Job fair provides peek at local struggles

Muriel Feinstein, the BPL’s employment counselor, has seen the temperature rise on local job searches.

Brianna Casey

Nassau County unemployment as of July 2012.

Chris Connolly

Nassau County is actually bearing up comparatively well in a still-struggling economy.

Maria Hernandez, right, spoke with Beverly Conforti about a job opportunity at Fedelis Care.

Brianna Casey

• 
• 
• 
• 

Nearly 500 people streamed through the Baldwin Public Library Job Fair on Sept 13. Some looked sharp and professional; others wore suits that looked as if they hadn’t seen the light of day in decades. Many carried resumes, briefcases and hopeful looks. But the thing on everyone’s mind that sunny morning, as a touch of fall crispness graced the air, could be summed up in a single word: work.

Some attendees were looking for first jobs, some for different jobs, some for any job at all. There were approximately 35 companies represented at the fair, ranging from semi-self-employment concerns like Tupperware to bigger employers like the Long Beach Medical Center and the Nassau County Police Department. Information tables were flocked, stacks of applications vanished quickly and the exchange of business cards looked like something out of the World Series of Poker.

Participants seemed generally happy, if preoccupied, but a sense of frustration also permeated the proceedings. Unlike previous fairs covered by the Herald, attendees at this year’s event were reluctant to give their names. Job seekers, and even some employers — manning desks with their names inked on large banners — asked not to be identified in stories about the expo.

“Please don’t use my name,” said one woman, around 40, who held a tote bag bursting with job information.

“Don’t use mine, either,” said a younger woman standing behind her, who had the look of a recent graduate and who also clutched an impressive collection of applications.

“Are you going to use my name?” said a man sitting behind a table and distributing leaflets promoting his company’s website. “I don’t really want my name on this.”

Nassau by the numbers

Although the situation is far from rosy, Nassau County is actually bearing up comparatively well in a still-struggling economy (see chart). In July the county’s unemployment rate was listed at 7.6 percent by the New York State Department of Labor. This figure compared favorably to Suffolk (8.3 percent), Queens (9.1), New York City (10.2), New York state (9.1) and the nation (8.6).