Previous conferences have drawn around 50 to 60 attendees, and Stevens estimated that more than half of attendees are 50 years of age or older. Many also have advanced degrees.
Stevens held his first conference in 2010, and has trained more than 500 job seekers in the Northwest since then. Drawing on his background as a corporate director for American Honda Motors, Stevens said his primary motivation for directing the seminars is helping others succeed in trying economic times.
“We have a lot of folks who are acknowledging the situation is sad, and aren’t doing anything to help their brothers and sisters,” he said.
Stevens, on the other hand, is using his management experience to overcome the unemployment situation – one that has been a topic of national conversation for some time now. The unemployment rate for the Portland, Vancouver and Hillsboro area was 8.3 percent in February according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, slightly higher than the national unemployment rate of 8.1 percent. Stevens believes this is not indicative of the real situation in Clark County.
“In Clark County, [unemployment] is likely near 20 percent,” he explained. “It is frustrating to apply for a job, even if you are 100 percent qualified, when you know that there will be over 200 applicants. Both the business community and government would significantly benefit from an increase in jobs.”
The director now plans on taking the Job Seekers Conference to additional locations throughout the Western United States that he said have exceptionally high unemployment numbers. Upcoming seminars are planned for Las Vegas, Seattle, the Tri-Cities, Southern Oregon and California.
The conference fee is $39, and interested job seekers can register for any of the seminar locations at www.jobseekersconf.com.
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