Heading home to LI, she finds job hunt a challenge
What to do when you grow up on Long Island, move to Chicago for grad school and a career start, and now, nine years later, want to return to Long Island?
That's the story from Andrea McCarthy, 32, who grew up in Dix Hills. A graduate of Notre Dame and the Art Institute of Chicago, she's been working as a manager for a high-end restoration and construction firm.
She said she and her husband, a cellular biologist, are striking out when it comes to online ads for jobs on Long Island.
Indeed, experts advise people to stop focusing all their attention on finding openings, but to look also for professional contacts to hire or recommend them to hiring managers when jobs open up.
It's all about connections. Indeed, networking, both online and in person, is the most effective job-search method, according to a survey of human resources managers by Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
"The majority of my connections in my field are in Chicago," McCarthy said. With the online job-search approach, "we're spinning our wheels."
Her question to Newsday experts: "How to strengthen our possibilities of obtaining employment on Long Island when we are in Chicago?"
Advice for her from Thomas J. Ward Jr., director of the center for career development, Adelphi University in Garden City:
"Mobilize your ambassadors -- make sure that any family and friends living on Long Island have a copy of your resume. Make certain that they understand the nature of your past work experience and how it relates to your prospective employment. Get plugged in locally by actively engaging in your university's alumni chapter group.
"Use technology to build bridges. LinkedIn is a perfect tool for this situation. Create and update your profile. Research and join related groups.
"Work with large, well-known third-party recruiters / headhunting agencies. Typically, the larger agencies have offices in both NYC and Chicago, and they can access your file."
Advice for her from Kerry Wilkie, Hampton Bays, co-founder of UntappedAbility Job Matching Service.
"I would . . . plan to visit Long Island during periods of time when there are conferences or seminars in your field of interests within our surrounding areas.
This will give you a chance to network and make contacts that can help keep you connected as you continue your search. Give social networking a try. Connect with old friends on Facebook, let them know what you're trying to do.
Studies show that it is often peripheral connections (a friend or acquaintances of a friend) not the close ones that actually end up being helpful in job searches."
