June 30, 2008
Philadelphia Metro

Finding job can be hard thing to do

By Solomon D. Leach

When Erika Simmons graduated from the Pennsylvania Institute of Technology last September, she thought her degree was a sure ticket to a steady, better-paying job in the medical field.

But the 37-year-old Southwest Philadelphia resident has found there’s no such thing as a sure thing in a slow economy after posting resumes and filling out applications through Pennsylvania CareerLink, Craigslist and other job-hunting venues for the last 10 months.

“I thought it would be easy,” said Simmons, who has experience as a nursing assistant and left a job in the school district to complete an externship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. “Working in the medical field is one in high demand. They always need people, they always have jobs, but the thing I’m running into is they want experience.”

Simmons has been on 20 interviews since September, she said, and has expanded her search to housekeeping work and physical therapy. She joined a job club with the Philadelphia Unemployment Project in May to increase her prospects.

Job losses in the Philadelphia region have been modest compared to other regions. In May, the region was down just 400 jobs from May 2007, according to Basil Gordon, business services director at the Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp.

Coincidentally, the health care sector was one of the best-producing during that time, he said, but that hasn’t been the case for many.

Shakira Grazier, 22, another certified medical assistant, has also been stifled in her search since 2006. She recently took a part-job at CareerLink while she applies for other jobs.

“I’ve still been applying, I’ve been networking as far as referrals I know that work at hospitals, but I still get the same thing – no response back,” she said.