NEW YORK—The Galway Hooker, an Irish pub on East 36th St., was awash with those desperately seeking on Wednesday night, not seekers of mates, however, but seekers of jobs.
A joint recruitment/job fair organized by two different groups of employment network organizations, the 405 Club and NYCREX, put on the employment shindig, and by the looks of things, the event was a success.
The organizers of the two groups got together in a friendly competition, a Race to Place, to see who could bring more to the event. NYCREX supplied recruiters and the 405 Club brought job seekers. NYCREX estimated about 25 to 30 recruiters were on site Wednesday night and the number of job seekers looked to be a revolving door of a couple hundred.
The 405 Club is a group of New Yorkers who network to share in ways to find jobs and save money. NYCREX is an executive search and placement company.
Both organizations rely heavily on Internet social and professional working sites such as Linked In, Facebook and Twitter, where they host discussion boards on job openings, training, and job placement.
At the event there were career counselors, recruiters, and even financial advisers for those who may be having difficulties managing their money.
The job fair was not aimed at a particular employment sector and job seekers came from many backgrounds including IT, finance, and media. Most people seem to be seeking full time employment.
Garrett Dale is one of the founders of The 405 Club. Garrett was previously employed at Epic Records in promotions and was on hand at the job fair on Wednesday.
“We are not targeting anyone in particular. Unemployed people come in all shapes and sizes, and educational backgrounds,” said Dale.
The atmosphere at The Galway Hooker was decidedly pub-like and friendly. This was not a high pressure job fair but more of a social night at the local Irish bar, but as one made their way across the room, one may have felt as if running a gauntlet of business card hawkers, as they were being passed out by the handful. What is evident is that these are not times in which to take a job lightly. As relaxed as the atmosphere was on the surface, and made more so by cocktails and a DJ spinning Prince hits in the corner, it was clear that these people are serious about finding a job, and soon.
One man came from Poughkeepsie to pass out copies of his resumé and business card, and has recently resorted to offering a $1,000 finder fee to anyone that will find him a job. Rich Putnick, who was with IBM for seven years, was “downsized” a couple years ago and the last time he was employed was February of 2007.
“I was laying in bed at 3 in the morning and I was paralyzed … I give up! so I decided to offer a reward to anyone that can find me a job … I’ve been to job fairs, I’ve done everything else, I’m willing to do it because I’ve run out of gas trying to look for work, you begin to wonder what you have to do,” said Putnick.
A joint recruitment/job fair organized by two different groups of employment network organizations, the 405 Club and NYCREX, put on the employment shindig, and by the looks of things, the event was a success.
The organizers of the two groups got together in a friendly competition, a Race to Place, to see who could bring more to the event. NYCREX supplied recruiters and the 405 Club brought job seekers. NYCREX estimated about 25 to 30 recruiters were on site Wednesday night and the number of job seekers looked to be a revolving door of a couple hundred.
The 405 Club is a group of New Yorkers who network to share in ways to find jobs and save money. NYCREX is an executive search and placement company.
Both organizations rely heavily on Internet social and professional working sites such as Linked In, Facebook and Twitter, where they host discussion boards on job openings, training, and job placement.
At the event there were career counselors, recruiters, and even financial advisers for those who may be having difficulties managing their money.
The job fair was not aimed at a particular employment sector and job seekers came from many backgrounds including IT, finance, and media. Most people seem to be seeking full time employment.
Garrett Dale is one of the founders of The 405 Club. Garrett was previously employed at Epic Records in promotions and was on hand at the job fair on Wednesday.
“We are not targeting anyone in particular. Unemployed people come in all shapes and sizes, and educational backgrounds,” said Dale.
The atmosphere at The Galway Hooker was decidedly pub-like and friendly. This was not a high pressure job fair but more of a social night at the local Irish bar, but as one made their way across the room, one may have felt as if running a gauntlet of business card hawkers, as they were being passed out by the handful. What is evident is that these are not times in which to take a job lightly. As relaxed as the atmosphere was on the surface, and made more so by cocktails and a DJ spinning Prince hits in the corner, it was clear that these people are serious about finding a job, and soon.
One man came from Poughkeepsie to pass out copies of his resumé and business card, and has recently resorted to offering a $1,000 finder fee to anyone that will find him a job. Rich Putnick, who was with IBM for seven years, was “downsized” a couple years ago and the last time he was employed was February of 2007.
“I was laying in bed at 3 in the morning and I was paralyzed … I give up! so I decided to offer a reward to anyone that can find me a job … I’ve been to job fairs, I’ve done everything else, I’m willing to do it because I’ve run out of gas trying to look for work, you begin to wonder what you have to do,” said Putnick.
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