 jobs. This contrasts the 72,000 jobs the industry shed each month for the past year.
Fortunately, construction picks up late spring to the end of summer.
“Usually by mid-summer you’re booked,” Behnke said.
However, the talented pool of unemployed carpenters is so unusually deep, competition will be keen, Behnke said. Foremen are trying to assemble their crews for the work they will get in the summer. Behnke’s previous employer called him in for a meeting with news of work lined up for mid-summer.
Unfortunately, the summer is a couple months away.
- “I’ve got a family to feed,” Behnke said. “It’s aggravating. It’s a different thing to get used to.”
So Behnke is going back to school. He attended trade school right out of high school and is taking classes there currently. Behnke has skills in plumbing and electrical, but the licensing takes five years. Currently he is looking for a two-year degree in Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) from CLC.
“I’m weighing out the career change,” Behnke said. “That’s why I was here today, to see some of my other options to go along with the experiences I already have.”
CPS Specialist Sue Whitaker said CLC’s HVAC courses are a part of a bridge program that is designed to give students hands-on experience to help them climb up the pay ladder. She had a client five years ago who took three courses at CLC in HVAC and made $10 an hour to start. Now, he makes $26.75.
Behnke also came to CPS because he needed help with his resume. Behnke said one wasn’t necessary before in the “dinosaur” field of carpentry. Other signs of evolution in the field are the style and location of interviews. It used to be that a foreman would take one good look at a worker and decide if he or she were the right fit, Benke said. He added he was drilled in a recent interview with questions from two different people.
CPS helps students, alumni and community members with resumes, career counseling, mock interviews and Internet-based job listing services. It hosts mini job fairs throughout the year. It offers students credit-based cooperative education and service learning, volunteerism, and student employment-work study. The CPS has five career counselors, three with master’s degrees and two with PhD’s.
Whitaker said CPS differs from self-service resources such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com because of the connection she has with employers. She said she is frequently in contact with HR representatives at companies who are seeking employees and can offer a candidate a job then and there.
Regarding resumes Whitaker said, HR representatives sometimes have a scanner to sort through all of the candidates. She said the scanner picks up on industry buzz words. If the company does not use a scanner, Whitaker said CPS helps to tailor the resumes to stand out by including people skills.
The number one way of getting jobs is through networking, according to Whitaker. At the end of the day, “humans make the final decision,” she said.
Whitaker deals with many clients. She tries to make her time with them worthwhile.
“I treat every person like they are gold,” Whitaker said. “I want them to walk out of here with their heads high, hopeful, and with a second-wind to get out into the workforce.”
Office hours of CPS are Monday through Thursday 8am to 6:30pm and Fridays 8am-4:30pm. Resume assistance is offered by appointment Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am-1pm. Contact Sue Whitaker at 847-543-2058 to set up an appointment.
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