By Beth Kujan
Our high average household income places Morris sixth in the list of wealthiest counties in the nation. So when Mr. or Ms. Median Household loses a $97,565 job in a corporate layoff, or even a fraction of that amount, he/she needs to move quickly to avoid eroding savings.
According to Paul Cecala, professional career coach, a mid-level professional’s job search usually takes five months + one month for every change you have to make within this list: Company, function, industry, location, size-of-company, compensation. Some searches take longer, though there are ways to cut down the transition time.
Most searches start with filing for unemployment online, although that only buys you a certain amount of time. The real work begins with assessing one’s resources.
Morristown, as the county seat, has a full service One-Stop Career Center at 30 Schuyler Place, second floor. The staff can help you map out the services New Jersey provides that match your needs.
For white collar professionals, continuing advice and guidance resides at the Dover One-Stop Center. Dover Professional Services Group (Dover PSG) meets Wednesday mornings at 107 Bassett Hwy., Dover.
Morristown also provides a rich array of job hunting resources through the library system. Churches and synagogues in Morristown offer support and coaching to congregants. St. Peter’s hosts a networking group that is open to the community: Morris County Career Network. Small working groups meet at the libraries. The County College of Morris offers a class called “Shortcut Your Job Search” taught this semester by Paul.
Shortening a job search requires discipline, methodology and good resources. Rich, pragmatic resources are here for us in Morristown if we look.
Beth Kujan is one of the organizers of the Morris County Career Network, which meets on the second and fourth Monday of each month at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown to help professionals in transition.
