Whatever It Takes

A few weeks ago, I got to sit in on a how-to seminar for job seekers put on by Todd Palmer. He owns a Troy-based staffing company, Diversified Industrial Staffing, and saw a niche for coaching people who are struggling to find work. Read more »

Nearly every job I have applied for requires proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel. I never had to use either, beyond updating spread sheets my former boss used to put together.

Still, when I filled out job applications, I would say that I knew how to do these things. A friend said she could give me a crash course. Meanwhile, I’d bought the software and had begun teaching myself on my home computer.

But in this unemployment world of being proactive and doing whatever it takes to make yourself marketable, I knew it would be best to take  a class. The community college offered some, but they weren’t for another month or two, and they cost money.

Then an out-of-work friend told me about a learning lab where you can learn it free through the state. I called and made an appointment. Read more »

Until a few weeks ago, the 43-year-old Michigan father of two was unemployed. When he lost his job seven months ago, he also learned that his mother had breast cancer.

It was a roller coaster of a winter, looking for work at the same time countless others are, too, then worrying about his mom.

But a few weeks ago, Torrey started a new job as operations manager at a roofing and siding company. Read more »