The Plain Dealer is following 88 recently unemployed Northeast Ohioans during an extended series called "Help Wanted" that will explore their hopes and fears, defeats and triumphs as they search for work in this down economy.
• Workers need to check out online schools before enrolling: Help Wanted
• Unemployment benefits can be affected when laid-off workers go back to school: Help Wanted
• Recent college graduates finding entry-level jobs hard to get and hard to keep
• Persistent approach pays off for Carmen Mayhugh
• Michelle Maloney moves from radio to radial tires in new job
• Cleveland's unemployed couples face double the challenges: Help Wanted
• Credit analyst Tom Truax recovers self-esteem: Help Found
• With new job comes fresh hopes for Jose Morales: Help Found
• Laid off since February, former travel agent Antoinette Rudge now employed
• Help Wanted: The newly unemployed find that getting online is crucial to job search
• Subject in Help Wanted series finds a job that she thinks is a better fit
• An index to the 88 people and their stories
• How old are they? Where do they live? What did they do? Search our database for answers
Do you have a job to offer? E-mail: metrodesk@plaind.com
For many people who have been laid off, the next logical step is into a classroom to get that degree they always wanted or to train for a new career.
But when they haven't been in school for a few decades, the questions confronting them can seem like a high-stakes exam:
What should I study that will give me a crack at a good job?
Where should I go -- a university, community college, vocational school?
And how am I ever going to pay for this without a paycheck coming in?
Betty Ivory's answers led her to Cleveland State University, where she's studying for a master's degree in education. John Jobe and Carmen Labbato are both on their way to earning certifications from New Horizons Computer Learning Center.
They are three of the 80-plus Greater Clevelanders whose post-layoff lives are being explored in The Plain Dealer's "Help Wanted" series. Their experiences show there is help out there for the thousands of others who are in the same boat.
That number continues to rise. The national unemployment rate (9.5 percent) reached a 26-year high in June, when 467,000 jobs were lost, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Labor Department.
Jobe, 51, of Aurora, sought help through the county work force development office in Portage County.
"I filled out some forms and took a couple tests, then chased down information about what kinds of jobs are available," he said.
"It went pretty quickly once I got into it -- and they're paying the full cost, which is really cool."
That kind of support is available across the state through a network of 90 One-Stop Centers, overseen by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The Cuyahoga County program, known as Employment Connection, just got a much-needed infusion of federal stimulus money to operate its 11 sites.
Last year, 40,000 people were served. But that figure has been equaled already in just the first half of this year, said Larry Benders, executive director of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board.
More caseworkers are being added to handle the flow, he said. They will work with laid-off people to help them figure out what kind of job they should seek, what schooling is needed and whether they're eligible for financial aid.
The agency can refer clients to more than 100 approved organizations, including community colleges, nonprofits and career training centers, that offer degrees or certificates. Often, the government pays the full tab for a laid-off worker.
"Come and talk to us and we can figure out the best fit for you," Benders said.
Online resources
There's plenty of information online for laid-off people who want to make themselves more marketable with a college degree or certification of skills. Here are some places to get started:
• employmentconnection.us: Tells about services offered at One-Stop Centers operated by Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Sites are in Cleveland, Parma, Maple Heights and Euclid. You can also call 216-664-4673 or 216-898-1366.
• One-Stop Centers: Links to One-Stop Centers in Akron, Chardon, Elyria, Medina, Painesville, Ravenna and counties across the state.
• uso.edu/network/index.php: Links to state universities and community colleges, and maps vocational schools and career centers in the Adult Workforce Network.
• opportunity.gov: Is the federal government's portal for unemployed workers seeking new educational opportunities.
• GetEducated.com: Helps you figure out whether an online program is legitimate.
Learning at his own pace
That's what Jobe did. He earned a degree in electrical engineering "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," he said. After he lost his job as a sales engineer in December, he decided to pursue his longtime fascination with computers and earn a Cisco Network certification through New Horizons.
His instructor and his labs are on a computer screen but he can flag down a real, live mentor whenever he has questions. He finds the technology "liberating," enabling him, for example, to stop a lecture and rewind to listen again.
Labbato, 56, of Lyndhurst took a similar route after becoming unemployed in October from his information-technology job. He completed his Microsoft training in April and now is trying to pass three tests to be certified as a database administrator.
Although he had some computer experience, the technology he's learning now is like "a new language," he said.
He had trouble with the first test -- he thinks he tried to finish the course too quickly -- but the people at New Horizons are helping him go back over his lab work.
"There's a lot more I need to learn, but I see the holes I need to fill," Labbato said. "Now I'm more aware of what I need to know."
Matching trainees to employer needs
The University System of Ohio is partnering with other state agencies to make sure people like Labbato are being prepared for jobs that local employers need to fill, said Paolo DeMaria, executive vice chancellor.
'Help Wanted' on WCPN, WVIZ
The Plain Dealer is collaborating with WCPN FM/90.3 and WVIZ Channel 25 Ideastream on the "Help Wanted" series. Throughout the year, there will be multiple reports, interviews, videos and discussions about the experiences of the jobless.
"We're trying to accelerate the approval process for new programs, especially in the area of 'green' jobs," he said.
Ideally, workers starting new careers will keep using the system to add to their qualifications, he said. "People with college degrees are faring better in this economy. A certification or associate's degree is good, but you have to continue to expand your skills."
DeMaria doesn't have to convince Ivory of that. The 40-year-old Cleveland resident already has a bachelor's and a master's degree in mechanical engineering. But even before her job with a nonprofit disappeared last fall, she realized she wanted to teach.
Now she's in a master's program at CSU that prepares teachers for high school math and science classrooms. Tuition is charged at the lower undergraduate rate to attract people to those openings.
Ivory didn't qualify for a federal Pell grant (worth up to $5,350 a year) because she already had a bachelor's degree. So she took out a student loan to cover tuition and living expenses.
"It's low-interest and you have some leeway in paying it back," she said. "I see it as an investment."
The amount and kind of aid you can get depends on many factors, such as age and whether you're a military veteran. The best way to find out where you stand is to talk to a counselor, advised Doug Miller, director of community outreach at Polaris Career Center in Middleburg Heights.
"When people call us, they don't know what to do, where to go, who to talk to," he said. "They are not alone. We have people here to help them through the system."
But with so many laid-off workers looking into education now, you might have to wait your turn wherever you go for help, he cautioned.
Cuyahoga Community College is trying to meet the demand with rolling enrollment for many certifications, said Pete Ross, vice president of enrollment management. Short-term certificates, in subjects such as automotive technology or medical billing, can be earned in as little as three months.
Whatever route you take, the best time to start is now, said Benders, the work force development director.
"It's a real challenge to look at making a change in your life if you're recently displaced," he said. "But the sooner you can avail yourself of the tremendous services out there, the sooner you can regain the control that's been taken away from you."
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