With 35 years of experience in human resources, Lane Hardie knows a thing or two about how to get a job. "Don't look at the qualifications of a job, but the tasks that the job requires," he always tells job seekers. Following his retirement in 2006, Hardie has helped some St. Louis-unemployed find jobs, but it's tough: Since he began a job-help program at his church, Central Presbyterian, in October 2009, 60 people have gone through the three-month course, but so far only eight have found full-time jobs.
The church's main campus is in Clayton, an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis, and Hardie sees the Central Presbyterian congregation as a microcosm of the country, with both high-skilled and entry-level seekers out of work. "Many [of the unemployed] had a job for a long time and don't have a clue how to get out in this difficult job market," Hardie said. With many companies tightening budgets, human resource departments are often the first cut, making the process even more impersonal.
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