THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET: LOOKING FOR LIGHT : They Looked for New Jobs and Found Them : Once-Unhappy and Unemployed Workers Share Their Stories of Some Successful Searches

‘THIS JOB IS MINE’

I’m legally blind, have no hearing in my left ear and about one-fourth hearing in my right ear. I became homeless late last year when I lost a 10-year job as a mechanic because the owner of the business died.

I went to Goodwill Industries and took their retail sales management course. I then spent two months looking for work in sales, but I didn’t have much luck. I’ve got no teeth and a deformed left ear, so I didn’t think I had the right look. And, even more important, I started out with pretty low self-esteem that got even lower during two months of unsuccessful job interviews.

A Goodwill counselor helped me feel better about myself, and then All Services, an electronics repair shop in Pasadena, heard that Goodwill had job candidates and called to set up an interview. I tried to go in with a positive attitude and said to myself, “This job is mine,” over and over. They gave me a key to the office 15 minutes after the interview started and didn’t talk to any other candidates, even though I was the first one they interviewed.

I started as assistant manager of the store in early July and was promoted to manager after six weeks. With the money I’ve been making, I just moved into my own apartment.

--HARRY COHEN, Store manager

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‘THIS IS ALMOST TOO PERFECT A FIT’

It’s been a tough couple of years. After 13 years at the Broadway and Carter Hawley Hale Information Services, I was laid off in April, 1991--thanks to Carter Hawley’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing--along with more than 100 other people. Four months later, I went to work for May Co., only to be laid off again last January as a result of the Robinsons-May merger.

In reality, I had not stopped looking for a job since Carter Hawley laid me off. We all received out-placement assistance, so I learned all the techniques: Call everyone you know, order personal business cards, use “power words” in your resume. I’ve even gone to a few job fairs. I religiously circled interesting newspaper ads every Sunday, answered them and followed up with a phone call when appropriate.

I feel very lucky. There was a small ad in the Los Angeles Times on Sunday, June 27, for a “training writer.” It sounded as though it had been written for me. I responded with a faxed resume and a hard copy--I was taking no chances with this one.

After two interviews, I started work Aug. 2 as a staff writer with the Friedman Group, a retail training consulting firm in Culver City. With my retailing experience and my journalism degree from CSU Long Beach, this is almost too perfect a fit. But I’ll take it.

--BARBARA SOSA, Training writer

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LAYOFF WAS THE TURNING POINT

The turning point in my job hunt was getting laid off.

For a long time, I had been unhappy at my job as a specialist in software quality assurance, and downsizing was rumored. I was looking, but the inevitable layoff turned my casual job search into the full-time effort it needed to be.

The very next day, I started a company-sponsored “career continuation program” (a euphemism for training in how to beat the system and land another job). I was taught the rules of the game, and I was determined to play my cards right.

One of my strategies was to clip classified ads of companies that were hiring software professionals of any sort. I’d find out the name of the hiring manager, send a letter and follow up with a phone call. Getting around the human resources department was critical; I had been told their job is to screen you out.

One day, I was in the locker room of my health club when I overheard someone talking enthusiastically about where he worked, a San Diego company called Pyxis Corp. My ears perked up because I had just clipped their ad for software engineers. This chance meeting yielded the name of the vice president of software development. My letter and resume reached him just as he was considering the need for someone to launch a software quality assurance program. Several interviews followed.

The final interview was delayed several weeks, so I took a previously planned bike trip from Eugene, Ore., to Missoula, Mont. At a Chinese restaurant along the way, I opened a fortune cookie to find: “A comfortable salary and a good position will be yours.”

I had good fortune, indeed. Two weeks later, I started as software quality assurance supervisor.

--HAL SCHWARTZ, Software developer

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FREE TRYOUT LED TO AN APPLE AND A POSITION

A few years ago, I was unemployed, and I applied for a secretarial position at an engineering firm. The manager said he had interviewed another person and was trying to decide between the two of us.

I made him a deal: I asked him to let me work for him for a few days with no pay. If he liked my work, he could hire me. If he didn’t, he could easily say it wouldn’t work out.

This also gave me a chance to see if I liked the job.

I had nothing to lose.

The manager showed me the phone system and I went to work. The office was a shambles, but I completely straightened it out.

At the end of my three days, the manager put a big red apple on my desk. I got the job! And I thoroughly enjoyed that apple.

--MARCIA L. TEDESCO, Secretary

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FROM INTERN TO ANALYST

I was working toward a degree in Asian Pacific Studies at Loyola Marymount University, and I really wanted to work for a Fortune 500 corporation dealing with the Pacific Rim market.

But because I did not have a business major or minor, I knew it was going to be difficult to find a job. I decided to make up for it through an internship.

Using Loyola Marymount’s Educational Participation in the Community program, I landed an unpaid internship with MCI Telecommunications.

I was required to put in only two hours a week, but I put in 10 hours. I wanted to learn as much as I could in this fast-paced corporate environment. I worked for three months as an intern.

After I graduated in May, 1993, MCI offered me a full-time position (paid, this time!) as an administrative analyst.

Next year, I plan to go back to school and get my MBA in international marketing, using MCI’s educational reimbursement program.

Later, I hope to work in the international market, specifically the Pacific Rim, and transfer to one of MCI’s European offices.

--JACQUELINE MICHIKO BORJA, Administrative analyst *

CREATIVITY AND PERSISTENCE PAID

I was an architect in a large firm working on projects I didn’t enjoy. So I updated my portfolio and resume to begin exploring opportunities.

My friends said it would be impossible to find a job in the current economy, but I persisted. One year and one interview later, I thought they were right. Then I saw an ad in The Times for an “amusement park designer.” I suddenly realized this would be the perfect job for an architect who had done stand-up comedy.

I sent in my resume. So did 400 other people. How could I get noticed?

A friend suggested sending Godiva chocolates via Federal Express with a note saying, “Please accept this shameless bribe for an interview.” I wrote that on a sketch I’d done of an amusement park in Kuala Lumpur. Two months and three interviews later, I became park designer and architectural manager for Six Flags Magic Mountain.

It took persistence, show-business flair and a belief in what I had to offer. With a little creativity, I got my foot in the door and got the job, in spite of the bad economy.

--KEVIN BARBEE, Park designer *

IT TOOK AN EVALUATION, A PLAN AND AN UPBEAT ATTITUDE

I moved to Los Angeles in mid-April as a transferred spouse. My contacts and network were in the New York area and Chicago. I knew only a handful of people here.

I began my new job as assistant vice president of employee relations for a large California insurance company at the end of August, after an active search of 2 1/2 months. I believe I was successful because:

* I spent time evaluating my skills, accomplishments and strengths; answering ads; speaking with recruiting firms, and attending networking and informational meetings. The evaluation is key to identifying what you do well, what you like and where you want to go.

* I created a personal marketing plan that identified certain companies and industries that could use my skills and would provide the kind of business environment I was looking for. The marketing plan gave me a focus for keeping on track.

* I developed a telephone script and a list of names, and began my “dialing for dollars” to set up interviews. The calling list should include family members, friends, vendors, professional associates and associations.

One of the most important things is attitude. Never quit, and keep an upbeat attitude. No one wants to be around a down person, let alone hire one.

--CYNTHIA PHILBRICK, Employee relations

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‘BUT I PERSISTED AND WAS ACCEPTED’

It had been years since I had a regular job when I applied four months ago to the new automotive training program started by the Los Angeles Urban League and Toyota.

When I called the Los Angeles Urban League Automotive Training Center, I became a little discouraged. I was one of thousands trying to enroll in a course, and I had no experience in automotive training. But I persisted and was accepted in the Brakes & Exhaust Course. I was the only woman in the class.

At the center, we were taught skills such as resume writing and how to prepare for a job interview. We were also taught the fundamentals of hydraulics in brake systems and the diagnosis and servicing of brake and exhaust systems.

Soon I got a job interview at A&B; Auto Repair Center in Gardena. I got the job at A&B; and I’m finishing up my course work at the center. Through this experience, I’ve learned how important training is.

My advice to anyone in a similar situation is: Never give up. Don’t let the past be a hindrance to the present. Your past could really be an asset instead of a liability. It could teach you how to never make the same mistakes in life.

--WENDY GASTON, Auto technician

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‘I HAD TO START ALL OVER

I was laid off from McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach in June, 1991, along with some 2,000 (other) people. As an engineer scientist specialist and a woman, I thought that I would readily find another job. After pursuing more than 300 employment possibilities, I realized that I had to start all over at an entry level outside of the aerospace industry.

After a year out of work, I happened to read in the newspaper about a retraining program for 50 unemployed aerospace engineers in the field of environmental engineering. The program was sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the county’s Private Industry Council and was funded by the California Employment Training Council.

After 425 hours of intensive training, I completed the program near the top of my class.

I never gave up hope, and finally, on July 28, 1993--more than two years after I lost my aerospace job--I accepted a position as a waste management engineer with the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. Perseverance plus the willingness to change careers and start again at the bottom were the keys to a new start in my working career.

--KATHY SAN MIGUEL, Waste management engineer