Despite jobless drop, hunt for work frustrates many

2012: 38,800 added

2011: 25,200 added

2010: 28,500 added

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

It may be the holiday season, but there’s no time off for those seeking a job.

Despite an ever-lower unemployment rate, more than 150,000 metro Atlantans remain officially unemployed — not counting those who’ve given up looking or gone back to school.

They are using the Internet, telephones and old-fashioned foot leather in the hope of getting on a payroll before the new year.

Hiring often is strong in the year’s final quarter, partly because of seasonal work but also because companies want to expend budgets or fill vacancies heading into the new year.

For some job-hunters, the story ends well. Eventually.

“That transition period was not great – I couldn’t have gone much longer without a job,” said Rachel Kling, 34, of Roswell, a single mother. “As we approached the holiday season, I was getting very nervous.”

A human resources generalist, she lost her job when her contract expired. She was out of work for four months.

What did she do to find work?

“Everything,” she said. “It was very frustrating. I applied to maybe 30 companies each week.”

But when things broke her way, it happened fast: a phone call Nov. 18, an interview Nov. 19 and the day after that a job offer.

She started Nov. 30.

The jobless rate for metro Atlanta last month was 5.4 percent – barely half its level at the worst of the post-recession economy. While some of the decline may be caused by discouragement — those who drop out of the job-search pool aren’t counted — hiring in 2015 has been solid. Preliminary reports show the pace picking up: more than 30,000 jobs were added in October alone, the government said.

“It is actually very busy,” said Andy Decker, regional vice president for staffing company Robert Half. “What we are seeing is that there’s a lot of companies hiring – and hiring quickly.”

That is especially true in accounting and finance or in some kinds of technology work, he said.

Last year, metro Atlanta added 47,000 jobs in the last three months of the year.

In 2013, 45,000 jobs were added and the year before that, 39,000. Only in the worst of a recession has the economy lost jobs in the year’s last three months.

Jettisoned in January

Many holiday jobs are jettisoned in January, but much of the hiring this time is longer-term, Decker said.

That doesn’t mean that there is a job for everyone who wants one.

Ask Tumininu Adabele, 28, of Atlanta. She came to America nine years ago and has worked as a maid and other jobs as she went to school.

Now she has a degree in healthcare management – but not work.

“I need a job,” she said. “I am looking for any healthcare job right now and I cannot find anything.”

Josh Albertson of Buford also saw education as a gateway to something. He received his bachelors degree Dec. 11. And he’s hoping for a change from work as a press operator where, after nine years, his pay has gradually moved from $14 an hour to $17.

“It’s not terrible, but now I’ve added some education, a degree,” said Albertson, 31.

He’s been applying for jobs like project manager and in marketing. So far, he’s had just one interview.

“Sometimes I get, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,” he said. “It gets a little depressing.”

Some websites tell applicants how much competition there is – and there is often an awful lot.

“Having an app on your phone makes it easy, but it makes it easy for everybody,” Albertson said.

“I’ve been searching for a job but I’m running out of ideas. I’ve been on the internet job site and I’ve been networking. I’m thinking of going old school and going door to door with my resume.”

In a slow-growth economy with balky wage growth, there’s no assurance job-seekers will be paid what they think they are worth even when an offer comes.

Sheila Simmons, 42, of Conyers, drives each day to a job in Alpharetta, where she makes $13.25 an hour at a truck rental center.

“There are jobs, but my problem with the jobs is that they don’t pay enough to support your cost of living,” Simmons said.

Although some sectors such as construction are starting to see a tight labor market, in others, businesses have plenty of candidates.

‘They want quality employees’

“Employers know they can get away with not paying you enough,” Simmons said. “They want quality employees but they don’t want to invest in their employees.”

Being unemployed at the holidays can be especially disconcerting at a time of year usually filled with more positive events.

Quinn Brack, 58, of Atlanta heard in early November that top management had decided that a merger had made his marketing director’s position unnecessary. Not long after, he was looking for work.

“You are so used to being connected to a company,” he said. “And then you are not. And when you talk to people, everyone wants to know what you do.”

He made lists, he networked, he called a “headhunter” and reworked his resume.

“That’s your calling card. You kind of have to match it to what you bring to the table. First thing I did was get the right resume. It talks to your successes.”

Most of all, he resolved to sell himself. All the time.

“Some people are embarrassed to be looking for a job,” he said. “But when you go to a party, when you stand in line at the grocery — you never know who are talking to. It’s uncomfortable to promote yourself, but you are your own best PR.”