Resources for Job Seekers

The unemployment rate in New Jersey was 9.7% at last count, and BHPL is seeing its share of job seekers using our computers and career resources (whether it's people exploring new careers, people with interviews looking for company information, or someone looking for web sites with job listings). Here's some of the resources we've found or that the library offers:

The Alternative Press, which covers 10 local towns around Berkeley Heights, has some job postings in its classifieds. (Don't forget to check out the jobs in the Independent Press classifieds in print also.)

NJ.com Jobs - Advanced Search allows you to type in a zip code and choose a radius, in miles, to search around that zip code.

NJ Department of Labor - Search the One-Stop Job Posting Database. This also has an option to limit your search to a certain radius around a zip code. Plus, this site links to other job search sites you may be interested in, and information about job fairs.

ReferenceUSA is an online business directory called Reference USA, which any NJ resident with a library card can access at JerseyClicks. It doesn't have job postings, but once you've found the employers that interest you, you can either go to those companies' web sites to look for openings, or mail the company your resume to keep on file (a directory of management is often listed, so you'll have the name of someone to whom you can address your cover letter). This is also a helpful site for people with interviews coming up, since it covers every U.S. business that is in the phone book. (I usually choose U.S. Businesses, then click on the Custom Search tab. Then under Industry, select keyword and type in the kind of company you're looking for, and under Geography, select zipcode and radius and type in the zip and how far you're willing to travel from there. Then click View Results.)

If you are looking for a new profession, BHPL offers Ferguson's Career Center, which has profiles of various careers, and advice on resumes and cover letters. Go to the BHPL web site and click on Remote Databases to get to Ferguson's. (BHPL also has legions of books on resumes and cover letters in the nonfiction section at the number 650.14.) Also available through Remote Databases is Universal Class, which offers online continuing ed classes including ones on resumes, etc.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics's Occupational Outlook Handbook is free online as well. You can browse by job type, or search for a particular kind of job.

Or try NJcan.org, the New Jersey Career Assistance Navigator is New Jersey's official online career guidance website.

The New Providence Memorial Library has a 3-part lecture series on job seeking skills coming up in late August and in September. The New Providence United Methodist Church has 8 re-employment seminars presented by career coach Lloyd Feinstein coming up in September.