Ever since Brian LaPlante graduated from the University of Arizona in 1987, finding work had never been a problem. With a degree in business, he decided to go into the hospitality profession, and worked for Hilton, Marriott and several other companies. He’d been steadily employed for 20 years when, in September 2007, his job at a Bellevue hotel management firm was eliminated in a restructuring move.

At first, LaPlante, who lives in Bellevue, was confident something else would come along. He sent out his résumé to likely employers but for several months didn’t get many responses.

Even though he was given a severance package and qualified for unemployment benefits, “things got very scary for me because I wasn’t finding any good options out there,” he says. With a wife and two children to care for, LaPlante felt pressure to find a job before his benefits ran out.

That’s when he met Art Dreeben, a job counselor at Seattle-King County WorkSource, a system of public agencies that assists people in finding work and helps businesses find employees. Under Dreeben’s guidance, LaPlante rearranged his résumé and waited for the right job to come along. Three months later, in April 2008, LaPlante landed an interview with the downtown Bellevue Red Lion Hotel and was hired as the director of sales and marketing.

Since its inception in 1995, WorkSource has helped thousands of King County residents such as LaPlante navigate the shoals of unemployment. The name refers to a collection of government, education and community organizations devoted to linking employees with employers, and is not a separate organization, says spokeswoman Margret Graham.

“Although some people think WorkSource is part of the state Employment Security agency, it isn’t,” says Graham. “The idea is that people will be able to access multiple resources in one place.” There are 12 WorkSource regions within the state. In King County, WorkSource assists about 5,000 job seekers a month and hundreds of businesses.

A tour of WorkSource’s Seattle-King County Web site shows how to connect with the dozens of resources available to people looking for work and businesses seeking workers: job listings, hiring events, labor market information and workshops on various topics.

WorkSource centers are scattered throughout the county. The two biggest ones are in Renton and Redmond, with affiliates in Seattle and Auburn. Several area community colleges also are part of the system.

Besides access to computers, workshops and classes (all of which are free to job seekers), one-on-one help is also available. That’s how LaPlante connected with Dreeben, who not only taught him how to create an effective résumé, but helped him psychologically as well.

“He played a supportive and guidance and mentoring role,” LaPlante says. “It was one of the most valuable programs I’ve ever participated in because it really helped me to keep a cool head, to relax a little bit, to realize I will get another job at some point. When you’re in the thick of it, you don’t always think positively.”

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3 Comments

Jim on June 3, 2009 4:16 PM | Reply

I could not agree more with this article/blog posting. I was out of work for 2 months in early March and I found my next job (a full time one as opposed to a contract) via the WorkSource Web site at Expedia in Bellevue. Years ago, WorkSource was not a potent online job search tool; that was reserved mostly for the NWJobs.com. Now, Worksource is THE best and most powerful LOCAL online job tool there is on the Web for people in the NW.

Brandon on June 5, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply

Hmm......I am sure someone with all his experience will find it much easier. I have been out of college for 6 years. Have had two jobs in that time I now have been unemployed since August 2008. I know it sounds crazy but there isn't anything out there that pays what i was making. Should I go back to retail? Why did I even get a college degree? So frustrating

T Ramani on June 9, 2009 9:12 AM | Reply

When you are unemployed during this great recession, try to get your hand on any job, plus any trainings availble. When the storm is over, you can go back to find the career you wanted, and you can always make your case of why you had that particular job during a recession.

Good luck.

Check this blog for more Seattle economic updates:

http://seattleundercovered.blogspot.com/

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