Searching for work
A new year, a new year’s resolution. 2013 could be the year you get a job. The Pikes Peak Workforce Center’s Dana Barton says there are more than 200 jobs available on the Center’s website. She is the Director of Business Relations and Employment Development.
One of the hot jobs is a call center position. Barton told me, “They’re interviewing on the spot, getting them through the testing in our computer labs, making offers and bringing them to hire them on the spot.” These are entry level positions that make 12 dollars per hour. You need to have good customer and computer skills. Barton says too many times people may discount these kind of jobs because they’re coming from a position that paid a lot more, “Take an entry level job to show your value and worth to an organization and show your next employer that you are a dedicated employee. There are jobs out there, you just may have to change your mindset.”
Aki Christian is a job seeker of two months who I met at the workforce center. He just got out of prison after serving three years for forgery and escape from a halfway house. He told me that he’s hitting a brick wall. His past is affecting his future. Here is what potential employers are telling him, “Hey we’d like to hire you but in 2007 you did this.”
I asked him if he an employer would be reading this, what would you want to tell them? He said, “I’ve paid my debt. I’m down one but I now have two steps to go instead of just one. I have a purpose to overcome that negative.” Aki previously worked restaurant and office work and he is bilingual.
I’ve put a link to the Pikes Peak Workforce Center on our homepage. Go to links we mentioned.
Here’s an f.y.i. from the Pikes Peak Workforce Center:
As of today, 26,870 people are registered with the Pikes Peak Workforce Center (El Paso and Teller Counties)
22,696 of those registrants are unemployed.
20,186 of those registrants are currently collecting unemployment benefits.
The November 2012 data for unemployment in the State of Colorado is 7.7 %.
The November 2012 data for unemployment in El Paso/Teller Counties is 8.8%.
