Our Republican and Democratic leaders don’t agree on much when they face-off in the halls of Congress, but there’s one subject about which they’re open to hear each other’s perspectives: job placement for the nation’s long-term unemployed. Both parties have demonstrated that they’re willing to support innovative job programs that can place a recognizable dent in the jobless rate.
A little over a week ago, President Obama encouraged states to adopt “Bridge to Work” programs, which allows businesses to employ workers and pay them at least minimum wage. The proposed program is open to recipients who have exhausted the standard 26 weeks of state-funded unemployment benefits and have become eligible for the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program, which provides up to 53 weeks of financial aid; however, it’s set to expire in January 2012.
HoustonWorks USA’s chief administrative officer Dr. Monica Williams, who has 15 years progressive experience in human resource management, social services and academia, encourages the jobless to “Be open minded, be willing to reinvent themselves and to be flexible. People who have been in a particular industry for most of their career should utilize [dormant] skill sets that learned along the way. There is a lot of competition out there, including people with advanced degrees who are specialists in certain fields.
“Most importantly, job seekers need to be flexible in their compensation requests. If you expect to make a six-figure income because you have historically done so, but you don’t measure up to your competition, then you have to be flexible,” she says.
Williams emphasizes that a strong command of the English language, writing well and functioning well in math and science are skills are fundamental, “They are book ends to successful careers. If you can write, you will do well. If you can speak well, you can do anything. If you can use mathematical computations, develop scientific formulas and be innovative in medicine and science, you can do anything.” –yvette caslin
