Job seekers learn to sell themselves in Myrtle Beach

Don't rely on the Internet, sell yourself as a product, and make relationships with employers were some of the messages job seekers heard Thursday in a seminar aimed at changing the way they approach the job search.

With unemployment rates rising again and the unemployed growing increasingly frustrated with sending out countless resumes only to hear nothing back, the roughly 25 people who attended the event Thursday were a captive audience for Andy Thomas.

Thomas is a former radio talk show host who gave up his job as the head of a staffing agency for Goodwill Industries in Charleston about a year ago to tour the Southeast and teach people how to find jobs.

Jobless rates for Horry and Georgetown counties, as well as South Carolina, shot up in August, according to the S.C. Department of Employment and Workforce.

Horry County's rate was 10.5 percent in August, up from 10 percent in July. Georgetown County's rate rose to 11.7 percent from 11.2 percent.

Thomas encouraged job seekers to stop relying on the Internet to find jobs and to go out and try to meet potential employers.

"The Internet is not working very well. Waiting for the job to come to our inbox or our phone to ring ... those days are gone," he said.

For Neal Wilson of Murrells Inlet, that message hit home. Wilson has been substitute teaching for about a year while he searches for a full-time job in teaching or sales. He came to the event to get some insight into his job search process.

"I learned that I'm wasting a lot of time applying for jobs online," he said. "I need to be more aggressive in this economy."

Wilson said he plans to step up his efforts when he visits potential employers and will make sure to do his research first and find out who is in charge of hiring and try to meet with that person.

A big part of Thomas' presentation was spent trying to build up the people in the audience and let them know that they have skills and to help them learn how to best present those skills.

"This economy is requiring what has never happened before. We are all salespeople if we want to get hired," he said.

Thomas encouraged the attendees to eavesdrop and always be ready with a personal business card should an opportunity to meet an employer come up.

Perry Green has been out of work for three months since he lost his job as the technical director of the Steel Joist Institute. Green, who has a Ph.D. in engineering, is looking for a job either as a professor or with another nonprofit.

Green said he has a second interview coming up for a job, so he came to the seminar to make sure he would be as prepared as possible.

"It's reinforcing that positive attitude," he said. "It's really what I can bring that will help you do better."

Marie Cheatle of Conway, who is a registered nurse and has been looking for work since December, said the seminar gave her a renewed sense of energy.

"I was encouraged about, I have to think: It's that instead of I need this job, that the job needs me. That I have to go after what I like," she said.

Thomas told his audience that always looking ready to meet a potential employer is important, so he teamed up with volunteers from the Kenneth Shuler School of Cosmetology, who gave free haircuts after the seminar.