Date: Fri 07-Mar-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

business-employment-Bailey

Full Text:

How To Stay

Employable

Newtown resident Patricia Bailey, a re-employment specialist with the

Connecticut Department of Labor, will speak about understanding the job market

and staying employable at the Jobseekers Support Group meeting, hosted by Bill

Brimmer on Thursday, March 13, at 7:30 pm, in the second-floor conference room

of the St Rose Parish Center. -Bee Photo, Valenta

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

Patricia Bailey knows how difficult it is to stay employable.

An employment development specialist with the Connecticut Department of Labor,

she has counseled and given workshops for thousands of persons, from persons

on public assistance to chief executive officers of corporations who have

suddenly found themselves out of work.

Understanding today's job market - and staying employable - will be the focus

of a presentation Ms Bailey will make at the Jobseeker's Support Group meeting

at 7:30 pm on Thursday, March 13, in the second-floor conference room of the

St Rose of Lima Parish Center on Church Hill Road.

Anyone who is looking for work or contemplating a change is invited to attend.

The monthly meetings, which include a networking session, are free.

"Getting a job today is an extensive process - it's a full-time job to get a

job," Patricia Bailey said.

A Newtown resident for 29 years, Ms Bailey received her master's degree from

the school of educational psychology at Western Connecticut State and is a

nationally certified counselor.

Since 1990 she has worked for the Department of Labor in the Danbury office,

where she frequently gives workshops on re-employment, focusing on areas such

as skills evaluation, resume writing, networking, labor market information,

and how to market yourself. She teaches interviewing skills and follow-up

procedures.

Ms Bailey will talk about the services available through the labor department.

"You do not have to be unemployed to use the services," she said. "They are

funded under a federal program. Anyone who is looking for work qualifies."

In five years, 50 percent of the population will be over the age of 50, she

noted, and it is important as workers get older that they keep developing

their skills.

"The key to staying employable is to keep up and keep abreast with technology,

and to market yourself appropriately," she said. "You have to use a sales and

marketing approach today - sell yourself and market yourself. There are more

job applicants than jobs so you have to be very innovative."

She considers herself a life-long learner, having started college after 13

years as a military wife during the Vietnam era, a career as a real estate

broker and as administrative assistant to the president of the former

Batchelder Company in Newtown.

Sensitive to the needs of veterans, she has received training through the

National Veteran's Training Institute, and from the American Association of

Retired Persons. She also has completed course work at the University of

Bridgeport, Fairfield University, Harvard and the Ellis Institute for Rational

Emotive Behavioral Therapy in New York City.

Before she joined the labor department, she worked with families considered

at-risk by the Danbury Superior Court system.

Since 1984 she also has served as treasurer for a family-owned business, Ct

Metal Industries, Inc, an international recovery and brokerage firm based in

Monroe and in Piscataway, N.J.

For more information about the Jobseekers group, call Bill Brimmer at

270-9885.