Stimulus Jobs and Money

By Claudine Vainrub Principal of EduPlan

How to find a Job offered through the Stimulus Plan

Just yesterday, we conducted a job phone bank in CBS Channel 4 and the unemployment statistic became alive to us attendants through the amount of phone calls received in a matter of 2 ½ hours. Over 400 calls and the phones ringing non-stop shows, once again, that South Floridians are greatly affected by layoffs and unemployment. We hear that Obama’s Stimulus Plan will combat unemployment, but how? Here is some new information…

Full effect of stimulus plan, as President Obama states, will be felt in the next few months. The goal is 600,000 new and SAVED jobs in the next 100 days. The focus is not only on creating new jobs but also, supporting companies to ensure that massive firings are stopped. The President reports 150,000 new jobs created in the last three months and he plans to quadruple these results in the next three months. How will he do this, especially when we discuss South Florida? Through infrastructure projects that will be launched this summer, Obama expects to put a percentage of the unemployed back in the work force.

The unemployment rate is the highest in 25 years and still expected to continue growing. The stimulus plan’s effect is almost a dent, as some argue, yet, it has a spiral effect where, if one company gains resources, it pulls others with it, allowing a multiplying factor.

So where do we find the stimulus jobs? There are several resources out there available for job seekers and employees who know will be laid off in the near future. One is the job search engine employflorida.com. This site will provide listings of stimulus jobs, especially for the construction industry but not specific to it. EmployFlorida.com allows job seekers to search several job boards at the same time, as when you type a query, it looks for all jobs available and listed in CareerBuilder, Monster and other sites. At this moment, stimulus jobs were available only for youth – 19-24 year olds looking, and as WorkForce One reports, these jobs are already sourced. However, employflorida.com is the one website you will want to visit to find anything new on Stimulus jobs.

14 million Americans are currently receiving unemployment benefits provided by the Economic Federal Stimulus fund. These funds have helped many undergo the job seeking process without going bankrupt.

Other available resources we count in are free resume writing, career coaching, and job search assistance can be found through WorkForce One, a non-profit agency that will provide resources to enhance your job search results.

Certified Professional Resume Writers and Career Coaches are also available to support you, although for a fee, could be a better alternative if you require individualized attention and are not achieving results.

Another resource currently available to job seekers is the Career Strategies for Success Mass Workshop and Forum. This is a full-day event to be held at The Signature Grand in Davie, Florida, on June 23rd, 2009. Job seekers will find more information on Stimulus Plan resources, and get exposure to Human Resource professionals, recruiters, compensation benefits specialists to help them achieve better results in their job search and understand benefits available to them.

WorkForce One explains we shouldn’t expect a quick fix, since it takes time for the process to close its circle. The government launches the initiative, projects receive bids, which in their turn, get evaluated and one contractor is chosen. At that point, the chosen company is enabled to begin the hiring process. The entire process does not take two days, but Obama’s interest in supporting employment, generating and saving jobs gives hopes to the millions unemployed that there will be some relief soon.

By Claudine Vainrub, Principal of EduPlan