About 100 people fill the Salvation Army Fellowship Hall, all to grab 10 minutes with Major Michael Zielinski. Sitting behind a makeshift table, he looks at one hopeful applicant and says, "And you have number 4? Come on down!"
The major holds interviews for holiday drivers and bell ringers every year, and he does it well. He's the friendly, encouraging job interviewer every unemployed person loves to see. At the end of his interview with number 4, he says, "When you come back, you don't have to wait in line, we'll get you right in." The qualifications to be a bell-ringer? Zielinski says "They need to be able to have a bright shiny face and a good smile for the people that come by."
The pay is about as low as you'll find in town: $8.25 an hour, to stand out in the cold and ring the bell. That's less than what you'll get on unemployment at the maximum benefit. But as we've found by talking to bell ringers in the past, money is not the only reason people want to do this. Zielinski told us, "A lot of folks that we talk to really enjoy that interaction with the public, along with giving back to the community."
For job seekers who need more money, Tom Miller at Applied Staffing Solutions says you couldn't pick a better time. He says the peak of holiday hiring is right now, and they're not all store jobs. Tom says, "There are more trucking and delivery openings in the buying season, plenty of jobs for year-end taxes, and there's call center jobs, because there are catalog orders coming in, there are customers calling because their orders weren't right."
The temp jobs there start at $9.50 an hour, which obviously is not enough with gas close to $4 a gallon, food for families costing $100 a week and heating bills on the way. But Tom says companies often move you up. "After a period of time, they can take that person onto their payroll, and that person can enjoy a wonderful long career with that company."
He has many examples of when that's happened. He calls it an open door, from where you can work your way up with a firm, and the longer you stay the more you make. He says look at the potential of the job, not the pay.
We're glad we met Tom. He says this, is the best overall hiring atmosphere he's seen in 8 years. As he told us, "I mean, the number of job openings is just amazing."
-written by John Potter
The Salvation Army is holding their job fair again on Friday, 9am-3pm at 1931 Sutro Street. They ask that you bring your ID. You have to be 18 or older, be able to stand for long periods and lift 25 pounds. And for jobs at Applied Staffing Solutions, here's where you can apply for their positions: (Applied doesn't charge a fee to job seekers. Companies pay a finding fee to Applied instead)
http://appliedstaffing.com/job_seekers/apply_now/
