|  | JOB
SUPPORT MINISTRY GENERAL DESCRIPTION
| As the name implies this activity
provides a support group for those seeking jobs. It is not an employment agency.
It provides a small core of JOB SUPPORTERS who meet weekly with people seeking
jobs. It provides a meeting room where Supporters and Seekers (or Finders) meet.
The Supporters offer Christian concern and all they can know of the employment
possibilities in the local area. The Seekers share their status and often network
among themselves. |
BACKGROUND
INFORMATION | The high level of
unemployment in all areas of the country makes a Job Support group extremely important
and worthwhile. Such groups are fairly widespread but most of them are run as
private enterprise and charge for their offering. In some areas the Job Support
Groups also offered by the YMCA, YWCA, Goodwill, Women’s Clubs, etc. An offering
by the Brotherhood of St. Andrew adds the Christian concern often missing in others. |
HOW IT WORKS A
Job Support program which has been in continuous operation for several years offers
the following suggestions. It meets at Noon for one hour in a room at a church.
In addition to a coordinator, some 3 or 4 others act as supporters. Where to find
help is gathered - from the State Employment Agency, universities, State agencies,
Community Colleges, Public Library. National Government, private sources, etc.
At each meeting, each Seeker is invited to share their background and what they
are looking for. Each is responded to by both Supporters and Seekers as to any
suggestions. The experience of this group is that there are
on the average from four to ten persons attending each session. Since few of these
are from the local church, this is an evangelistic outreach. The meeting is opened
with a short prayer and closes with the prayer from the Book of Common Prayer
For The Unemployed. |
HOW
TO GET STARTED | Simple! Just decide
TO DO IT! Get two to four people to meet for a sack lunch one day a week; get
permission from the rector; get a room; put a notice in the church bulletin plus
word-of-mouth: THEY WILL COME! The word will soon get around. Have one of the
Supporters agree to be the coordinator. |
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION The
Target Population for the Job Support include such as: unemployed, underemployed,
those seeking career changes, those seeking first job, those reentering the work
force, and those retired and seeking employment. Concerns are such as to reach
more people, to serve these more effectively and, importantly, to encourage other
institutions to offer a Job Support effort.
As reported by an expert: THE SIX MAJOR ELEMENTS OF A JOB
SEARCH are: Find (and use) an emotional support
group. (Such as a Job Support Group) Write a
Resume and Answer Ads. (Up-to-date as to content and style)
Broadcast your personal letter - up to a 100 mile radius. (a letter from previous
boss or your letter) Net Working - with EVERYONE
- you know or meet. Manage your search —
have someone to be accountable to. (Report to someone you value)
Work with job recruiters. (Become a friend to them.)
|
|
|
