At the job office: Where the seeking seek the seekers, lots of ups and downs

By Brian Eckhouse

Sunday, Feb. 22, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Anna Caputo is a face of hope for the unemployed. At JobConnect, the state’s employment office, she is an “employment representative.” She’s a matchmaker. People wait a long time to speak to her. She reviews their qualifications and matches them with potential employers who are looking for certain skills.

Caputo listens, smiles and soothes. Nerves calm in her presence. She’s 27 years old and has been doing this for 16 months. She prefers one-on-one settings, at her composite desk in a government cubicle.

• • •

Edgar Ruiz, 24, plops down, grinning because he’s finally made it to Caputo’s desk after a long wait.

Ruiz retired from the Marine Corps last summer, and has yet to land a permanent job. He worked as a part-time security guard at Red Rock Resort and takes security shifts at Wynn Las Vegas. But he hasn’t been called in the past three weeks.

He looks for jobs while his wife works, selling jewelry. Their savings has disappeared. They’re moving into a smaller apartment. They’re down to basics: eggs, milk, hot dogs.

Ruiz tells Caputo he’d prefer a swing shift, so he could be available if Wynn calls with work. She finds a munitions technician job that pays $10.25 an hour. “If that’s what it takes,” Ruiz says, sighing. “Sounds like a job I could get.”

He says he’d be content stocking shelves or working behind a cash register. And yes, he’d work the graveyard shift.

Ruiz tells Caputo he’ll apply to security companies that she says favor veterans.

• • •

Celso Deldoc, 53, can’t shield his angst. He’s been waiting to meet with an employment representative for hours and he’s finally made it to Caputo’s desk.

The carpenter and sometimes-electrician leans into the seat, trying to sneak a peek at her computer screen. What jobs could she be looking at? But Caputo tells him this isn’t allowed, that some information is confidential.

Nordstroms laid off Deldoc’s wife in October. He lost his job at an electrical company in November. He says he approached two unions, but he doesn’t qualify for one and the other doesn’t have jobs. His unemployment expired. Bills are mounting.

He’s still fidgety. He looks down at his cell phone, his connection to potential employers. “Even though I don’t have a job, I gotta pay $100 for this and for my wife’s,” he says.

This isn’t what he expected when they moved here from Guam in 2005, lured by the continuing building boom that went poof. Caputo tells him they have no electrical jobs listed and just one carpentry gig.

It’s back to the Internet job boards for Deldoc.

• • •

Gregory Hardaway, 19, works a full week at Wal-Mart for $8 an hour and wants to do better. “What’s $8 when I could be out there making $13?” the part-time student at College of Southern Nevada says.

Caputo suggests a two-week food-service gig at the Las Vegas Speedway for NASCAR weekend. It pays $7 an hour, but she suspects there’s a potential for overtime, especially if he works graveyard.

Then she comes across a job as a deli cutter. He has experience cutting American meats, but this would be Filipino-style. There’s a difference. No dice.

But this interests him: handing out free show tickets on the Strip. And this: the idea that someday, maybe, he’ll be work a union job that pays $40 an hour. He considers a job as a sheet metal apprentice. “Ooh,” he says. “That’s lovely.”

• • •

Andy Richards thinks he’s next, and when his number is skipped, he jumps up. They take him next.

Richards, 33 and a college graduate, moved here 10 months ago from Michigan, with his fiance and a hydraulics job lined up. Then he shattered his foot and was bedridden for six weeks. He lost that job. He’s worked four weeks in 10 months. And his mom died.

Caputo asks whether he’s interested in a microbiology lab. It has an opening for a quality manager. Richards sinks into the seat. He lacks the experience.

How about a food manager at a series of Puerto Rican restaurants? Richards once managed a Panera Bread, so that’s a possibility. He says he’ll apply for a managerial post at an Adidas store.

Caputo mentions that, of all things, the state has an opening for a clerical employee handling unemployment claims. It pays $25,000 with the chance of a $6,000 bump after six months. Richards figures he needs to make at $30,000 annually.

But it’s something.