It's 1:00 on a Tuesday afternoon and students are slowly beginning to trickle into Mike Komives classroom. Sometimes, at a community college like Durham Tech, there's a broad range of age groups coming in to these classrooms to learn new trades: the bright-eyed teen fresh out of high school; the single mother who's trying to find a new career.

But when everyone's in place, you realize classroom 603 in the continuing education building is a bit different.

"The word ‘mature' is a self-select," Komives said smiling. "I know 80-year-old people who are young. I know 30-year-old people who are old."

This is Job Search Strategies for Mature Professionals. All here are over 40. Many are in their 50s. And, because of this recession, all are looking for new career paths.

"A lot of my contacts have gone cold because of the economy," said Tom Harned, who is in his 50s and makes his living as a freelancer in the audio and video field.

Harned and the dozen or so students in this class spend Tuesday and Thursday afternoons honing their networking skills.

"If you're a mature professional like I am ... you have to be a little bit more on the game," said Mary Moore, who is coordinator of the Human Resource Development Program. "You've got to be smarter, wiser, sharper."

These classes are free to people who are unemployed or under-employed.

"So many people come into these classes not believing what they have to offer and not understanding how their skills transfer from one industry to another," Moore said. "Eighty percent of jobs are found on the hidden job market. This is no longer the time to look at online job ads."

Edna Adams said the class has done wonders for her confidence.

"I had a job for 13 years," she said. "I lost my job due to a company going overseas."

"You never get too old to learn."

The grandmother was a supervisor in shipping and receiving before the company laid her off in March. Now, she has some life choices to make. She's thinking about going into medical coding or interior design.

"The jobs are out there; the opportunities are there, but you need that certification and you need the on-hands experience," Adams said. 

Free Workshops for Job Search Strategies For Mature Professionals
From Mike Komives:

Starts: February 9, 2010
Period: six weeks
Days: Tuesday, Thursday
Time: 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
Where: Orange County Skills Development Center
503 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill

Starts: March 30, 2010
Period: six weeks
Days: Tuesday, Thursday
Time: 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Durham Tech Community College
Corporate Education Center
1637 Lawson Street, Durham

Networking Groups For Job and Career Search
St. Joseph JOBS Network of St. Thomas More, Chapel Hill. Meets at 8:30 a.m. on the second and fourth Saturday morning each month at the St. Thomas More Youth House, from the STM Lower School, 940 Carmichael Street in Chapel Hill. People seeking jobs or new careers meet, give a short "elevator" speech, exchange contact names, provide leads and offer suggestions. Guest presenters on topics of interest: interviewing, networking and more. Group links on Yahoo and LinkedIn for job postings and informative articles. Contact Mike Komives, mike@mikekomives.com

TAFU [To Avoid Future Unemployment} - meets the first and third Thursday every month, 7:30 a.m., at Carolina Bakery and Café, 137 West Parkway in Cary. For professional managers, have your "elevator" speech ready. Phone number is: 919-678-8855.

TNG [Triangle Networking Group] - meets once a month, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evenings at various locations in Morrisville or Raleigh. Dress code is business casual; bring business cards and resumes. Most meetings will have some recruiters in attendance. For information and to get on the e-mailing list for announcements of upcoming meetings, send an e-mail with contact info to tng_rsvp@yahoo.com

Colonial Baptist Church, Jobseekers Ministry, located on Tryon Road and Holly Springs Road in Cary. Meets 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. almost every Monday morning. Weblink: http://www.colonial.org/jobseekers/

St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, 804 High House Road in Cary. Link to Career Transition ministry. Meets at 7:30 a.m. every Tuesday morning.

Hope Community Church, Job Seekers, 821 Buck Jones Road, Raleigh. Web site: www.gethope.net/ministries/HJS_home.html
Telephone: 919-532-0620.
Meets 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.

St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 7506 Falls of Neuse Road, Raleigh. This is facilitated by CareerNet, and meets every Wednesday morning from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. in the church's fellowship hall. Website: http://sapc.ryark.com

Related Links

1. AARP: Job Tips for 50+ Workers